US: The leading short-term rental platform Airbnb unveiled what it believes will be the travel trends for 2020.
The company identified five unique things that will determine why and how people will book travel in the future.
The primarily identified trend was the preference for experiences over things, with destinations being chosen for their unique experiential qualities. They noted this trend was particularly common among Gen Z travellers, who were likely to spend the most on vacation experiences.
Most surprisingly though is the potential rise in minimalist travelling. The company noted that more travellers were looking for micro-cations, travelling only short distances, as well as a preference for minimalistic spaces, like tiny houses and shepherds’ huts.
Nature and naturalism will at the forefront of travellers’ decision-making, both in destination and experience. A quarter of Americans planned to take an outdoors adventure trip, with locations like Kathmandu and Nepal at the forefront, while food experiences are focusing more on vegan and clean eating-based options.
However, local carb comforts in baked goods and pasta continue to dominate the food experience market.
Finally, Airbnb predicts that in 2020, travellers will want to reconnect, both with themselves and with the past. 12 per-cent of Gen Z bookings are made for some sort of spiritual or religious trip, disconnecting from the outside world, and history-based experiences have experienced a supply rise of 271 over the past year.
This trend list comes after the company has unveiled the beginning of what may be troubling times. The company has recently extended its halt on bookings in one of its largest international markets, Beijing, until may, and has revealed that the company posted losses of 322 million in the first nine months of 2019.
These issues may impact the company’s plans for an IPO, which it has been gearing up for since late 2019. However, these trends may show that Airbnb’s changing markets can bring new success in the year to come.
