The Holiday Drive

Austerity culture, fuel prices and climate change mean tourism has become moralised. As political leaders uphold the ideal of ‘staycationing’ and tent sales boom, it is with a certain schadenfreude that the chattering classes declare the end of the foreign holiday and the birth of a new localism. But the reality is much more complex.

In Europe, travelling between countries has moved beyond a desire to a need as passenger flows keep on rising. The holiday market continues to fragment into increasingly niche choices that support the expression of personal identity.

Meanwhile, a new wave of mass tourism is underway in South East Asia and Latin America as travel restrictions relax and the burgeoning middle classes discover destinations nearby and further afield for the first time.

For leisure brands this picture is increasingly complex, but ripe with potential. Understanding this diversity of global customers and competitors, and creating new product/service experiences is an exciting future in which designers must have a key role to play.