New Traveling Trends, Tourists Looking For Interesting Experiences Are Not The Number Of Destinations

JAKARTA - The current trend of traveling has undergone many changes. If in the past many tourists focused on chasing as many destinations as possible on one trip, now the new trend shows a shift towards a more personal vacation, draining, and full of experience.

Instead of moving from one destination to another in a short period of time, now many tourists choose to enjoy one longer destination to celebrate special moments, explore local culture more deeply, or even pursue certain hobbies such as photography, culinary, to wellness retreat.

These changes show vacations are no longer just "going", but about the quality of experiences that are difficult to find elsewhere.

"For example, people used to want to go to Europe for 2 weeks, but the goal was to visit more than 8 countries. But now people on vacation want to enjoy any experience or experience that can be enjoyed when they arrive at their destination,"

He gave an example of special interests such as photography, which makes tourists need companions, depleted locations, to professional access.

"If he likes photography, he will definitely need and look for guides to other resources to be able to take photos on good spots," said Smailing Tour President & CEO Anthony Akili at a Smailing Tour press conference that joined Virtuoso's exclusive travel network in Jakarta, recently.

In line with the change in tourist preferences, the latest IMARC Group report notes that the global luxury travel market has reached a value of USD 2.2295 trillion by 2024 and is expected to continue to grow steadily with a CAGR of 3.82 percent until 2033.

The data shows the biggest demand comes from tourists who want comfortable, personal, and hassle-free travel because all details have been designed professionally.

Similar trends are also seen in Indonesia. Based on the Outlook of Tourism and Creative Economy 2024/2025, interest in types of tourism such as cultural immersion reached 58.97 percent, followed by wellness tourism at 56.41 percent, and eco-tourism at 46.15 percent.

This data shows that tourists are now interested in experiences that provide depth, closeness to nature, and a more authentic cultural connection.

"Then people who travel today tend to look for pleasant experiences that cannot be found elsewhere. For example going somewhere and celebrating a special moment. Currently, most people prioritize traveling quality over their quantity," he concluded.

Furthermore, Anthony also shared, as part of a strategic partnership with Virtuoso, Smailing Platinum travelers now have direct access to more than 2,500 premium travel providers including hotels, resorts, spas, cruise ships, airlines, and exclusive tour operators.

This allows them to meet the needs of tourists in line with the trend of finding interesting experiences during holidays, including luxury holiday packages.

"This network also records the annual transaction value of USD 35 billion, which allows members and clients to get additional facilities such as complementary upgrades, daily breakfast, free Wi-Fi, private transportation services, special dinners, to spa treatments available in more than 1,800 premium properties in more than 100 countries," concluded Anthony.