Traveller's Attitudes

Traveller’s Attitudes

A recent survey has shown a small but significant shift in attitudes to travel and holidays. A few years ago the reasons given for travelling were usually along the lines of “personal challenge” and “so that I can impress my friends”. This is now more likely to be “to enrich my life” or “to give something back”. The main reason for this shift seems to be an increasing awareness of environmental damage and global warming, leading to a greater sense of community. The recent global financial meltdown has also played a part. Hopefully this is a sign of the end of the “grab it for me” attitude of the last decade.

These results do not come from a lightweight survey. The result came from 256 travel companies in 51 countries representing 10 million travellers. This is one of the issues we are discussing here at the Adventure Travel Summit in Brazil. I was invited as a tour operator by the Brazilian Tourist Board as part of their programme to develop tourism in Brazil. There are huge opportunities for interesting and rewarding trips here, and you’ll see some of them on a new Brazil page which will be added to our website soon.