Forget tourism. Buckle up for 'diasporism' and ' debaucherism' writes Róisín Ingle
Tourism is officially old hat. Those wishing to sound knowledgeable about global travel trends should get their heads around "debaucherism", "diasporism" and "end of the worldism" according to a new report.
Displaying a knack for nicknames that economist David McWilliams would envy, the report compiled by Euromonitor for this week's World Travel Market in London attempts to predict where holiday makers are going to be spending their money over the next few years.
So forget weekend breaks, villa sojourns or adventure holidays, "debauchery" tourism or "debaucherism" is apparently the way forward for twentysomethings and thirtysomethings. This involves 24-hour pool parties and strip clubs in Las Vegas along with niche cruises in the Caribbean which offer "excessive drinking, gambling and cutting edge music acts". Resorts specialising in "eroticism for those looking to fulfil their sexual fantasies" are also becoming increasingly popular, according to the report.
Nobly resisting use of the words "mid-life crisis", Clement Wong, Euromonitor's global travel and tourism research manager, insists the trend is not just for the young.
"Even as travellers age they will continue to embrace travel as an opportunity to revisit their "hedonistic" youth and to spend lavishly, enjoying their leisure time to the full," he says. "Long-haul, exotic destinations are expected to benefit as these partygoers search for the next thrill and document their activities via social networking websites for all to see and imitate." Revellers themselves are said to be imitating the "work hard, play harder" ethos of American students who congregate for spring break.
The "debaucherism" trend has not yet surfaced in the Irish market according to John Spollen of Cassidy's Travel in Dublin. "There is always demand for Las Vegas and cruises around the Carribbean but we've yet to hear of holidays that are tailor-made for debauchery," he says.
What he has seen is a trend the report seems to have missed. "We've noticed an increase groups of young men who want to go off to Eastern European countries and drive Russian tanks or be taken up in air force jets for a kind of Top Gun experience," he says of what might be dubbed "wish you war here" tourism.
Another trend highlighted in the report was "Slow Travel", where holiday makers choose trips for their low environmental impact.
So-called "End of the World Tourism" is also said to be growing thanks to the combined influence of the March of the Penguins movie and media attention given to climate change. A spokeswoman from Trailfinders in Dublin confirmed that in the last five years interest in Ushuaia at the southernmost tip of Argentina, an area known as "the end of the world", has increased as have Arctic and Antarctic cruises .
"Diasporism", which could have been coined by Mary Robinson, refers to the increasing eastern European diaspora who for humanitarian or economic reasons have settled in western Europe. Travel agents here have seen a boom in air traffic as Polish and Lithuanians now based in Ireland return home for their holidays.
And while booking a spa break for a pet dog may sound barking mad, according to the report, "pet health" and "wellness" is one of the fastest growing trends in the travel industry. The "have dog, will travel" approach is evident in the UK. Lucie's Farm, a "dog hotel" in England, already offers "canine hydrotherapy" in a heated pool, dog massage, dog acupuncture and dog photography where handbags, cushions and coats can be personalised with pictures of your pet.
The trend has also taken hold in the US where hotels host "canine cocktail hour" and offer pet-sitting services.
And while some Irish hotels such as Harvey's Point in Donegal do welcome dogs, they are unlikely to start providing four-poster beds with luxury en-suite kennel accommodation or 1,000 thread count cotton-lined cat baskets any day soon. "It's not our primary focus," says a spokeswoman for the hotel.