Experience the world
By: Anja Vidrih
Tags: Travel, Experience, Personalization, Millennials, Traveling

Experience the world

The rise of the experience economy in travelling

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Why do we travel?

According to the World Tourism Organization, there were a whopping 1.2 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2016 alone. With such an epic number of travel enthusiasts, one has to wonder why so many of us feel such a strong craving to venture the world? Is it to go somewhere new and relax from our burdensome everyday lives? Is it to see the world’s most incredible sights, capture them on film and share them with others? Is it to experience something memorable that brings more meaning to our lives?

While the answer probably lies somewhere in between, it appears that travelling is becoming, more and more so, a highly experiential activity, aiming to bring a fresh perspective on the world and its cultures alongside providing a number of fun-loving and fulfilling experiences that should, to top it all of, be highly personalized and interactive.

To paint a picture, let’s look at how the hotel chain Mariott is winning at experiential travel by providing people with long lasting and astonishing personalized experiences with the help of guests’ social media. In one of their memorable quests, they saw a couple which was staying at their hotel post their engagement announcement on Instagram, so the hotel sent a bottle of champagne to their room. What an incredible way to top their already unforgettable experience.

How Millennials are changing travel

Imagine your ideal travel experience. Money is no object, so the sky is the limit. Where would you go? How would you travel there? Who would you take with you? And most importantly, how would you spend your time there?

If you belong to the large generation of current travel trendsetters — the experience-obsessed Millennials, your dreamy getaway probably looks something like this:

You embark on an off-the-beaten-path travel escapade that enables you a valuable insight into the lives of the locals living there. You sleep at sharing local-owned accommodations, establish meaningful new connections with locals as well as fellow travellers, visit the most quirky sights and eat at the most unique restaurants. You plan your entire experience on-the-go, enabling you to be completely open and spontaneous, simply following your current aspirations and desires.

As studies show, today’s wanderlusts prefer as exciting, thrilling and unpredictable off-the-beaten-path travel adventures as possible. To support words with some more figures:

An Airbnb study found that over 80% of millennials seek unique travel experiences .

. According to Airbnb, 75% or more of millennials surveyed in each country say they prefer to create their own itinerary .

. A Topdeck Travel survey showed that 86% of Millennials travel to experience a new culture .

. According to Groups Today, 78% of Gen Z opt for off-the-beaten-path locations and rely on recommendations from locals

If once, taking a travel vacation meant going to a popular tourist destination abroad and visiting all the must-see attractions there, the current travel game has done a complete 180 — nowadays, more and more travellers seek the most authentic and off-the-beaten-path experiences that will offer them a unique insight into the local living and help them on their self-discovery path.

To turn your dreamy travel venture into a reality, Futourist is to bring you the ultimate off-the-beaten-path travel experience wherever you are, customized to perfectly fit your characteristics, interests and needs.

Since experiences have clearly become the holy grail of today’s travellers, the Futourist app will be equipped with the “experiences” category, aimed to provide you with only the most unique, authentic and local-oriented nearby experiences. To top that off, customized travel guides — Travel Outfits will include an interactive story, equipped with a refreshing list of ideas on how to spend an ideal day in the visited city, created to perfectly fit you whether you are a thrill-seeker, a nature lover, a hopeless romantic, or just about anything else.

10 most unique world travel experiences

It’s clear as day that the experiential travel is currently blooming, visible by the rising number of available extraordinary travel experiences all over the world — to satisfy your passionate and curious travel spirits, here is a list of the most astonishing ones:

1. Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, Maldives

Ithaa is the world’s first undersea restaurant, where you can enjoy a delicious dinner while observing the extraordinary sea life.

Photo source: Orange smile

2. Volcano Boarding, Nicaragua

Imagine the adrenaline rush when boarding down an active volcano. Need we say more?!

Photo source: Volcanoboard.com

3. Giraffe Manor, Kenya

A one-of-a-kind hotel, serving also as a giraffe sanctuary, where guests can savour an unforgettable breakfast accompanied by the giraffes living there.

Photo source: The Blonde Abroad

4. Devil Island Prison Restaurant, China

Immerse in an ultimate prison-like experience — get your fingerprints taken, pose for a mugshot, get handcuffed and enjoy a meal inside a prison cell.

Photo source: Dailyhunt

5. Restaurant De Kas, Netherlands

The perfect experience for all nature lovers, this restaurant is located in a greenhouse, serving only seasonal and organic produce grown on site.

Photo source: Hello Amsterdam

6. Palacio de Sal, Bolivia

Located at the world’s largest salt flat, this unique hotel is built entirely out of salt blocks. Just keep in mind that licking the walls is strictly prohibited.

Photo source: Gallivant

7. SafeHouse Restaurant, Wisconsin

A spy-themed restaurant, full of fun missions, tricks and secrets, similar to an escape room experience upgraded with a tasty meal.

Photo source: Wander the map

8. Hotel Kakslauttanen, Finland

Enjoy an out-of-the-world experience at the glass igloos hotel, enabling you a mesmerizing view of the starry night sky and the enchanting Northern lights.

Photo source: Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort

9. The Elbow Room, Vancouver

A humorous breakfast cafe where the cheeky staff makes sarcastic comments at your expense. Not for the thin-skinned.

Photo source: Yellow pages

10. Freemont Street Experience, Las Vegas

Dance your heart out at this seven-block entertainment district enriched with the world’s largest video screen featuring unforgettable light shows.