Travel trends in 2017 are guaranteed to feature a few holdovers from 2016 and throw a couple of new curveballs into the mix. Let’s start with three of the holdovers that we expect will continue to grow, thrive, and be major movers in 2017.

One of them is the shared economy. The shared economy driven by Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and others is going to continue to be a major force in the travel trends 2017 industry. The ability to be able to utilize resources you have for profit and assist individuals who are in need of those resources is an excellent use of technology made simpler by the advent of social media and interconnectedness.

No longer do you have to worry about getting a hotel when you can book your Airbnb on location. Another fantastic aspect of the shared economy like Airbnb or Uber is that it allows you to get a more hands-on approach to local life. Being able to enjoy the local life by living in a home at your destination is a fantastic way of connecting with your adventure. No longer are individuals staying in hotels that were made for tourists; many are now choosing to stay in a home and enjoy the personalized touch that the Airbnb experience brings. Many Airbnb hosts stay in another portion of the house and provide guest excursions as well.

Another steady connection from 2016 is in the use of travel agencies. Travel agents and travel agencies are going to continue to grow and thrive in the 21st century. One of the things that have occurred to lead to this growth is the growing use of technology. This has led people to desire a more personalized touch that they can only get from individual assistance. When people plan trips nowadays, they have many opportunities to use their phone or computer to check pricing, book trip reservations, and get ideas.

However, there is one thing that technology is still very poor at and that is the personalized human touch which can enhance traveling. When you have a travel agent or travel agency help you with your trip, you are getting a much more custom-made experience than you could possibly get from trusting technology alone. Travel agents and travel agencies are experts when it comes to local flavors, customs, and cultural aspects which can lead to significantly more in-depth trips. It is not enough to simply Google interesting stuff to see on location – when you work with a travel agency you are getting something special.

The continued growth of technology in the travel industry is one that is going to expand dramatically in 2017. Technology has been a huge boon to the travel industry, allowing individuals to take their own travel desires, dreams, and ideas into their own hands. This ability to personalize and customize what they were looking for and what they want has revolutionized the way individuals plan and execute their trips. With self-booking tools and other convenient technological assistance at the edge of their fingertips, people can get a broad sweeping view of what they want from their trip or their getaway and then bring in the travel agent to add the little nuances that make a potentially generic trip something truly special.

Now here are a couple of ways that things are going to change in 2017, and interestingly enough the top of this starts with technology as well. Technology is going to grow and offer new opportunities that did not exist in 2016 to help give a boost to travelers throughout the industry. One of the biggest possible growth markets is in virtual reality for the tourism industry. Virtual reality, or VR, in the tourism industry, is likely to see its breakout time by the end of 2017. If you want to see what a given location or trip feature might look like without looking at boring, flat pictures, you could potentially put on a virtual reality headset and actually get to see it and interact with it as if you were there. This will add a new level of planning and customization to any trip. Getting the chance to actually look at the location in three dimensions will give you a better perspective as to whether this is something that you wish to do. Virtual reality or other automated assistances will just continue to enhance and build upon the leaps and gains already made by technology in previous years.

Another thing which is likely to cause some change in the way that individuals travel is the rise of nationalism, most notable in Brexit from the European Union and the election of Donald Trump in the United States. As nationalism grows, new opportunities for the travel agency grow with it. But these kinds of political changes can also lead to some difficulties for travelers as well. Although nobody knows what the final shape of the Brexit from the European Union will look like, one thing that we know for sure is that will definitely change the way people travel. No longer will there be the free, easy access travel between members of the European Union and England as new travel restrictions will likely be in place.

With a rise of nationalism growing in France, Germany, and Italy, we are likely to see these countries change their travel policies as well as they change the way they interact with one another. This is not necessarily a bad thing for travelers as it may lead to an increase in tourism internally. Let’s take a for-instance – if you were planning to visit England but it’s just not as convenient to travel to both England and France, you will likely spend more time enjoying some of the cultural depth that England has to provide. This means that tourism at a national level will likely see a large uptick while tourism between nations may see a minor decline.

One thing we know for sure is that travel between countries and tourism is going to continue to grow in 2017 and so booking those dream trips and traveling abroad are going to continue to be ways of enriching our lives and our cultural experience in 2017 and beyond.

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