30 Years Of Taking The Road Less Travelled
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The Future of Travel
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The evolution of Wanderlust We’ve been taking the road less travelled for the past 30 years via the introduction of the internet, the rise of social media and a growing global audience Words Lyn Hughes
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hy would anyone buy a travel magazine?” said the representative of WHSmith, then by far the biggest retailer of magazines in the UK. “They can get a free brochure from a holiday company.” It was 1993, and my partner, Paul Morrison, and I had decided to launch a travel magazine, having had the idea on a flight to Ecuador. We knew there must be other people like us who wanted to explore the world and whose idea of travel went far beyond lying by a hotel swimming pool. There had been other travel magazines launched but none had lasted, and many ‘experts’ predicted we would fail too. Indeed, a few months after we brought out our first issue, put together in our spare room, I was in the audience of a travel-writing talk at the Royal Geographical Society when a speaker mentioned there was a new travel magazine but that it “wouldn’t last”. But we were determined. And we knew there was a thirst to read about the world.
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The 1980s and early ’90s had seen a boom in travel writing; bookshop windows displayed narratives by the likes of Bruce Chatwin, Colin Thubron, Dervla Murphy and Redmond O’Hanlon. But, if you wanted to go out and go to some of these places yourself, there was a real information gap and we were determined to fill it. Yes, there were guidebooks, with the market dominated by Lonely Planet (which had not long opened a UK office) and Rough Guides, while for certain destinations, Footprint and Bradt Guides were the undoubted experts. But what about the stage before the guidebook? Where did the inspiration come from, and how did you know how and where to choose? We knew there was a small but growing band of excellent specialist tour operators out there. If you travelled with the likes of Explore Worldwide (our first advertiser), Journey Latin America or Himalayan Kingdoms (now Mountain Kingdoms), you felt you were part of an exclusive club. And
Wanderlust too felt very much a club. We focused on subscriptions rather than shop sales, and our advertisers were the brilliant travel companies who could take people to the furthest corners of the world. With our first issue we wanted to show we were different from anything else out there. Our front cover was an atmospheric shot of an Andean shepherd rather than of a beach. Inside, we showed local people rather than holidaymakers. We included a dispatch from a Texas park ranger and tackled sustainability head-on with a feature on the impact of mass tourism. We were practical, covering the nuts and bolts of how to travel. We ran a page (sometimes two) listing the new guidebook releases and, when the time came, we had features on how to use the internet to research your travels. We had launched at the right time. The Channel Tunnel opened in 1994, making it easier and more affordable to head to France and continental Europe. And then
came a revolution in flying with the advent of low-cost airlines. While there had been attempts at budget airlines before, notably Laker Airlines, the ’90s saw several launches, including easyJet in 1995, while Ryanair adopted a new low-fare model. These new airlines made flying accessible to a wider range of passengers, and led to price wars, with major airlines having to drop their fares. The advent of online searches and booking also contributed to increased competition and to flying becoming more affordable. The world was opening up and the knock-on effect was that long-haul, exotic destinations seemed within reach. More and more specialist tour companies launched, usually set up by enthusiasts who wanted to share their passion. Wildlife Worldwide had started just before us. Wanderlust reader favourite Audley Travel started in 1996 as Asian Journeys, initially focusing on Vietnam. InsideAsia Tours started as InsideJapan in 2000, while Wild Frontiers launched in 2002. These companies are all flourishing today. Not surprisingly, our competition soon arrived with other magazines launching. The majority failed, perhaps not having a clear enough idea of what they were offering or who their market was. But some did stick, and we were generally glad as it all raised awareness of travel magazines. After Paul passed away in 2004, we dedicated the magazine to his memory and resolved to keep sharing his passion for travel and seemingly endless curiosity about the world with our loyal readers. Wanderlust had launched in a recession and another one hit in 2008 with the global financial crisis. Just as we celebrated our 15th anniversary, travel plunged as purse strings tightened, and 2009 was particularly difficult for the travel industry. Even when things picked up, it was a still a challenge for us as we had the closest to a direct competitor we had ever faced, and an aggressive one at that. Plus, the digital revolution had truly arrived and our advertisers were using much cheaper methods of promoting themselves than through a print publication. We redeveloped our website and, as travel gradually came back, we added a new Trip Finder tool, providing a service to travel companies and readers, plus a Hot Offers section and newsletter. We also launched a community site with a forum, travellers’ tales and, most popular of all, the ability to upload photos to show fellow travellers. But then came social media and blogging platforms. With so many online sources of information and content-sharing, our role pivoted again. Where there had originally
been an information gap for us to fill, now things had gone the other way, with content factories spewing out poorly researched, generic travel information and a plethora of well-meaning blogs that often suffered from a lack of fact-checking and experience. There was too much information out there and people didn’t know what to believe. So, we worked hard to reinforce our role as trusted sources of information, using destination experts and the best writers and editors. We upped our storytelling too, constantly striving to inspire our readers to find the best possible and most enriching travel experiences.
“We knew there must be other people like us who wanted to explore the world and whose idea of travel went far beyond lying by a hotel pool” The outcome of the Brexit vote caused some uncertainty in travel, and hit us for a while, but nothing prepared us, of course, for the events of 2020 and the pandemic. Just two weeks after we had won Travel Magazine of the Year, we went into lockdown. Not surprisingly, travel was one of the hardest-hit sectors. The industry, from airlines to tour operators to hotels, had to deal with not just having no new bookings, but also with finding a way to refund those who had been booked to travel. For Wanderlust too, life was challenging. Readers were still dreaming of travel but shops were closed and many people didn’t want to touch paper that had been through other hands in case it carried the virus. Our advertising fell completely away and even getting new content was a challenge, so we had to be resourceful. We launched virtual reader events, enabling us to connect
Kipouros took the Editor-in-chief George start of 2021 the at t rlus nde reins of Wa
with readers all around the world, and a highly popular online Friday travel quiz. We still published the magazine, but a skinnier version of it. It was against this background that Wanderlust passed into new ownership at the start of 2021. With editor-in-chief George Kipouros at the helm, we have really stepped up and evolved our offerings. The magazine is thicker and glossier, and is officially the UK’s number-one travel magazine.We have a new-look website just launching, and our immersive online articles are simply beautiful. Our podcast is in the top 10% of travel podcasts worldwide. We’re now even in the metaverse and have a growing number of 360-degree features available. We focus less on the basics of how to travel and more, for instance, on accommodation, with that being an increasingly important factor in people’s trips. With the explosion in travel and plague of overtourism, we take care to highlight the sustainable ways to explore, the places that deserve recognition and the immersive experiences that are the most authentic and rewarding for both locals and visitors. We shine a light on Indigenous experiences around the globe, have more voices in the magazine, and we use a wider and more diverse group of writers. Our audience has developed too. The world of travel has become more democratic over the past three decades, with more people from more countries travelling than ever before. Digital platforms mean that our readership isn’t just British anymore; indeed, only 50% of the traffic on our current website is from the UK, and you will increasingly find the printed magazine on sale around the world, especially in the USA and in international airports. So, the days are gone when we would solely see the world through the lens of one type of traveller. What hasn’t changed is the trust between us and our readers. We strive as much as ever to bring you the best destinations and travel experiences on the planet. Here’s to ⊲ the next 30 years.
Lyn Hughes and Wanderlust co-fo under Paul Morrison in the Galápagos Isl ands
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30 YEARS OF WANDERLUST
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Breathing life into the seas
Solving the mysteries of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is critical to safeguarding its future, which is why tourism operators in Bundaberg are now joining scientists in helping to find the answers Words Jessica Wynne Lockhart
Tourism and Events Queensland
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ust beneath the water’s surface, walls of iridescent fish hovered and bobbed in the current, the filtered sunshine reflecting off their fins. Below them, colourful parrotfish made their rounds, while a school of big-eyed trevally moved slowly along the seabed, unaffected by my presence. To them, I was just another small fish in the big azure sea surrounding Queensland’s Lady Elliot Island. A short flight from Bundaberg, this remote island off Australia’s east coast marks the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef. It’s best known for its large marine species. The deep waters of the continental shelf are just kilometres away and an upwelling of nutrients attracts humpback whales, sea turtles, sharks and manta rays to the area. Included among this collection is the bizarre Inspector Clouseau, a rare rosecoloured manta named after the Pink Panther detective. I, however, was here for the coral. Rising up in columns around and below me, hues of earthy yellow, terracotta pink and shades of brown dominated the underwater
scene. I had to remind myself that what I was looking at weren’t plants, but rather colonies of thousands of tiny animals (polyps) – animals that are increasingly under threat. Since 1998, rising global sea temperatures have led to seven mass bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, including one in 2016
“Hues of earthy yellow, terracotta pink and various shades of brown dominated the underwater scene” that resulted in headlines declaring its death. It’s a rumour that has only been perpetuated by tourists, who visit without fully understanding what they’re looking at. After all, it’s an easy mistake to make if you’re expecting to see the full Technicolor glory of Finding Nemo but are met with 50 shades of brown.
“You’ll see lots of brown. This doesn’t mean the coral is sick or dead; that’s just the colour of a healthy reef,” said Jacinta Shackleton, a marine biologist and master reef guide, as we toured above Lady Elliot’s coral gardens in a glass-bottomed boat. It’s just one of many misconceptions that people have about the reef. Even bleaching, Shackleton explained, isn’t necessarily a death sentence: “This occurs when the coral is really stressed out; it’s a temporary state that it can recover from.” But while the Great Barrier Reef may be alive, it’s far from well. Global warming isn’t the only threat to its future; it also faces cyclones, which are occurring with increasing severity and frequency (a by-product of climate change). There is also pollution from land run-off, ocean acidification and outbreaks of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. Its only hope is that scientists can find a way to safeguard its future, and now they have an ally in the form of tour operators. Lady Elliot Island is just one example of how the two are working together. But ⊲
Born free (left page) Turtle-nesting season on Lady Elliot Island happens yearly from November to early March, although between December and January is the peak time to see turtles here, when some 20 to 30 tracks per night can be spotted. However, turtles can be spied in the waters around the island year-round, particularly in the lagoon in the early morning and late afternoon; (above) from 1851 onwards, Lady Elliot Island was mined intensively for guano (for use in fertiliser), which stripped the island of its soil and vegetation. It wasn’t until 1969, when a local pilot took on the island’s lease, that replanting of the land began
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The rebirth of Florida’s railroad More than 100 years after industrialist Henry Flagler’s railroad across Florida opened up the state to visitors, a new service is resurrecting its old route and offering a glimpse into the past Words Rhodri Andrews
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unshine glittered on the water’s surface like eight-carat diamonds, and every stroke of my paddle set off a chain reaction of sparkling ripples. Swamp laurel oaks and cabbage palms leaned inquisitively over the water’s edge, as if to see who was disturbing their peace. Everything else was still. I was kayaking through Florida’s Rock Springs Run State Reserve, a 5,700-hectare semi-tropical wilderness that lies a 30-minute drive from Orlando – not that you’d know it. Just 150 years ago, this was what most of the region looked like, and it was a side to Florida I hadn’t expected to encounter when I set out to explore a newly expanded rail route across the state. But as I followed its tracks further, a remarkable history started to unravel. Back in the 19th century, Henry Flagler was among the world’s most successful businessmen. He made his fortune launching the Standard Oil company in Cleveland alongside his business partner, John D Rockefeller, in 1870. It soon grew into one of the USA’s most powerful corporations and made them two of the wealthiest people on the planet. It wasn’t until 1878, when Flagler was in his late 40s, that he first set foot in Florida, heading to Jacksonville under instruction from his doctor, who thought the balmy weather would boost the ailing health of his first wife, Mary. They didn’t stay long but it sowed a seed in him. Flagler saw the tourism potential of the state, and he returned seven years later to break ground on his first hotel, the Ponce de Leon in St Augustine (now Flagler College). Other resorts followed, all straddling the state’s coast, but there was a problem: no one could reach his luxury stays. The answer Flagler came up with was to buy up Florida’s fragmented railway lines, connect them together and pour his oil-fuelled wealth into building a new track along the coastline. Enter the Florida East
Coast Railway, which, by the time of its completion in 1912, extended from Jacksonville to the state’s southern tip at Key West. Its benefactor wouldn’t live long to see it though; Flagler died just a year later. His rail legacy was soon in poor health too. Following a hurricane in 1935 that destroyed large chunks of track, an expanding road network across the state saw the popularity of the Florida East Coast Railway decline.
“Henry Flagler poured his oil-fuelled wealth into building a new track along Florida’s coast” It wasn’t until 2018, 50 years after the last service was discontinued, that it returned to use, when the Brightline railroad began renovating Flagler’s original track to reopen a route between Miami and West Palm Beach. I began my journey by tracing the path of a new Orlando detour along the Bright-
line route, which eventually opened to the public this September. I was eager to see how much of the old Florida of Flagler’s day had survived. And while my experience kayaking on the fringes of metropolitan Orlando proved a gentle introduction to the state’s wild side, I soon learned that far more wilderness remains here than you might think. “There are nearly 900 springs across Florida, but few visitors know they even exist,” said my kayaking guide, Brittany Shirley. “I come here most weekends, and I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.” I agreed. The gin-clear water morphed from a toothpaste blue to a mint green as we paddled. Cypress trees appeared to rise from the creek, dipping their toe-like roots into the water. At a balmy 21°C year-round, you could hardly blame them. Otters and alligators are said to inhabit these springs, though I only saw egrets and turtles sunning themselves on half-submerged branches. Seeing my slackened jaw as we floated back, Brittany added: “It’s a special place, isn’t it? And we want to make sure we keep it as nature intended.” When I spotted ⊲
Exploring the Sunshine State (left page) A clear-bottomed kayak tour through Rock Springs Run State Reserve not only lets you paddle a park that offers a glimpse into what Florida must have looked like 150 years ago, before the railroads opened up the state to visitors and development, but it lets you experience an area of pure wilderness just a short drive from Orlando; (this page) MiamiCentral station is Brightline’s southern terminus in Florida and replaced the original Florida East Coast Railway station that opened here in 1896, which was the state’s southernmost terminus until construction on the Key West track began in 1905
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Finding a happy place Fifty years after Bhutan opened up to travellers, we pay a visit to a nation attempting to still keep tradition, sustainability and, above all else, happiness at the centre of everything Words & photographs George Kipouros
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Dance of smiles (left) Hundreds of villagers join travellers in the courtyard of the Gangtey monastery to watch dancers perform a cham (masked dance) at the tshechu festival; (previous spread) the Taktshang monastery clings to the cliffs above the Paro valley and takes its name (Tiger’s Nest) from a legend surrounding Guru Rinpoche, who is said to have been carried here on the back of a tigress
BHUTAN
ou will live until you are 65, and then in your next life, you will come back as a pigeon,” announced Mr Pema rather icily. As I took in my Buddhist astrological future, the low humming from the monks’ prayers in the hall next door, coupled with the loud fluttering of hundreds of prayer flags in the impending storm, only seemed to add to the grim inevitability of it all. This was certainly not the start I was expecting when visiting the self-proclaimed land of happiness, the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. I was on a quest to understand and experience this nation’s unique aura.This is a land known for its celebrated Gross National Happiness philosophy and its unconditional commitment to preserving cultural and spiritual traditions. It also often seems from the outside as if it exists in another era entirely, and I wanted to learn its secret. My journey had started by being granted an audience with a senior monk, Mr Pema, at the 16th-century Pangri Zampa Monastery, home to Bhutan’s Royal College of Astrology, in capital Thimphu. As Mr Pema took in my vanishing smile, he tried to hit a more upbeat note. “If your karma is good, then you will be happier and you’ll be adding many more years to your life,” he proclaimed. It was at this point that my guide, Sonam, chimed in: “By karma, he is referring to all your actions as a human,” he intoned, deep in concentration. Even though it was my life that we were unpicking, this was a deeply spiritual experience for him too, because for believers in the Mahayana form of Buddhism, which is widely practised in Bhutan, astrological readings tend to guide all major decisions and life events. After a somewhat gloomy overview of my past lives – my highpoint was being a naga (half human, half cobra) – I was elated that Mr Pema was eager to wrap up our visit. The hundred or so monks of the college, together with those of all the monasteries in the valley, were busy preparing for the city’s biggest annual religious festival, the Thimphu Tshechu. “You are blessed that you get to experience a tshechu, so make sure you use your time in Bhutan to be happy,” ordered Mr Pema as he sent me away for my first taste of Bhutan’s miniature of a capital. There is no denying the grandeur of Thimphu’s setting, but change is afoot in the kingdom’s largest city. While the first thing that caught my eye was a skyline dominated by the imposing peaks of the Himalaya mountains – some over 4,000m high – I saw just as many construction cranes. “Thimphu has grown dramatically over the last few years, and every time I come back there are new buildings that have popped up,” affirmed Sonam. Indeed, almost one-eighth of Bhutan’s tiny total population of 800,000 now call Thimphu’s narrow valley home. “And to think this was all rice fields just ten years ago,” he added quietly. One thing yet to arrive in the kingdom is traffic lights. These are deemed “too impersonal,” explained Sonam, but the personal touch was certainly not helping with the current gridlock. Traffic jams are the norm here now, I discovered, as Bhutan gets ever wealthier and more and more people own cars. “Our roads just haven’t caught up yet,” Sonam told me as we sat patiently waiting. ⊲
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Land of promise For decades, Bosnia and Herzegovina has lived with the memory of conflict. But while some locals are keen to move on, its story is important to hear and touches even the most bucolic corners Words Lyn Hughes
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A fall from grace (left–right) The Pliva waterfall, which tumbles beneath the city of Jajce, used to be much higher (around 30m) until an earthquake and an attack on a power plant upriver during the Bosnian War caused the area to flood; the catacombs of Jajce were carved into its rock over 600 years ago and were intended to form a church in which the bodies of town founder Duke Hrvatinić and his family were to be buried, although that never happened; the wild horses of Kruzi plateau were released from a life of farming in the 1970s and now roam here in vast herds; (previous spread) the city of Mostar and its historic bridge
Previous spread: Alamy; this spread: Alamy; Marin Mamuza; Shutterstock
he’s not going to write about the war, We started at the Mithraeum, a temple dating back to is she?” someone asked my guide, Roman occupation and dedicated to the Persian sun god, Ivance. In truth, I knew little about Mithra, who was widely worshipped at the time. From Bosnia and Herzegovina (often there we headed up to the fortress, first stopping in the abbreviated to BiH) before I arrived. 14th-century catacombs, then at the ruin of the oldest But when we launched Wanderlust in church in Bosnia, a place where monarchs were once 1993, the news was dominated by crowned. I also heard the rather gruesome tale of the last images of Sarajevo under siege from king of Bosnia, Stephen Tomašević, who only ruled for the Serb army. In November that year, as the first magazine two years in the 15th century before being captured and was printed, the iconic Stari Most bridge in Mostar was beheaded by the Ottomans. What is believed to be his destroyed by Bosnian Croat forces, sending shockwaves skeleton is displayed in the town’s Franciscan museum. around Europe.Thirty years later, I felt I was long overdue But the part of history that lures the majority of the city’s a visit to somewhere that had been so much a part of our share of tourists is Jajce’s connection to the Second World collective consciousness in the early days of the magazine. War, Josip Broz Tito and the declaration of the Socialist As we drove out of Sarajevo the morning after my arrival, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia at a momentous meeting taking the city’s main boulevard, Ivance casually mentioned of the six republics in November 1943. that this was formerly known as “Our history is so connected together,” remarked Dragan, referSniper Alley during the Bosnian ring to the neighbouring nations War (1992–1995). With a jolt “The country has three I recognised it from the old news that made up former Yugoslavia. presidents, representing “We’re just normal people that footage, and it was at that moment have lived together for hundreds of that I thought, yes, I probably was each of the largest going to at least acknowledge the years,” he continued, while I studied ethnic groups: war in anything I wrote. But once the black-and-white photographs (Bosniak, Serb, Croat)” we were out of the city and headcovering the walls of what had been ing north-west, into the country’s the secret location for the meeting. mountainous heart, I soon realised As I travelled the country, the there were plenty of others stories here waiting to be told. name of the old Yugoslavia president, Tito, came up many We had entered a world of pastoral scenes and plunged times, even among the young people I met. Mostly, it was into valleys with sparkling rivers. Over 40% of the land said with a kind of nostalgia for the united times before the here is forested, and bears, wolves and wild boars lurk in 1990s. Indeed, while Bosnia and Herzegovina might be independent, it is still burdened by the legacy of the last war. the more sparsely populated wilderness areas. “It’s complicated,” said Ivance, explaining how BiH has Arriving in the small but historically important town of Jajce, the overcast skies and persistent drizzle did little to three presidents, representing each of the largest ethnic distract from its picture-perfect beauty. Down the centu- groups (Bosniak, Serb, Croat). These also account for ries, it has been home to Illyrians, Romans, the Bosnian its trio of official languages, though in reality they are all Kingdom and the Ottomans; now its medieval citadel very similar, Ivance explained: “I like to describe them stands proudly atop a 22m-high waterfall. It was of little as being the equivalent of English, American English and surprise that Jajce lies on the UNESCO tentative list, nor Australian English – fundamentally the same but with that it has 30 national monuments and several museums. some different words and phrases.” Local guide Dragan took me on a whistlestop walking tour, offering insight into the city’s multilayered and RUNNING FREE multicultural history. Frankly, it was dizzying. “This was One place where it was easy to escape the politics of the door to Bosnia,” said Dragan. “Thanks to its geog- modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina was sat in the raphy, the country was only accessible from the west.” sunshine on the Kruzi plateau, gazing at a herd of ⊲
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The future of travel Our planet is changing, and so is the way we travel. As we adapt to new climates, technologies and ideas over the next 30 years, we open the door to different ways of seeing the world… and possibly saving it
Writers: Paul Bloomfield, Gareth Clark, John Darlington, Meera Dattani, James Draven, Megan Eaves, Karen Edwards, Tamara Hinson, Lyn Hughes, Katie McGonagle, Gary Noakes, Jessica Reid, Sherry L Rupert, Jenny Southan, Holly Tuppen
FUTURE OF TRAVEL VERSION
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Generation Alpha (currently aged up to 12) are the children of millennials (Gen Y). By 2025, there will be two billion of them. Given that GenY is the most travelled generation on Earth, it stands to reason that their children will be too, thanks to frequent holidays abroad in between school terms and even extended country-hopping forays with their digital-nomad parents. As Gen Alpha comes of age over the next eight to 18 years, they could well be the most demanding and entitled cohort of travellers. That said, they may also be far more attuned to investing in force-for-good experiences. In all likelihood (and sadly), they might be the last adults to holiday in the Maldives before the islands are submerged.
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ver since the first package holidays debuted in the 1950s, and then cheap flights in the 1990s, travel has become increasingly more accessible. But as populations rise, so too will global air passenger traffic (expected to increase to 23.9 billion in 2050, according to industry forecasts). So who is it that will be travelling with us in the future?
1 GEN Z
Generation Z (currently aged between 13 and 28) makes up about one third of the planet’s population.
Over the next few years, they will become Earth’s biggest consumer group, and by 2025, they are expected to comprise 27% of the global workforce, giving them an annual purchasing power of more than $100 billion globally. A recent study by BCW Movatory revealed that Gen Zs prioritise ‘achievement, hedonism and stimulation’. Combine this with an obsession with hyper-connected culture and you are looking at the future of travel. By 2050, Gen Z will be aged between 40 and 55, and will be travelling with their own offspring – Generation Beta, the first ‘AI natives’.
Talkin’ ‘bout my generation (top) The priorities of different generations shape the world around them, and the same goes for travel, as the more tech-minded Gen Z become the dominant travellers of the future
WA N D E R LU ST R E A D E R P R E D I C T I O N “Airlines will start to cater to people in different situations, such as ‘Fun Flights’ for young families and ‘Sleepy Flights’ for those who want quiet.” Helen McLaughlin, UK
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4 LGBTQ+
Travel spending from the LGBTQ+ market amounted to £179 billion in 2018; by 2030, experts predict that this could exceed £467 billion as the number of people who identify as non-straight rises and their confidence to explore the world goes up too. In the UK, about one in ten young people now identifies as queer; that’s double the rate of five years ago, according to the Office for National Statistics.
5 RETIREES
Not so long ago, travelling as a retiree meant booking a cruise, but these days ageing boomers (aged 59 to 77) are more intrepid than their predecessors (the silent generation; aged 78 to 95). According to the World Health Organization, the number of people
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Who’s sitting next to me? How population shifts will change the face of travel
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience a significant disability. When considering travel, the good news is that there is growing awareness when it comes to making journeys more accessible, with certain destinations in particular going the extra mile to make holidays inclusive. Take Greece, for example, which is installing wheelchair access to the sea across hundreds of its beaches, while Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea project intends to become the ‘most accessible’ tourism destination on the planet, thanks to special infrastructure such as adaptive equipment for sailing and diving.
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aged 60 years and older will double by 2050 to 2.1 billion. A large portion of them will be silver-haired millennials. Thanks to increased longevity due to healthier lifestyles and medical advances, many will be fighting fit and able to travel well into old age. That said, the life expectancy of people in the US has been declining in recent years due to poor diets and a lack of exercise, so there will still be plenty of gentle escapes with lots of pampering.
6 MILLIONAIRES
By 2032, experts predict that the luxury travel market will be worth more than £2.2 trillion (up from £1.1 trillion in 2023). This will be fuelled by what investment bank Credit Suisse has described as a post-pandemic ‘explosion of wealth’, which is concentrating in Asia. By 2026, Credit Suisse predicts there will be more than 87.5 million people worldwide worth at least US$1 million in wealth, up from 62.5 million in 2021.
INDIA AND CHINA 7 BRAZIL,
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Outbound travel from Brazil, India and China will surge in the years ahead. By 2050, China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy, and before the pandemic, Mainland China was the world’s biggest source market for outbound travel (spending was valued at £210 billion). Brazil’s outbound travel market is predicted to account for 15.4 million trips by 2028 (an increase of 35% compared with 2018), while outbound tourism from India (now the world’s most populous country) could be worth almost £50 billion by 2031, according to DPI Research. JS
Spreading the burden: Protecting the local communities of the future Rainbow travel (bottom) The rise in people who identify as LGBTQ+ will have a big effect on future travel, particularly on nations gearing their economies around tourism but which still outlaw homosexuality, as young people vote with their feet; (top) the growth of Airbnb and similar companies has contributed to the rise in property prices in major tourist destinations, pushing out locals
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ourists, go home!” “Airbnb scum!” is not the welcome anyone wants when embarking on a long-anticipated holiday. However, these words were splashed across walls in some of Barcelona’s more touristed neighbourhoods in 2019. Overtourism is when tourism in one area reaches the point that it significantly decreases local people’s quality of life. It’s nothing new. Pre-pandemic protests swept across Dubrovnik, Barcelona, Lisbon and Venice as high rents pushed locals out and cruise-ship passengers clogged ancient squares. With tourism edging back to pre-pandemic levels and expected to double by 2050, the phenomenon is rearing its ugly head once more. And it’s not just cities feeling the brunt. Destinations traditionally associated with responsible tourism, such as Kenya’s Masai Mara, are also under fire. In January, a video showing safari
vehicles closing in on cheetahs hunting went viral, triggering debates about the carrying capacity of some of these fragile ecosystems. Jeremy Sampson, chief executive of The Travel Foundation, told us: “Unfortunately, much of tourism today continues with a narrow fixation on economic impact, especially growth in arrivals and overnight stays. This approach ignores the impacts of tourism on the environment, livelihoods, infrastructure, culture, heritage and individual well-being.” Thankfully, an evolution towards a more balanced tourism model is apparent in some destinations. During the pandemic lockdowns, residents got used to life without tourists, which kick-started a more no-nonsense approach.The most responsible tourist boards and destination-marketing organisations realise that residents are as much their stakeholders as visitors. Amsterdam has banned cruise ships,Venice has introduced ⊲
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A Lasting
IMPRESSION
As the 150th anniversary of the first Paris exhibition of the Impressionists nears, we cross France to visit the areas that inspired them to turn the art world on its head Words Katja Gaskell
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he first thing you notice when you arrive on lights of Paris, then south to Aix-en-Provence. Along the the Normandy coast is not the sweeping way I discovered the people and places that helped to shape beaches or the dusky blue ocean, or even this groundbreaking art movement 150 years ago. I also the towering white cliffs. The first thing found that, as I travelled, I became just as keen to discover that hits you are the vast skies and the what it was about these areas that inspired such work. extraordinary light. No matter where you stand, you are surrounded by a constantly IN SEARCH OF MONET shifting landscape: billowing clouds that A short drive west of Yport lies Le Havre, France’s form and swirl, stormy skies that roll and tumble, and second-largest port, where a teenage Claude Monet first dreamy sunsets in sugar-almond shades of pink and purple. met landscape artist Eugène Boudin in 1858. Nicknamed It’s little wonder that this stretch of coast became a muse for the ‘King of the Skies’, it was Boudin who persuaded some of the greatest painters of the 19th century. Monet to swap his sketchpad for a paint palette. I was in Yport, a small seaside town sandwiched Monet later produced the iconic Impression, Sunrise from between Fécamp and Étretat, standing alongside Sophie a hotel room window overlooking the harbour 15 years Justet, a local landscape artist working swiftly with her after this meeting. It was this painting that earned what brushes and paints to capture the moment. Above us were was then a group of young renegade artists their name, cartoon-like clouds hovering in a hazy blue sky, casting after critic Louis Leroy sneered in 1874 that the work was shadows on the sheer cliffs of the Alabaster Coast. merely an “impression” and not a finished piece. Little did “I work with the light,” said Sophie, who has been paint- he know that the name would stick and we would still be ing the Normandy coastline for the last 30 years. “You celebrating these artists and their works 150 years later. need to work quickly because the Little remains of the Le Havre light is constantly changing. Every of Monet’s day. Most of the “The advent of time I get home, I feel as if I have city was flattened during the passenger railways been painting in an entirely new Second World War, although the place because of the way the light town’s glass-and-steel Musée and portable metal changes the landscape.” d’Art Moderne André Malraux paint tubes allowed These fast-moving skies have (MuMa) on the seafront boasts long inspired artists and writers, a similar view and light to that artists to escape their but it was the Impressionist paintwhich Monet would have enjoyed. city studios” ers who, in the mid-19th century, “There is a special light that made their name by reproducing forms above the estuary,” said my these landscapes on canvas. The advent of passenger rail- guide, Lise Legendre-Onijas. “A mixing of the soft river ways and portable metal paint tubes had allowed artists water of the Seine and the salt water of the Channel seems to escape their city studios, venturing to the coast and into to create this light that captivated the artists.” the countryside. In doing so, they turned their backs on I understood what she meant while browsing MuMa’s conventional subjects and traditional techniques, choos- collection, which has a large number of Boudin’s paintings ing instead to work, like Sophie, en plein air, capturing the of big skies, alongside works by the likes of Monet, Alfred beauty of nature in the moment. Sisley, Édouard Manet and Camille Pissarro. “Working outdoors is wonderful,” said Sophie. “Like From Le Havre I drove over the Normandy Bridge that the Impressionists, I work outside whatever the weather. crosses the Seine estuary to the beautifully preserved tiny Although if it’s really bad, I will sit in my car to paint.” harbour town of Honfleur. The town is credited as being Yport was just my first stop on an Impressionist-themed the birthplace of Impressionism, and it’s easy to see why. road trip that followed in the brushstrokes of some of Honfleur escaped the Second World War largely intact, France’s greatest artists. My journey traced the curves of and its Vieux Basin (Inner Harbour), lined with tall, slim ⊲ the River Seine through Normandy and on to the bright quayside buildings, is still picture perfect.
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Let the light
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The legacy of slavery still echoes across Sierra Leone, but discovering its history brings more than solace to the visitors and pilgrims to Freetown – it offers hope Words Peter Moore
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THE PATH TO FREEDOM
That night, to lighten the mood, we headed to Lumley Beach, a 5km stretch of golden sand lined by lively bars, restaurants and clubs on the northernmost part of the Freetown Peninsula. We arrived to a cacophony of duelling ⊲
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his is where they heated the branding by the people who were held captive here. “With what?” irons,” said Osman, my guide, pointing Osman chuckled, giving a mournful grimace. to the remains of a fireplace. “When the There were reminders of Bunce’s horrifying past everyletters were red hot, they’d push them into where we looked: the graveyard where masters and enslaved your chest, right here, above your heart – people had been separated even in death; a dark, cramped R-A-C … the Royal African Company.” chamber where “troublesome” captives were thrown withWe were standing within the walls of Bunce Island, a out food or water; a freshwater well reserved solely for those former slave-trading fort 30km up the Sierra Leone River who ran the fort (the captives washed in saltwater). from capital Freetown. It was built in 1670 and roughly It would be tempting to just abandon Bunce Island named after Captain John Bence, a London merchant and let nature cleanse it of its troubling past; however, for and notorious investor in places such as this. Inside, it was a large percentage of African Americans in particular, this dank and oppressive; the dark walls soaked up all sound tiny isle was the last place that their ancestors stood on and there was no birdsong. The only colour was a splash African soil, and hence a vital link to who they are. of muted orange from a stand of Barbados lilies near the The American historian Joseph Opala once declared entrance to a yard where enslaved Africans were once left to Bunce Island “the most important historic site in Africa the elements, naked and chained. for the United States”. He studied No one is sure how the name the links between the descend“Sierra Leone morphed from Bence to Bunce – a ants of those ferried across the mispronunciation, perhaps, by the Middle Passage and their West is the most frequent African raiders who kept it wellAfrican origins for over 30 years result for DNA tests of stocked with captives. Four separate and discovered that Sierra Leone is London-based companies operated the most frequent result for DNA African Americans” on this site down the years, but the tests of African Americans. most notorious were the Royal AfriActor Isaiah Washington, civil can Company (1678–1728), which introduced the practice rights leader Andrew Young and even the Black Panther of branding, and the Company of John & Alexander Ander- himself, the late Chadwick Boseman, all trace their roots son (1784–1807), which increased the turnover of Bunce back to here. So too can the Gullah people, who scatter Island exponentially. By the time the transatlantic slave the Atlantic coast between North Carolina and Florida; trade was abolished in the US in 1808, more than 30,000 DNA has shown that they are the direct descendants of the kidnapped and abused souls had crossed its gates. Mende and Vai farmers from Sierra Leone’s ‘Rice Coast’, Osman led me up the path that the newly arrived captives who were kidnapped for their prized rice-growing skills. would have walked, shuffling in chains, terrified and In recognition of this, the Sierra Leone governexhausted. A fisherman in a pirogue tended his nets just ment created the Sierra Leone-Diaspora Citizenship offshore. He was focused on the task at hand, not us; not the programme in 2019. If you can prove a link with Sierra island. He kept his back to it, a monster over his shoulder. Leone through your DNA, you can receive citizenship. We passed a hand-painted sign that had been nailed I spoke with Dr Gina Paige, co-founder and president of onto one of the ancient baobabs: ‘Welcome to Bunce African Ancestry, a US company helping people trace their Island.’ There were initials and names carved into the heritage. They have the largest database of African DNA gnarled trunk below, and I asked if they had been written in the world, and the Sierra Leone government insists that anyone applying for citizenship use their tests. She told me that while a passport was motivation enough for some, the main driver was the chance to find out who they are. “African Americans are the original victims of identity theft,” she explained. “When you get this piece of your identity back, you can’t help but feel more complete.” African Ancestry also organises what they call ‘Family Reunion’ tours, which include a naming and citizenship ceremony as well as a visit to Bunce Island. Osman pointed to the spot where these visitors perform a unique ritual. “They dress in white and offer a prayer to their ancestors,” he said. “Some of them are angry, most are in tears.” The spot lies just below the ‘Gate of No Return’, the last place their ancestors’ feet touched African soil before being herded onto cramped ships and a life of hardship and enslavement. I gave the gate one last glance and shuddered, eager to look away but curious at what other tales of redemption and resilience I might find in Sierra Leone.
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