December 31, 2012
Six Top Travel Trends for 2013
Mark Thompson READ TIME: 4 MIN.
San Francisco, CA - Access Trips, the leading adventure travel company specializing in exotic learning vacations, announced its list of the hottest travel trends for 2013.
With over 15 years of experience working for some of the biggest names in travel, Access Trips' CEO, Tamar Lowell, is predicting the most popular destinations, experiences and travel patterns for the coming year. ?
Forgoing the cookie-cutter honeymoon, more newlyweds than ever are celebrating their matrimony with an adrenaline-filled adventure tour. With the increased legalization of gay marriage, Access Trips is experiencing an increase in both LGBT and heterosexual honeymooners.
??Led by a multi-lingual guide and expert instructors, an intimate, small group tour is the perfect hassle-free honeymoon for active couples looking to discover a new culture and experience world-class thrills. From action packed mountain biking trips through Nepal and Turkey to thrilling surf tours through Costa Rica and Mexico, Access Trips offers vacations to suit any couple's interests and skill set.
With unprecedented growth over the past year, culinary travel will be more popular than ever in 2013. Access Trips experienced a 94% increase in bookings for culinary tours between 2011 and 2012 alone. "We are meeting demand by adding more cooking trips to the Access Trips' portfolio, like the Thai culinary tour that we launched in July," says Lowell. "We have two new culinary tours to California's wine country and Vietnam in the works for 2013." ?
An exotic haven close to continental Europe, Morocco will continue to be a popular destination in the coming year. "Access Trips experienced almost 200% growth in bookings to Morocco in 2012 over 2011, and is expecting about 50% further growth in 2013," Lowell says.
Offering travelers access to the world's most majestic mountain scenery, it is no wonder that travel to Nepal continues to rapidly increase.
According to Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, travel to Nepal increased by 22.1% from 2010 to 2011. Access Trips is offering a brand new Nepal mountain bike tour to meet booming demand in 2013.
Featuring unspoiled golden sand beaches and lush terrain, Nicaragua is one of the most pristine destinations in Latin America with some of the world's most consistent, uncrowded waves. With Nicaragua now considered one of Latin America's safest nations, it is no surprise that travel to Nicaragua has grown approximately 8% annually for the past five years according to INTUR, the Nicaraguan Tourist Board.
The total number of tourists traveling to Nicaragua is still only about half of Costa Rican tourism - making it a hidden treasure for the adventure traveler. Now is the time to discover Nicaragua's secret spots and secluded warm water beaches on Access Trips' brand new five-day surf trip.
With the economy on the upswing, travelers are once again beginning to plan and book vacations well in advance of their travel date. "For the last couple of years, people were planning their trips very last minute due to an unsettled feeling about the economy and how it might impact them personally," say Lowell. "This year we are seeing bookings move more toward three to six months out."
Access Trips is the leading adventure travel operator specializing in exotic learning vacations to 13 countries worldwide. This company offers a wide range of small-group outdoor sports and culinary-focused trips that are expertly designed to allow guests to experience a new culture, learn new skills or fine-tune existing ones, and revel in the splendor of their destination.
Based in San Francisco, California and launched in 2001, Access Trips' impressive portfolio includes cooking, surfing, mountain biking, snowboarding, skiing, and multisport itineraries.
Regardless of the focus of the activity, Access Trips caters to a variety of skill levels, serving the novice as well as the expert in a relaxed, non-intimidating setting with the help of world-class instructors and multilingual guides.
For more information about Access Trips and the adventure tours available, please visit www.accesstrips.com
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A long-term New Yorker and a member of New York Travel Writers Association, Mark Thompson has also lived in San Francisco, Boston, Provincetown, D.C., Miami Beach and the south of France. The author of the novels WOLFCHILD and MY HAWAIIAN PENTHOUSE, he has a PhD in American Studies and is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center. His work has appeared in numerous publications.
