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Demand for ‘bespoke’ travel experiences outstrips supply

Demand for personalised leisure experiences is far more developed than supply, according to the report, which used an analysis of people’s prior experiences of activities, as well as their emotional response towards them, to predict future trends.

Research by University of the West of England (UWE) identifies potential boost for domestic tourism. There is a ‘huge opportunity’ for UK activities companies to expand product ranges to meet demand for personalised experiences, according to a new report commissioned by membership organisation Boundless and conducted by the University of the West of England (UWE).

Demand for personalised leisure experiences is far more developed than supply, according to the report, which used an analysis of people’s prior experiences of activities, as well as their emotional response towards them, to predict future trends.

The study also suggested travellers are placing greater significance on experiences rather than on destinations, which the report’s author Dr Dan Knox predicts could signal a further boost to UK tourism.

The report was based on an attitudinal survey of 2,000 UK adults, and found that a far greater number of people wanted to undertake bespoke activities – including sports-related trips, city breaks and high-adrenaline experiences – than had done them in the past.

Gap between experience and demand
Researchers also analysed the degree to which people could express the sensual and emotional experiences their activities provided them with. Those better able to recall and articulate the emotional outcomes of their experiences were those more likely to do a greater range and number of activities, the analysis found. The report concluded that intense emotional experiences have an addictive quality in that they were clearly found to inspire further adventures.

Dr Dan Knox commented: “Latent demand for highly personalised leisure experiences, which was the strongest theme to emerge from this study, presents a huge opportunity to meet consumer needs by innovating, expanding product ranges or through targeted marketing to make the selection and organising of activities easier.

“Where marketing is concerned – destinations have been very successful in emotional and sensual branding, but the same isn’t true of tour operators, travel agencies and other providers. If providers can articulate the emotional connection people achieve though different experiences, and recognise that women are more emotionally-aware than men, they may be able to attract new types of customer.”

Darren Milton, Head of Brand and Content for Boundless, said: “We wanted to see how people really viewed the experiences they have while doing activities, during a short break or day trip, or on holiday, to really help us improve our members’ experience, and the results were fascinating.

“People showed a far broader range of emotional response to their activities than we expected, which goes to show that they are very clear about what it is they want to get from an activity or trip – something that differs greatly form one person to the next.”

News Editor - TravelDailyNews Media Network | + Posts

Angelos is the news editor for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). His role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy.

He currently studies Communication, Media & Culture in Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens.

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