9 travel trends to watch in 2017 and 2018

After purchasing Expedia in 2010, Bill Gates advised everyone to throw away their travel agent’s phone number as the future of travel planning would be self-service through the internet. It seemed like a fair prediction with successful online publications such as Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor enabling travelers to research and book their own vacations, but today vacation planning is changing and travel advisers are once again in high demand.

Tired of planning their own trips and searching for memorable, unexpected and out-of-the-ordinary experiences, travelers want trusted and reliable resources to curate extraordinary vacations. In addition to planning customized trips, travel advisers are privy to hot new properties, up-and-coming destinations around the globe and the latest travel trends. The reality is the travel adviser is not a thing of the past, but rather the gateway to unique and rewarding future travel experiences.

With that in mind, here are the hottest new travel trends to watch, according to leading luxury travel experts who attended the recent Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas.

Transformational Travel People want to come back informed, enlightened and changed after their vacations. Matthew D. Upchurch, chairman and CEO of Virtuoso, a network of luxury travel advisers, says, “We tend to talk about luxury travel, adventure, family… all these different travel niches. When it comes down to it though, it’s the transformative nature of travel that is the single biggest motivator. When you travel, it pushes you out of your comfort zone, and it fundamentally changes your perception of yourself, your place in the world, of others. It fosters greater understanding and awareness because travel is all about celebrating the differences and recognizing what makes us all similar,” he explains. Plus, immersive travel enables people to become more informed and open-minded global citizens. “People love their kids all over the world, they take pride in their heritage [and] they enjoy a good meal. It’s in those moments of discovery that you make genuine human connections; that you’re transformed because of your travels. And in that sense, as well as many others, travel is a force for good,” Upchurch adds. (Thinkstock)

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**The Rise of Sustainable Tourism** Another emerging trend, according to Upchurch, is sustainable travel. “When it comes to the future of travel, sustainable tourism principles and practices will increasingly become part of the travel mainstream. When people think about sustainability in travel they often only think about the green footprint aspect, but it goes much deeper than that to also embrace support for the protection of cultural and natural heritage, along with social and economic benefits for local people in destinations throughout the world,” he explains. “Sustainable tourism is not a trend, it is a travel transformation,” he adds. To make this topic even more relevant, the United Nations declared 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. (Thinkstock)

While there are obvious travel expenses such as hotel rooms, airfare, car rentals, train travel, airport transfers and meals, what about everything else? Here are a few hidden vacation costs to keep in mind to avoid bursting your budget. (Thinkstock) — **Volunteer Vacations** Voluntourism, where travelers want to make a difference with hands-on experience helping out in the community, is also expected to increase in the wake of recent disasters. “Between two massive hurricanes and now the largest earthquake Mexico has seen in 100 years, I think we’re going to see a resurgence in voluntourism,” says Misty Ewing Belles, the managing director of global public relations for Virtuoso. “The need is apparent and as people look for ways to help, volunteer vacations will likely see a rise,” she adds. (Thinkstock)

If you're planning to travel with teens and leaning toward an all-inclusive vacation, these getaways should be high on your list. (Thinkstock) — **Extreme Trips** Industry experts are also seeing piqued interest in traveling to rapidly changing destinations impacted by spikes in tourism and the threat of global warming. This includes places like Cuba, Antarctica, Venice and the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Epic adventures, such as African safaris or over-the-top experiences, like a private tour of the Grand Canyon, and extreme experiences to go where few have gone before, are also at the top of the list and include destinations like South Africa, the Galápagos Islands, Costa Rica and New Zealand. (Thinkstock)

Traveling Europe by train allows you to immerse yourself in different cultures and see multiple countries with the ease of one rail pass. (Thinkstock) — **Extended Vacations Overseas** Known as “sojourns” for the baby-boomer generation, Brownell Travel has launched this concept of extended three-month stays at apartments. The trips are designed to recapture the reasons why people fell in love with travel in the first place (think: reliving a first summer abroad in France). More than just a vacation, these immersive experiences offer people who are able to work anywhere virtually, access to co-working spaces like WeWork. Oftentimes, family members will come and visit during the stay. (Thinkstock)

**Multigenerational Vacations** Multigenerational travel continues to be a leading industry-wide trend. By traveling together with younger and older relatives, families are able to reconnect. “Skip-gen” trips, where grandparents take grandchildren on a special adventure, leaving the parents behind to experience their own time off, are also becoming more popular. (Thinkstock)

River Cruising for the Younger Set While river cruising remains popular for senior travelers, millennials have also become a target market. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ new U by Uniworld brand will launch next year with amenities and services geared toward 21- to 45-year-olds. Focused on experiential travel, Uniworld’s two luxury ships will cruise European waterways and feature DJs, rooftop lounges, yoga classes and adventure excursions, from rock climbing to whitewater rafting. (Thinkstock)

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