Here are five takeaways from Travel South 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia.
- Travel is less connected than you might expect. While 80pc of all travel purchases globally are connected digitally, only about 50pc of tourism activities are available online.
- Entertainment tourism is becoming a norm, travellers are spending money chasing big events in other countries. In Singapore when Taylor Swift came t they saw 400pc increase in their tourism.
- Luxury travel has more dimensions than people thin, the myth about it is that it is for older travellers, younger travellers are also interested and sometimes income is no predictor, the emphasis on living in the now has driven luxury travel.
- Travel to the USA has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels although it will do so in 2025, Fred Dixon told delegates, with Ireland one of the markets that is still trailing 2019. Irish traffic to the USA is ahead of 2023 by 14pc although it still trails pre-pandemic.
- England and Germany are slowing, having been the core markets for decades for the USA and amongst the top five markets in every state.
- With all the changes in social media, community building is central to engagement, focusing on understanding group dynamics and cultural factors, Sparkloft Media told delegates. Tailored international marketing strategies is especially important for travel campaigns.
