From 'waterculturalists' to 'bootiquing', bonding holidays and Last Hurrah Holidays, Original Travel presents the big travel trends for 2024 

Original Travel trips are getting bigger in every possible way; they are longer, cover more ground, becoming increasingly adventurous with more people going along for the ride. Most encouragingly of all, our clients are travelling more mindfully than ever, wanting to immerse themselves in local culture and make travel a force for good. 

Tom Barber, Co-founder of Original Travel, says: 'Respectively, our stats show that in 2023 versus 2021, the average Original Travel holiday increased in length to 13.8 days up from 10.4, with clients staying in an average of three different hotels rather than an average of just one, and with a 100% increase in experiences, going up from 5.8 per trip to 10.7. All the while, multi-generational holidays are also becoming commonplace, plus we have seen the return of sabbaticals, which were a huge part of our pre-covid business.' 

Based on live enquiries and bookings, here are Original Travel's top travel trends for 2024: 

Shoulder Season Travel 

Whether due to 2023's heatwaves across Europe, the cost of living crisis or a latent desire to avoid crowds – or a combination of all three – shoulder season travel is on the up. September 2023 was a bigger month for departures than August by 14% and the trend looks set to continue for next year. As a result, we have launched several new shoulder season itineraries to destinations traditionally popular in the summer, including Sardinia, Italy and Corsica. 

Immerse yourself in island life with our off-season Sardinia short-break, which includes a stay at a former lighthouse, located in the heart of a nature reserve in the extreme south of Sardinia. Just steps from wild beaches, the beautiful property now boasts six suites, four of which are housed in the old cisterns, an infinity pool and an ancient olive grove in the garden. Prices from £1650pp, based on two sharing and including three nights' full-board accommodation, return flights and transfers. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk   

Waterculturalists  

Original Diving has created 10 new itineraries to satisfy the demand from what they are calling 'waterculturalists'; divers who want to deepen their understanding of the seas and the life and cultures they support. Just as horticulturalists are students of the land and plantlife, 'waterculturalists' want to better understand the seas they explore, educate themselves on issues which need addressing and get involved in ways to protect and cultivate the waters and the cultures which depend on them – and it's becoming a vital part to many more dive trips than ever before. The new and innovative projects include: Building reef highways in Fiji; planting coral in the Philippines; restoring coral in French Polynesia; diving with Bubu fisherman in Indonesia and observing local traditional fishing practices from a unique perspective underwater; and joining a safari dive in Tanzania, where you will be equipped with an earpiece to listen to the dive guide as they take you on a tour of coral gardens. 

Build reef highways on Original Diving's 14-day trip to Fiji, which includes time spent underwater with a team of marine biologists helping build coral highways to create a thriving reef. You will help the Barefoot Manta marine Biology Team (the island resort is the only in Fiji to have with a dedicated Marine Conservation Centre) to create pathways between existing coral pinnacles. All levels of dive experience can participate and a group can create a 10-metre long and one-metre wide highway in each session. The trip also includes five nights in Tavenui, known as the soft coral capital of the world and where you can dive the Rainbow reef dive sites and the Somosomo Strait, home to manta rays, hammerheads, reef sharks and turtles. Prices from £6,400pp, based on two sharing and including return flights, domestic flights, transfers and 10 nights' B&B accommodation, plus 10 boat dives and one night dive, as well as the Reef Highway experience. Original Diving, 020 7978 0505, www.originaldiving.com 

Bootiquing  

Original Travel has seen a rising demand for luxury walking holidays, in a trend we have dubbed 'bootiquing'. Keen hikers are increasingly asking for boutique hotels and luxury cabins which offer a step up from the basic accommodation that has historically catered for the market. In response, Original Travel has introduced new itineraries where the emphasis is on combining great walking with luxury accommodation. Thanks to an unstoppable rise of cabin hotels, which are popping up all around the world in quick succession, this trend is likely to be huge for 2024. 

A four-night hike of the Dolomites takes you from Val di Fassa, home to Locanda degli Artisti - part hotel and part art gallery – on a seven-mile walk to a refugio with a difference; it has a wine cellar, housing more than 700 wines, many local. From here, you'll hike to Hotel Gardena, a Relais & Chateaux hotel with spa and Michelin-star restaurant then 10 miles onwards to Alta Badia to stay at Ciasa Salares, the only luxury gourmet hotel in the heart of the Dolomites, with its own cheese room and chocolate room (you'll have more than earned both!)  Prices from £4,975pp, based on two sharing and including return flights, transfers, four nights' half-board accommodation, five days' guided walking and luggage porterage. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk.       

Bonding Holidays 

Bonding Holidays are one-on-one trips for just two family members - and they're on the rise. The increase in bookings from either parent and child, grandparent and grandchild, grown children and their elderly parents - and a manner of other combinations - has led Original Travel to relaunch its Bonding Holidays Collection, featuring itineraries designed to make the most of the precious one-on-one time. The trend can be attributed to promises that were made in lockdown and are now coming to fruition ('when this is all over, we'll go to...'), making up for time lost to the pandemic or missing the time spent together during lockdown, now normality has resumed. Connecting over a shared interest or having a joint learning experience and discovering something new together are two common factors in these types of trips, as ways to facilitate a treasured bonding moment, away from the distractions of everyday life. 

Our 14-day Family Ranching in the American West trip gives kids a chance to live as cowboys and cowgirls on an American ranch, with family bonding activities such as horseback riding, kayaking and zip-wiring that require teamwork and encourage confidence. Prices from £6,280pp including return flights, transfers, 13 nights B&B accommodation. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk 

Open (Holi)days 

A subset of the Bonding Holidays trend is something we've coined Open (Holi)days. There has recently been a rise in the number of courses at European universities being taught in English, which means that British students can study abroad without needing to be fluent in the native language, and with the added bonus that they will doubtless learn the lingo during their time at uni. Added to this, there is a growing perception that some university courses in England are not providing good value for money, which means that students are also setting their sights on universities in North America. These twin trends in turn mean parent and child taking trips for university open days, which is the perfect excuse to extend the visit for a bonding holiday. The fact that so many of these universities are in completely beautiful cities is an added bonus.  

Our 4-day Cultural Big Short Break in Madrid trip gives parents and prospective students the chance to check out the university facilities and everything that makes the Spanish capital such superb place to live and study. Prices from £1,510pp including return flights, transfers, B&B accommodation and access to key cultural sites. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk.  

Last Hurrah Holidays 

Original Travel reports an increase in big ticket family holiday bookings, designed specifically to entice teenagers, or even adult children, back to the nest for one more trip away. Whether down to nostalgia, sentimentality or a desire to pause the passing of time, parents are increasingly asking Original Travel to design a family holiday so good it will entice even the most truculent teen to come away on one last family trip. Big ticket adventures and far-flung destinations are popular requests for parents who want to convince their older offspring to come away en famille rather than with their friends, with diving, safaris and cool city breaks proving particularly popular. Even better, as trips with university-age (or older) children are generally no longer tied to the school holidays, parents are putting the money saved from travelling off-season towards epic activities instead, making these holidays a hard-to-refuse proposition. 

India's distinctive culture is best enjoyed by older children who can appreciate the beauty in the chaos. A feast for every sense, our 10-day trip Rajasthan with Teenagers explores the delights of Delhi, Rajasthan, Jaipur and offers the option to try truck-painting, block-printing, dance classes and the chance to join in a local cricket match. Prices from £3,090pp including return flights, transfers, nine nights 'B&B accommodation. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk   

Winter in Summer destinations 

Plenty extol the virtues of summer in the mountains, but what about winter in traditional summer destinations? It's a chance to see some of your favourite countries in a totally different light and is the ultimate form of undertourism, something we are keen champions of here at Original Travel. As such, we are launching several new itineraries to promote the concept, including our Wild Isle: An Off-Season Escape to Corsica. This a seven-day trip explores the wild beauty of the snow-capped Corsican hinterland on a snowshoe adventure, topped and tailed with city breaks in Ajaccio and Bastia.  

Prices from £2,260pp, based on two sharing and including return flights, seven days' car-hire and six nights' B&B accommodation. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk   

Twinning destinations  

City breaks to Madrid, Lisbon, Istanbul, Porto and Reyjkavik are more popular than ever – not as stand-alone city breaks, but rather as layover extensions. Where clients have indirect flights to their final destination, they are increasingly incorporating the layover city into the wider holiday and opting to stay for a few days before flying onwards. Madrid, Lisbon, Paris and Amsterdam are important hubs which serve central and south America, the French Caribbean, Indonesia and South East Asia and offer a great opportunity to enjoy a European city break before heading to more exotic climes.  

Combine Istanbul and Bali for a heady twin-centre holiday. First, immerse yourself in the street food scene and fascinating history of Istanbul, the famous melting-pot of European and Asian cultures, before leaving Europe behind for a 17-day tour of Bali. Explore its beaches, temples, countryside and national parks, travelling from Denpasar to Tabanan, Munduk, Pemutaran, Tembok, Sidemen and Ubud. Prices from £5090 pp, based on two sharing and including return flights, transfers and 18 nights' B&B accommodation. Original Travel, 020 3582 4990, www.originaltravel.co.uk   

-Ends- 

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