Off the Beaten Path

Source: traveling-people-airport-bridge-business-travel-1446199-pxhere

The travel industry has changed significantly in the recent years. Some years ago, all tourists wanted to go to places like Paris, Rome, and New York because of their identity as the best tourist destinations on the planet but now things are different.

Tourists and travelers now want to go to places that haven’t been explored much before. They look for unique and new areas, unspoiled by other people. This ultimately means that people now aren’t interested in what we had in this industry before; they want to go ‘off the beaten path’ and discover someplace new.

The search for authenticity

One of the things these travelers look for first is uniqueness and authenticity of the place they would be traveling to. This is one of the chief reasons why they look to go to lesser-known destinations because these might prove to be safe from overwhelming crowds, commercialization, and too much sensory overload in general. Such conditions make the tourists desire only one thing- someplace nice, quiet, and real.

Travelers feel like the infrastructure and commercialization in famous tourist spots takes away from their natural beauty and layers of originality. They don’t get to connect with the local communities there, they don’t get to learn and understand other cultures, and they can’t even enjoy the flora and fauna of the place. So, when they travel to lesser-known spots, they would be staying in places where they can feel more at ease- family-owned guesthouses, local eateries, and cultural festivals would await them instead of closed-off high-end places.

Social media can be thanked for this big shift. Influencers keep posting about new areas which are hidden gems and not known much by the tourist population. Their reach helps in getting these places a proper audience and become more visible.

What we look for

Other than uniqueness, there are some more features travelers like looking out for while choosing the perfect destination for their next journey. The new spots they settle for have the following features:

Sustainability: Climate change and the fight against are well-known amongst people today. Everyone has started learning more and working to bring positive changes for the environment. Their sense of responsibility is what drives them to look for places which place heavy importance on sustainability. Such spots can have eco-friendly accommodations, local resourcing, and other policies made to take care of the environment.
Natural Beauty: The next factor is natural beauty. It would be nice if the place chosen has both good local communities as well as naturally beautiful landscapes. Forests, rivers, mountains, lakes, plateaus- every option sounds immensely good for visiting.
Accessibility: Many people would find it puzzling that modern day travelers like going to places which are not easily accessible but this remoteness is all part of the appeal for these people. A place which is not easy to visit directly translates to cleaner and unspoiled tourist destinations. This is why trekking, swimming, or just cycling to remote, isolated villages in the east has become do popular amongst people today.
Culturally beautiful: Lastly, these places are extremely in-touch with their cultural heritage because it hasn’t been corrupted by commercialization. Since there is little to no foreign influence in these areas, locals see no need to change their customs and conform to what the travelers might be used to. This preserves the culture of the place and makes a visit there worthwhile.

The impact

This shift has both positive and negative things to look out for in the case of both travelers and the local communities.

Let’s not forget how travelers get a lot of good things out of this style of traveling. They get to experience fresh natural beauty, the feeling of discovery, and awesome memories with different cultures. The local communities gain the advantage of economic development in their home because of these guests who boost the locality’s economy. This also includes places which might have been forgotten by the industry before. They get back on the map and regain the advantage they had lost.

Other than this, the mindset and mental awareness of the tourists might also improve as they go to new places and learn their ways to live life. They can learn to live better and manage themselves in ways they didn’t know about before.

But one thing to worry about is that going to and sharing such places will make these the new famous tourist destinations. These places might then suffer because overcrowding, environmental degradation, and loss of cultural heritage if these threats are not managed carefully.

So, we need to remember that not managing information about these places can potentially harm the beauty and good points about the place we so admired before. But all in all, the modern-day traveler’s quest for new, uncharted places is great and does a lot for them and the areas they go to. They immerse themselves in new experiences and learn more about other communities that exist in the most remote places on the planet.

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