The rise in shopping tourism and a new website which is ‘ripping up the rule book’ in order to offer consumers the best hotel rates have been highlighted in the new WTM Global Trends Report, unveiled on Monday.
Shopping is forecast to be the main growth driver of inbound tourism to Europe from the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), together with art tourism, with highly-specialised tours emerging to give visitors from these countries a chance to see a region and shop at local luxury brand outlets.
Paris is the key shopping destination for all BRIC nations, although London, Frankfurt, Milan and Madrid are also competing for shoppers from these emerging markets.
To cash in on the rise in shopping tourism, a new trend has emerged where hotels in the Middle East are locating within shopping malls or becoming connected to them.
The report, by tourism and travel analysts Euromonitor International, also focused on tingo.com, owned by TripAdvisor, which introduced a new business model in 2012 that exploits refunds and cancellations to gain the best hotel rates.
The website automatically rebooks travellers’ reservations when there is a price drop for the booked rooms up to 24 hours before check-in. According to the report, Tingo is expected to contribute to longer booking windows of more than 40 days, which could help hotels manage their inventory better.
The research also mentioned the attraction of ‘forbidden lands’ for American tourists seeking more adventurous, unique holiday experiences, with countries traditionally closed to the US such as North Korea and Cuba set to see more holidaymakers from the States.