Platinum year sees Gap Adventures predict its next 20 in 10

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The Great Adventure People use expertise to foresee what travellers really want

The Great Adventure People say after 20 years in the business they are perfectly placed to predict the future of adventure travel.

The company has launched a number of initiatives to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2010.

The latest is its 10 tips for the ultimate travel experience.

The Great Adventure People use expertise to foresee what travellers really want

The Great Adventure People say after 20 years in the business they are perfectly placed to predict the future of adventure travel.

The company has launched a number of initiatives to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2010.

The latest is its 10 tips for the ultimate travel experience.

“It’s a fun idea but what lies behind it is a serious understanding of the future of adventure travel and what adventure travellers are really looking for,” says Bruce Poon Tip, founder of Gap Adventures. “What we have created is our blueprint for twenty more years of the best service in the business.”

Poon Tip says travellers like to do a bit of everything nowadays. They have their ideal itineraries in mind and his company’s job is to give people what they want.

Gap Adventures has also launched the exciting new competition, ‘Create Your Own Adventure’ which invites travellers to submit their dream itinerary for the chance to win a place for themselves and two friends. The winning entry will then be featured in the 2011 brochures as the signature trip for the 20th Anniversary.

“This is an excellent way for travellers to express their perfect, once-in-a-lifetime trip and for one lucky winner, the dream will become a reality,” says Poon Tip.

Gap Adventures top ten tips for the next 20 years are:

1 Once in a lifetime trips
We will see less travellers going on package holidays and more embarking on life-changing adventures. They want memories and experiences they can boast about.

2 Embrace the bizarre
Travellers don’t want to see the ordinary any more. They will travel to new destinations and take part in new activities to really see and experience the weird and wonderful.

3 Do The Right Thing: Give Back
From our customers, we have learnt that people love the feeling of giving back to the communities they have visited. Volunteering holidays are more affordable and accessible than ever and over the next 20 years these will soar in popularity.

4 Love Changing Lives
People love to better themselves so combining a personal accomplishment with travel is the ideal situation. The next 20 years will see travellers booking trips to do something they’ve always wanted to do in order to better their lives. This can be anything from visiting that lifetime dream destination or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to learning to cook in South America or even rehabilitating wild animals.

5 The staycation was a passing craze
Travellers are bored of home and are realising that holidaying in the UK isn’t always cheaper. They will now want to spread their wings and get their kicks further afield.

6 Working sucks – travelling doesn’t
Many people who have lost their jobs over the past few years have turned the situation on its head and used their time wisely. They have eloped to see the world. By 2030 more people will choose to take some time out in search of thrills and experiences.

7 Edgy destinations are on the up
Travellers obviously want to be safe when they visit new countries but with so many new destinations opening up to global tourism, the world has never seemed bigger. People are also becoming more travel savvy and with this comes curiosity. Travellers will begin to venture to new locations that were once viewed as risky, Columbia, Burkina-Faso and Bhutan being prime examples.

8 A whole new world
Travellers want so much from a trip now and want to see places that are a world away from what they’re used to. People crave extremes and as a result will travel to the ends of the earth to do so. The next 20 years will see destinations such as Antarctica and Spitsbergen growing in popularity.

9 Create Happiness and Community
What is the point of travelling to a whole new country and not experiencing how the locals live? People are craving more meaningful adventures now and want a chance to interact with the local people, traditions and customs. By 2030, more travellers will be staying in basic, locally-owned accommodation or with local families in villages. They will experience all types of accommodation – from gurs to igloos.

10 One trip, more countries
In today’s society everyone is time poor. Not all people can spare weeks on end to travel. That is why it is becoming increasingly common to cram as much as they can into the time they have. Over the next 20 years, we will see a rise in people who crave a diverse itinerary, with one itinerary taking in two or three countries as we are seeing in the 2,000 plus itineraries which have been created through www,createyourownadventure.com.

- Ends -

About Gap Adventures and the new online competition – Create Your Own Adventure
Gap Adventures was established in 1990 by avid adventurer, Bruce Poon Tip. The Canadian entrepreneur is still at the helm of the company, which is now the world’s largest independently-owned adventure tour operator, offering more than 1,000 small group experiences, safaris and expeditions on all seven continents to more than 100,000 travellers a year.
The company’s worldwide adventures focus on wildlife encounters, active travel and cultural interaction, appealing to those who want to get off the beaten track and experience local culture. Its non-profit organisation, Planeterra was established in 2003 as a way the company and its passengers can give back to the communities visited around the globe.
Gap Adventures has recently launched its brand new, global online competition – Create Your Own Adventure. This exciting contest invites everyone from once-a-year travellers to seasoned globetrotters to submit an itinerary for the tour of their dreams, virtually anywhere in the world, virtually any way they want. The winning entry—determined through online public polling and input from a panel of world-renowned judges—will be featured in a Gap Adventures brochure in 2011.
Everyone with a winning tour idea can log on to Create Your Own Adventure and use the customised itinerary engine to select up to three countries to include as part of their trip, a name and duration for the tour and a selection of highlights and activities. They will then be asked to provide a summary of why they think theirs is an adventure like none other. Deadline for submission is 31 March, 2010.

For further information
Rebecca Holloway / Jill Duffell / Laura Collins
Rooster PR
Tel: 020 7953 7416 / 7419 / 7519
Email:rebecca.holloway@rooster.co.uk/jill.duffell@rooster.co.uk/ laura.collins@rooster.co.uk