TRAVEL TRENDS
Travel trends for 2018 are, well, so last year. Here are some of the types of trips people are likely to be taking in 2019 — and why
POINTS OF THE COMPASS
A recent survey found that 49 per cent of travellers feel social issues, such as human rights and working conditions, aff ect where they travel – with more than half ( 58 per cent) refusing to travel to a destination if they feel it will have a negative eff ect on the people who live there. Given that the Pride fl ag has always been a sign of welcoming, it’s fi tting that Pfl ag Canada, a nonprofi t organisation supporting Canada’s queer community, created a global website that turned the rainbow fl ag into a bar graph with each of the colours measuring one of six key metrics of acceptance. The website’s algorithms collect global data relating to marriage equality, sexual activity laws, gender- identity protection, anti- discrimination laws, civil rights and liberties, and social media sentiments. This snapshot provides for a possible total score of 100. Maybe not surprisingly, some places scored in the teens ( Bali, Singapore) or even lower ( Doha with 10) while Berlin and Madrid racked up 79 points and Sydney scored 75. Cardiff and Edinburgh both just outscore London with 70 to 69.
destinationpride.org
VOLUNTARY EFFORT
If your idea of travel is driven by a desire to volunteer, you need to make sure you sign up with a company you can trust. Global Volunteers launched in 1984 and introduced trips of interest to LGBT+ travellers four years ago. All the programmes have been vetted to ensure volunteers feel safe and are welcomed by the local community. Most of the LGBT+ schemes are based around teaching English, numeracy and other skills in places such as the Cook Islands in the South Pacifi c, while a few others include more manual labour like landscaping, and renovating buildings in Costa Rica.
lgbt.globalvolunteers.org
VEGAN TRAVEL
Knowing where your diet choices will be easily met is vital for the growing population of vegan travellers. In 2016, The Vegan Society estimated there were just over half a million vegans in the UK, compared with a 2018 survey which revealed the number has risen to more than 3.5million. So it’s good that luxury travel agency Vegan Hotels offers a bounty of beautiful veganfriendly hotels with the option to discover places based on ayurvedic, macrobiotic and raw diets. And when searching for restaurants, the HappyCo w website and app have the whole world’s network of vegan and vegetarian restaurants mapped out.
veganhotels.com happycow.net
OH ME A SOLO
Not everyone has someone to travel with – in fact, some surveys reveal a 143 per cent rise in “solo travel” across all search engines in the past three years. Responding to this, experts in Asian group excursions Wendy Wu Tours launched trips at the end of last year aimed exclusively at singletons. Wendy Wu says 65 per cent of their guests already travel solo, and some singles holiday operators put the age of travellers between 21 and 90!
wendywutours.co.uk