While the world is quite different from the days when young European men would embark on Grand Tours, with globalisation and advances in technology – the travel bug has only grown stronger. Particularly following a long, isolating pandemic many of us are eager to get out and explore the world again. Reasons for travel can be thought of within broad categories including: Leisure, business, spiritual (pilgrimages), health and dark tourism. Within these categories are many more specific reasons for why people seek to visit another place.
In this article, we’ll outline 5 of the most common reasons people travel in 2023.
To Experience Different Cultures
Travel and tourism is a great opportunity to broaden your cultural horizons and develop a more comprehensive understanding of the world. When you don’t travel, you’re limited to experiencing the world from the media, which is limiting and often biased. When you travel, you have the option to have an authentic, direct experience with a different place, people and culture. This allows you to see the good, bad, and in-between of the place you’re visiting. If you stick with tourist hotspots however, your experience will be more catered and therefore not as much of a change from what you know.
For a Break from Everyday Life
Routine, while comfortable, can become monotonous. Working at your job, looking after the kids, watching television, it can all become a bit mundane without something to occasionally break it up. Travel is a great way to have a new experience and bring in some fun or relaxation to your year. Whether you want to lounge by the beach in Hawaii, or go skydiving in New Zealand – new sights, tastes and activities will help rejuvenate you and hold you over until it’s time for the next trip.
To Visit Family & Friends
In the globalised world, it’s becoming more and more common for people to have relatives and friends living in different parts of the world. While it’s sad to say goodbye, having loved ones abroad is the perfect opportunity to travel and be reunited, helping maintain your connections.
For Business
Business is a big reason people are travelling. In fact, business travel alone makes up 20% of global tourism expenditure, with these travellers spending over $750b USD globally! Business travel is a great way to network, attend a conference in your industry, build relationships with clients, or close a deal. Whatever the reason, many business travellers will need to bring a travel suit bag with them. It’s important that your suits can be transported on airplanes easily. The CoPilot is the ideal bag for business travellers as it allows for wrinkle-free transportation of your suits and garments.
Health & Beauty Tourism
Traveling for health reasons is known as ‘medical tourism’. Millions of people participate in this travel trend every year, and evidence suggests it’s on the rise. The main reasons people travel is for a cheaper cost or because a medical procedure/drug isn’t available where they live. One subset of medical tourism that is quietly thriving is people travelling for beauty surgeries. People travel for botox, liposuction, rhinoplasty and more. The most common countries people travel for cosmetic surgeries are Brazil, Japan, Italy, and Mexico. The safety and security of travelling for this reason is something often discussed by government bodies, so it’s important to do your research and due diligence if travelling for this reason.
This is not an exhaustive list of all the reasons for travelling, but it does highlight some of the most popular motivations. Why do you like to travel?