The 2020 New York Times Travel Show

Reporting and photos by Natalia Orzhekhivska

There’s probably no better place to obtain insight into future travel trends than the annual New York Times Travel Show, held this year January 24-26.

This year the show was held as the travel industry braced itself for the impact of the Coronavirus outbreak in China - and the cancelation of untold numbers of bookings from that country as the authorities wrestle to contain the spread. In 2018, Chinese tourists, according to one estimate, spent a total of $130-billion overseas.

The show attracts more than 35,000 attendees, with over 700 exhibitions from some 175 countries - making it the largest travel trade and consumer show in North America.

My Savvy Traveller was an accredited media participant and we managed to pick up some startling numbers which underline the importance of the sector to the global economy.

In 2018, the 8th sustained year-in-a-row of sustained industry growth, saw 14-billion international tourism arrivals. By one estimate, the global tours and activities market will reach US$183-billion by 2020. And globally, 1 in 10 jobs are linked to the travel and tourism industry.

Among the most recent upcoming star destinations are Portugal and Vietnam, with visitor numbers growing by 20-30 percent annually. By 2030, it is estimated that more than half of international tourists will be heading for emerging economies (hence we noticed countries such as Ukraine with a presence at the show this year).

At the 2020 Travel Advisories Conference, we discovered that travellers who use travel advisors spend about US$14,670-a-year, or about $4,015-per-trip. We also learned that the majority of people who turn to travel advisors are in the 55+ age group, followed by the 35-54 age group. Just a small percentage of under 35’s use travel services - reflecting a well-known preference of millennial travellers to book independently.

Said one expert on marketing travel advisory services: “You have to do something different if you want your customers coming back.”