Travel Trends 2015: Myanmar tagged as the top “emerging” destination

In a recent survey conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP, participating members of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) named Myanmar, for the third year in a row, the top “emerging” destination foreseen to gain popularity in 2015, followed by Cuba, Croatia, Iceland, India, Peru, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Panama.

“What’s really interesting about these results is that Cuba debuted for the first time at the very impressive position of second behind Myanmar,” said Terry Dale, president and CEO of USTOA. “This validates current and growing demand for travel to Cuba, especially given recent news about the US and Cuba reopening diplomatic relations that could include discussion of travel restrictions.”

When asked to name the top ten destinations for travelers in 2015, active members ranked Italy as number one, followed by United Kingdom, China, Peru, France, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, Brazil and Vietnam.

Based on revenue of sales, USTOA tour operator members reported California, Hawaii, New York, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Washington DC, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Texas the top 10 domestic destinations for 2014. The top ten international destinations for 2014 were Mexico, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, France, Italy United Kingdom, Aruba, Bahamas, Germany and Costa Rica.

Demand for experiential and culturally immersive travel remains high with members offering programs in a variety of categories. Nearly three fourths (71%) of USTOA membership provide travel and tour packages that offer art and culture, and family/multi-generational programs, with 64% offering culinary and more than half (57%) providing adventure focused packages. When asked to rank the programs based on sales, multi-generational/family, art and culture, and adventure rank consecutively the highest.

Who’s Traveling

When asked who’s traveling, members responded that about half of their customer base is baby boomers at 50 years of age and older. The next largest age group was 36 to 50 years old representing 26% of customers. Two thirds (66%) of business booked was by US residents traveling to international destinations, with 21% by US residents traveling domestically.

Growth Ahead

Member operators are confident about business in 2015: 95% anticipate a growth in sales in 2015. Of that majority, two thirds (62%) forecast “optimistic” to “boom year” growth with sales approaching 10% or more. A little less than a third (29%) remain cautiously optimistic that sales will increase 4-6% in 2015.

“While our members view the upcoming year optimistically, they recognize the potential threats that could impact this positive outlook,” added Dale. Three-fourths (74%) of members named natural disasters, followed by pandemics and other health crises (67%), as the leading concerns that could impact their growth prospects in the next three years. The next potential threat was strength of the US dollar, followed by global financial stability, terrorism and lastly, political instability.

USTOA tour operator members contributed $12.5 billion to the U.S. tour operator industry in 2013, representing more than 7.6 million individual travelers. Furthermore, the membership projects a healthy increase in sales in 2014 of 8.7% to $13.5 billion, with a 4.7% increase in individual travelers, to nearly 8 million.