Travel in 2017: Start Learning Chinese and Changing Your Eating Habits
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 10.18.07 | 2:59 PM ET
The Freakonomics guys aren’t the only ones this week with an eye on the future of travel. Forbes delivered a special report about “The Future,” which features some provocative speculation on travel in the year 2017 from World Hum contributor Elisabeth Eaves. Among her predictions:
“[A]s the middle class grows in India and China, the number of Western travelers is shrinking as a proportion of total global tourism. The new Asian travelers want to see their own countries and their neighbors, as well as traditional tourist hotbeds like Paris and Rome. The importance of learning Chinese as a second language grows in destination countries, and Western travelers learn that their tastes in food and accommodation may no longer be hoteliers’ first priority.”
Another prediction: People will want to see grit. “Urban Africa,” Eaves writes, “becomes a popular destination.”
No word on whether I’ll be able to stop complaining about a lack of leg room.
Related on World Hum:
* China to Become World’s Top Tourism Destination by 2014
* The Freakonomics Quorum on Air Travel
Photo by avlxyz, via Flickr (Creative Commons)
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
Inwit 10.19.07 | 10:10 AM ET
Given the fact that you currently see so many Japanese at all tourist hotspots and that China has 1000x the population of Japan your prediction may be right.
I come from the eastern part of Germany which was communistic until 1990. Travel was highly restricted to other socialistic countries.
When the wall came down, one of the peopleŽs first desire was to travel the world and enjoy the new freedom.
I think weŽll see a simmilar effect with China in the near future.
Melanie Galligher 10.19.07 | 1:28 PM ET
I could have sworn I saw a link to an article on living/retiring aboad, somewhere inexpensive, etc. I can’t find it now…could you send me the link?