The Rise of the Immersive Traveler in a Time of Global Uncertainty SKIFT REPORT 2016

Skift + Momondo Group Present: The Rise of the Immersive Traveler in a Time of Global Uncertainty

special report

Even in troubling times, travel emerges as the remedy to break down social and cultural barriers between humans around the world. Immersive travelers—those actively seeking to explore and understand their surroundings and the people who live there—are painting a picture of a more open world that shuns isolationism and builds bridges instead of walls.

+ If you have any questions about the report www.skift.com www.momondogroup.com please contact [email protected]. Let’s open our world

Momondo Group shapes, inspires and simplifies travel search for more than a million people every day.

With offices in London, Boston, Copenhagen and Sydney, we power the Cheapflights and momondo brands - building innovative products users love that combine flight and hotel search with inspirational content to open our world.

To learn more, visit momondogroup.com The Rise of the Immersive Traveler in a Time of Global Uncertainty SKIFT REPORT 2016

Table of Contents

Executive Summary 4

Perceptions of Travel in Today’s Geopolitical Climate 5

The Ascent of Cultural Immersion in Travel (in Culturally Complicated Times) 8

Actionable Strategies for Creating an Open World 12

Executive Letter 13

About Us 14

Bio of the Author 14

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Executive Summary

There’s evidence that security issues and violence have been on the rise globally since 2008. The year 2016 has seen suicide bombers in , the Middle East and Asia that killed scores of civilians, while the US suffered from the deadliest gun violence in its modern history. Meanwhile, Britain’s decision to leave the European Union created an international shock both economically and politically.

However, despite perceived travel risks and uncertainty about the global state of affairs, travelers are growing savvier and more resilient than ever. There’s a new kind of geopolitically-aware traveler who remains determined to make the most of the world, live without fear to have deeper, more immersive experiences.

The rise of the Immersive Traveler is linked with four major shifts in the last decade:

(1) The rise of social media and review websites, which allowed travelers to hear about far away destinations and cultures from trusted sources. These tools empowered the traveler to do his or her own research about destinations, rather than solely relying on the mainstream media. Furthermore, the internet and social media also made it easier than ever for individuals to connect with like-minded people, which enables a deeper exploration of their passions and interests, surrounded by a like- minded virtual community. Whether an immersive traveler is particularly interested in architecture, wine, fashion or organic farming, they can explore these interests deeper in new destinations.

(2) Cheap and accessible flight tickets thanks to a competitive industry meant that more people than ever can afford to travel. Low-cost carriers connect the world and bring people together. Moreover, the convenience of being able to look for tickets to any destination online, whether directly with airlines or via that other great enabler of the digital travel age, the flight search engine, has truly given travelers a sense of a more accessible world, as well as empowering them to take travel decisions out of their comfort zones.

(3) The becoming mainstream untapped an infinite world of opportunities for the geopolitically-aware and immersive travelers. Especially as the digitally native population is getting more prevalent in global demographics, an increasing number of people don’t find sharing their belongings with strangers from the internet awkward anymore.

(4) Remote working opportunities and the globally rising culture of virtual offices enable millions of workers around the world to tap into the global workforce from anywhere with internet connection. This allows geopolitically-aware travelers to live in a certain destination and fully immerse themselves in the culture. It also drives local economic growth and boosts global business ties.

These geopolitically-aware travelers, who tend to be a relatively young, well-educated and digitally savvy segment, also play a critical role in creating a more open world, establishing a stronger dialogue across cultures and popularizing the messages of peace and understanding. As they tend to share their positive experiences with their extended circles via social media and review websites, the geopolitically-aware immersive travelers are in a unique position to break the stereotypes and act as a band aid, bringing a world divided with tensions closer.

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Perceptions of Travel in Today’s Geopolitical Climate

When an earthquake in the magnitude of 7.8 shook Nepal in April 2015, Eva Wieners, who had been living in a rural village close to the capital Kathmandu, wasn’t sure whether her daughter was alive.

“The only feeling I can remember is the overwhelming panic and fear that something might have happened to her and that I had no way of protecting her,” said the 32-year-old non-profit consultant hailing from .

Every single house in her small village of Kaule, one hour away from the capital city of Kathmandu, including her own home, had collapsed or were deemed uninhabitable due to damage.

The earthquake killed 8,000 people in Nepal. Wieners and her daughter weren’t harmed—at least not physically. Shocked, upset, yet grateful for being alive, they stuck around and helped with the relief work, in one of world’s poorest countries with limited infrastructure.

As a lifelong traveler, Wieners has seen a lot. This wasn’t her first brush with danger experienced abroad and she knows it might not be the last.

“How do you explain to a child about something you cannot control?” Wieners pondered.

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Having lost her home and living with the risk of another earthquake, Wieners remained in Nepal, continuing with the relief work in her village and having some of the most difficult days of her life. Her friends and family in Germany pleaded with her to come home, asking often, “How much more time do you have to spend abroad? Didn’t you have enough?”

“There are risks wherever you go, no matter what you do,” explained Wieners, who had decided to stay in Nepal following the earthquake, before traveling in Americas afterwards with her daughter. “But you cannot live in fear. You cannot make those fears the central point of your life.”

The way that Wieners feels about travelling the world epitomize the core philosophy of a new kind of savvy, 21st century traveler that has been on the rise in the recent years: The geopolitically-aware and immersive traveler.

In the last decade, the world has seen a myriad of natural and manmade disasters from tsunamis and earthquakes to armed conflicts and urban terrorism in different corners of the world—some of which were also traditional tourist destinations. In some cases, the tourists were even directly the targets of attacks.

According to the Global Peace Index, the world has been a more violent place since 2008. At the same time, the tourism and travel sector has experienced exponential growth globally, a game led and snowballed by immersive travelers like Wieners. The sector is now at its largest, supporting not only the 10 percent of the global GDP, but also 1 in 11 jobs globally.

In fact, in 2015, the travel sector was estimated to grow faster than the global economy. According to World Travel & Tourism Council, the industry contributed nearly $7.6 billion to the GDP and 277 million jobs to the global economy in 2014, and was forecasted to grow by 3.7 percent and employment by 2.6 percent—whereas the global economic growth was a more modest 2.9 percent in the same year.

The global landscape of the risks for travelling has been evolving in many different ways. Violent events like shootings in America, suicide bombings in the Brussels Airport or the tsunami in Indonesia are a proof that such incidents can indeed find the regular travelers as well. However, today’s geopolitically-aware travelers are characterized by their resilience: Even though such tragedies initially might put people off from travelling to certain destinations, life returns to the “business as usual” quicker than ever thanks to the well-informed travelers of the information age.

According to Andrew Shelton, Managing Director of the global flight search engine Cheapflights, it has never been quicker for the search terms on a flight booking platform to return back to normal.

“In the past when a bombing or attack happened, it used to have a longer effect on the travel industry. After the 9/11 attacks, the travelers abandoned the US for a long period of time. But now travelers are more resilient than ever,” Shelton explained.

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“Most people choose to travel and they don’t want to live in fear anymore. When an attack happens, the flight search volumes to that certain destination pick up quicker than ever—typically in two to three weeks.”

The flight search data from Momondo Group verifies Shelton’s sentiment. The attacks that took place in November 2015 created a significant dent in the usual search traffic in Paris, despite the fact that the attacks happened at a traditionally popular time for flight bookings before Christmas. According to company’s data, Paris search traffic was down by 56 percent after the attacks. That said, in January—the typical height of flight purchase season—Momondo Group saw a huge come back for traffic to Paris at an increase of 86 percent. It was the same for February, with a 42 percent rise on the month previous, and a 16 percent rise overall against the benchmark traffic before the attacks.

Shelton also believes that the attitude of travelers with an increasingly geopolitically conscious world reflects to the other events that bring global insecurity. He believes, despite the dystopic scenarios posited by the mainstream media, Brexit and similar events that cause global shock might not have a negative influence on the desire of people to visit the UK or other destinations.

“In the long run, events like Brexit won’t really have an impact on travel,” he stated.

“In fact, there has been a rush of travel to the UK due to the weakening British Pound,” explained Shelton, who added that at Cheapflights they have been experiencing a bigger volume of search for flights for the UK since the Brexit and it’ll likely attract more American and Chinese tourists rather than the traditional European tourists.

Typically a bit younger, well-educated and extremely digitally savvy, geopolitically aware travelers tend to not only adapt to the political changes quickly, but they even make the most of them.

Chart: Are You More Likely or Less Likely to Visit This Summer Following the "Brexit" Vote and the Improved Dollar/Pound Exchange Rate?

No Difference to Me 56.9%

I Don't Know What 'Brexit' Means 15.0%

Less Likely to Visit 14.9%

More Likely to Visit 13.3%

Source: Skift. Survey administed to 1,515 members of the U.S. adult internet population in June 2016, through Google Consumer Surveys.

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The Ascent of Cultural Immersion in Travel (in Culturally Complicated Times)

Image: Screenshot of ’s “Live There” Campaign

Alison Baskerville, a former member of the British Armed Forces and a conflict photojournalist, has witnessed most of the armed conflicts of the last two decades including Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, Somaliland, and Mali—both through her work in the military and as a journalist. Baskerville, who is now also working as a security trainer, believes that the world is not necessarily a more risky or dangerous place, but people are simply more aware of the risks.

“The threat isn’t higher, it’s just more visible,” Baskerville said. “We all now have news apps on our mobile phones that keep sending notifications every five minutes about everything that goes wrong in the world.”

“In the last several years, there was a marginal rise in violence around the world. But in fact, the risks are merely changing nature and evolving,” she added. “After all, security is a personal responsibility. A little common sense, checking the warnings from the foreign offices of the government's, monitoring social media for what’s actually going on and planning thoroughly can go a long way.”

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Not relying merely on the coverage of the mainstream media is a quintessential trait of the geopolitically aware travelers—which is only one of the many ways that the internet assisted the birth of this brave new traveler segment.

“Immersive travelers are a self-perpetuating segment of the market,” adds Shelton. “They tend to share their positive experiences on social media and inform other people about their experiences—so it snowballs.”

The geopolitically conscious traveler owes its advent to the rise of the internet in many different aspects. The internet has completely revolutionized the travel industry and it continues to do so, both for mainstream travelers and those who seek more immersive experiences.

“New technologies changed the travel and made it easier in so many ways than we could ever think of,” said Pia Vemmelund, Managing Director at momondo, a leading travel search and inspiration network, and sister company of Cheapflights within Momondo Group.

Immersive Travel Takes Shape: Personalized Experiences, Cheaper Flights, and the Sharing Economy

Thanks to the internet, it’s easier to customize and personalize experiences, connect with more local residents and thoroughly think outside the box when it comes to traveling. But the internet made the world closer not only figuratively, but also literally too—thanks to the low-cost flights and the convenience of travel search engines. According to Vemmelund, the aviation industry, and its accessibility played a fundamental role in bringing the world closer and help people to make more adventurous travel decisions.

“Flying has never been cheaper and safer. More people than ever can afford to fly. Despite the fact that the airports have recently been a target for the terrorist attacks, new technologies made security checks much better,” added Vemmelund.

Giovanni Donaldson, the co-founder of the experiential travel company, SideStory, believes that when people fulfill their basic needs of travel, their wishes and expectations from travel get more sophisticated and personal—which pushes them to be savvier, more immersive travelers.

“We can think of the travel within the Maslow hierarchy of needs,” he said. “People want to travel, take vacations, decompress and see new things. When they can do these often enough [thanks to the lower cost of travel] they start to crave deeper, richer experiences.”

“[Immersive travelers] seek personal, customized experiences and creating stories rather than doing the same thing as everyone else,” added Donaldson.

Seeking deeper experiences is especially convenient with the rising dominance of sharing economy.

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Particularly the digitally native population doesn’t find sharing things with people they find on the internet awkward anymore. The sharing economy untaps an infinite world of opportunities for travelers, as it enables them to thoroughly taste the slice of life in a new destination, whether through staying in someone else’s home via AirBnb, driving in a local’s car through BlaBlaCar or having a dinner party with locals via Cookening.

Thanks to the recent advancements like the internet, the rising prominence of the sharing economy and the improvements in the aviation industry, people travel more than ever despite the growing risks in the recent years. When people are well-travelled, they tend to be braver and more open to new experiences—snowballing the trend of immersive travel.

“When people go on a holiday, they want to decompress for a week or so. But after that, they look for something different and adventurous. The traditional package holidays don’t really satisfy a certain type of traveler anymore,” added Vemmelund.

Changing paradigm shifts in the global economy also introduces a greater flexibility to working or holiday schedules, which accelerates the number of people who can live in a certain destination for a while.

The New Wave of Digital Nomads

A sub-segment of the geopolitically conscious immersive travelers are the so-called digital nomads, a group of permanent or semi-permanent travelers who lead a location-independent lifestyle by leveraging to technology to work remotely. According to Elance’s 2015 Millennial Majority Workforce report, 79 percent of the workforce would consider quitting their regular job and working for themselves in the future. As the digital-savvy millennial generation overtakes the global workforce, the wave of digital nomadism is only just beginning.

According to Samantha Otter, Global Marketing Director at Cheapflights, the digital nomads, and remote working opportunities are connecting the world in a way like never before.

“The importance of emerging economies and cross-border business collaborations are more important than ever for the world. Digital nomads [and remote workers] living in different corners of the world are excellent cultural and economic bridges,” Otter explained.

“Immersive travelers and digital nomads also tend to boost local economic growth by exchanging ideas and creating new bonds between countries,” she said.

Phil Bloomfield, Global Head of Communications and Public Relations at Cheapflights, believes that the aviation industry, and local airports also contribute to this and boost critical regional growth.

“New airports around the world tend to be regional hubs that attract business and investment. The local economy also picks up around new airports, creating a halo effect that benefits everyone,” Bloomfield explained.

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All in all, geopolitically aware travelers are crucial to breaking the stereotypes, bringing the world closer and starting a dialogue between different cultures to facilitate economic growth and development. This is especially valid in the age of social media since most people tend to share their positive experiences and opinions with their extended circles.

Travel as a Driver of Peace in Areas of Conflict

Furthermore, since local economic development is a big part of peace and conflict resolution, the geopolitically aware brave new traveler can also literally drive peace.

“Sustainable tourism helps a lot of the structures in a country that can create a higher level of peace. When the economies develop, incomes rise and more people move to the ranks of the middle class, countries are less likely to fight,” said Rochelle Turner, research director at World Travel and Tourism Council, who authored the report, Tourism as a Driver of Peace.

To illustrate, Rwanda, which suffered from a heinous genocide in 1994, is now dubbed as “the Switzerland of Africa”. A lot of the recovery happened thanks to geopolitically aware visitors, who didn’t dismiss Rwanda as a destination due to its status as a post-conflict zone, Turned explained. Rwanda isn’t unique with this. In many ‘fragile’ or conflict-affected countries, tourism is often found to be the vector for integration into the global economy according to research by Elsevier. For instance, the Western Balkans, which suffered devastating civil wars in 1990s, has started to tap into its tremendous potential as a tourism destination. The tourism in Balkans didn’t only facilitate significant economic growth, but also forced the countries that have previously been in a war to collaborate with each other.

Immersive travel has the potential cure to many of the world’s current ongoing issues which are rooted in lack of information about other cultures and people. Geopolitically aware and immersive travel is both a consequence and a result of an opener, more peaceful and prosperous world. Vemmelund and her colleagues at momondo became acutely aware of this when they started the “The DNA Journey”—what they describe as ‘a purpose campaign that communicates a message of how an open world begins with an open mind.’

“There are more things uniting us than dividing us, and our differences can be a source of inspiration,” said Vemmelund, a blonde Scandinavian who was surprised to see she had some South Asian genes in her DNA.

“Getting the results was very emotional,” stated Vemmelund. “It turns out that one Englishman who said he hated Germans was German himself according to his DNA. How can this man now say he dislikes Germans?”

Added Vemmelund, “Travel can do the same. It can melt the prejudices and make us realize we are all the same, really.”

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Actionable Strategies for Creating an Open World

Be mindful of the sensationalist media & over-coverage of violence in the news.

The world is not necessarily a more dangerous place in an everyday setting, but thanks to the internet, we are acutely exposed to everything that’s happening. As the mythologies of different civilizations throughout the history can prove, human beings are attracted to tragedies. The sensationalist coverage of the news is exacerbated especially with the rise of online publications that thrive on “click-bait” journalism. There are risks everywhere and the nature of the risks keep evolving depending on the specific locations, economic and political contexts. Today’s traveler had never been more privileged when it comes to the abundance of the information resources. By gaining media literacy to differentiate between sensationalist coverage and factual coverage, the travelers can see beyond the ideological or sensationalist media coverage.

Think like an aware consumer.

With the rise of sharing economy and the review websites, the power dynamics in the travel industry are shifting from companies to consumers. This will likely be the second wave of the internet revolution. There’s an ongoing shift towards responsible and sustainable tourism, which the geopolitically aware immersive travelers will only accelerate. Consumers never had so much power before thanks to the transparency. With informed travel decisions, travelers can contribute to global development and efforts to improve geopolitical understanding, by bringing people together, and they can mimic the Rwanda effect on other parts of the world.

Stay open, stay hungry, stay curious.

Living in fear or making the most of the world is up to the individual. Travelers have more choices than ever, but also many more new risks. The world has always had its share of dangers, whether political, economic, health-related or otherwise and thanks to an ever-quickening news cycle and an insatiable demand for headlines, today those dangers—perceived or otherwise—feel closer than ever before.

But travel is increasingly being used as a counterpoint to those fears, a tool that can combat prejudice, overcome differences and open up the world. Powered by a growing community of digitally savvy immersive travelers, who seek to breakdown social and cultural barriers, travel is on the frontline in overcoming these fears on a global scale.

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Executive Letter

The Rise Of Immersive Travel Against A Backdrop Of Global Turmoil

Let’s embrace the power of travel to open our world.

We have all experienced events that have shaken our beliefs and deeply challenged us. I was brought up in a country rife with the dark cloud of IRA terrorism. I’m sure we all remember the precise moment we saw the twin towers hit, or can relay how reports of global health risks have unnerved us, or how the increased sense of watchfulness and distrust have got under our skin. We have had to make sense of it, take a stand and decide how to react. Today, the imagery of fear, turmoil and terrorism has never been so vivid or close, with unfiltered crowd-sourced imagery and the relentless jostling of the mainstream media. We must not let these actions nor perceptions win out.

At the same time, never have so many people travelled around our magnificent world and had their mind opened by new experiences, vistas or points of view. With each flight, car and train journey come new perspectives, understanding and conversations that challenge us to question who we are, and our place in the world. The physical action of travel brings us together at many levels. We are lucky to live an age where travel has never been so global and accessible. Increasingly, we are seeking authentic experiences, to engage, taste and live at a local level, on an unprecedented scale. This needs cherishing, protecting and encouraging.

The reason Momondo Group exists is to open our world—to encourage travel, to make it simpler and to break down the artificial walls around us. We see travel as a weapon to fight prejudice, fight fear, fight division and to bring us together. This is at the heart of what we do and believe. This is an important time not to take travel for granted and to encourage new experiences, whether they are around the corner or in a far flung backwater.

In this time of turmoil and uncertainty, it feels crucial that we seek ways to keep travelling. To keep our world open and not succumb to the opposing forces of closure, inward looking prejudice and fear.

We have commissioned this report in partnership with Skift, to look at the rise of immersive travel— the cutting edge and increasingly popular face of authentic travel, to explore how important this lens is in bringing us together across the world. Why is this happening? What impact does it have on those who do it? Is this part of a broader trend and what does it say about the power of travel? Our dream is that everyone could be an immersive traveller, embracing their opportunity to open our world.

Hugo Burge CEO Momondo Group

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About Us

SKIFT

Skift is a business information company focused on travel intelligence and offers news, data, and services to professionals in travel and professional travelers, to help them make smart decisions about travel.

Founded in 2012 by media entrepreneur Rafat Ali, Skift is based in New York City and backed by Lerer Ventures, Advancit Capital and other marquee media-tech investors.

Visit skift.com for more.

MOMONDO GROUP – www.momondogroup.com

Momondo Group shapes, inspires and simplifies travel search. It operates the Cheapflights, momondo and momondo.pro brands, creating products users love that combine the sourcing of complex air-travel data, online deal comparison and cutting-edge inspiration tools to help more than a million people find great flight and hotel, holiday and travel deals every day. Backed by Great Hill Partners, Momondo Group boasts high performing teams in London, Copenhagen, Boston and Sydney, operating dedicated sites and apps in more than 30 countries and 20 languages globally.

BIO OF THE AUTHOR

Didem Tali is an award-winning journalist who reported from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Her collaborations included , Al Jazeera, BBC, The Guardian, Financial Times, Forbes, NPR, VICE and many more. She holds an MSc in Media, Communication and Development from the London School of Economics. A self-proclaimed immersive traveler, she currently calls Istanbul home.

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