Trust is more than ever a central concern for travel purchasers. By nature, product cannot be tried before purchase, and businesses on Web must still overcome a healthy skepticism about trustworthiness of companies and offers they discover online. Speedy decision-making is also important, as most frequent travelers are often also most pressed for time; particularly as number of competing tourism choices threatens to overwhelm their ability to choose.

There is an important opportunity for "experts" to support decision-making about tourism purchases. Agents and intermediaries which add real value with their specialist expertise and personal service will remain relevant and successfully navigate shifting roles in travel distribution. New demand and opportunities for sustainable tourism

Even smallest operators, like community-based tourism groups, can generate their own demand. Where distributors remain necessary, they can negotiate distribution from a position of greater strength, and reduce price pressure on their tourism products.

While price pressures and competition have characterized most parts of industry, there has been sustained or increased demand for luxury accommodations, tours, and other travel packages. The trends are not mutually exclusive within one set of purchase decisions: "Luxury travelers" may choose budget transportation, expensive accommodations, and adventure tours (which might previously have been seen as incongruous choices). More consumer access to information, better product customization, and more attention to demand-led marketing are both revealing and producing more complex travel purchase habits. The "package holiday" approach to tourism products may be on its way out. An increase (2-3% from 1993-2003) in tour customizations may be related to this trend toward individualization.

Active travelers have not been deterred by security concerns, but have also traveled more regionally. Self-identified "active travelers" intend to increase travel expenditures over next few years. According to World Tourism Organization, "active travelers" rate available activities higher than destination in terms of importance to their purchase decisions.

Eco-tourism, nature tourism, hard adventure, soft adventure, sports tourism, and health tourism count among top growth sectors. For example, World Tourism Organization estimates that market for nature tourism is increasing at 6 times rate of tourism overall.

There appears to be evidence for a "self-actualization" dividend (if not a "green dividend") for tourism sales. There are signs of increasing interest in travel for reasons of personal growth, assertion of individuality, human connection, and "authentic experience", among segments of major outbound markets. These segments overlap markets for "luxury experience" and new, "exotic", "individual" consumer goods. These travelers appear more flexible about price ("price elastic"), when they can be convinced that an experience offers significant additional value (in terms of interests listed above).

These consumer and lifestyle groups have been called "Cultural Creatives" in USA; "New Authentics", "Style-Lifers" and "Neo-consumers" in Europe (the groups and findings represented by these terms are not totally interchangeable, but appear to overlap more than not on characteristics important to tourism decisions). As an example of these groups' significance: original research done about "Cultural Creatives" showed they represent 25% of adult U.S. population at time of study—the polling group American Lives estimates that they amount to 50 million people including both U.S.A. and Europe. Find links to defining marketing studies in Resources section at www.Leave-Home.com.

The desirability of market segments which use travel consciously as a means of personal growth and a defining "lifestyle accessory" will lead to increased use of "lifestyle marketing" through partnerships with producers of psychologically-associated products and related organizations. These tourists require different marketing approaches; they appear not to respond well to direct marketing, for example; are avid media consumers; and tend to require corroboration of information from a trusted authority or personal acquaintance.

Sustainable tourism products are poised to take advantage of preceding trends, as lifestyle products in line with demand for organic foods, Fair Trade products, and "natural health-care", all "luxury," "individual", and "authentic" products, of demonstrated appeal to people in these "new lifestyle" groups.

Sustainability is of increasing concern to tourism organizations of all sectors. The effort at "greening" tourism is now focus of hundreds of initiatives and conferences, as well as certification efforts, worldwide. Many of largest institutional donors have recognized its validity and value as an approach and a goal, and include sustainability as a central criterion in their development packages—and major donors are increasingly turning to tourism development to achieve overall development goals.

Sustainability will increase in importance as a central part of donor organizations' project goals, project recommendations, and donation criteria. Economic viability, as a component of sustainability and project value, will be of increasing concern to donors. (The eco-tourism portal Planeta.com hosted an online conference on eco-tourism financing in 2002. A summary is available on their site.)

(Seattle, USA; August 2004)

Connect tourists with others who have shared a similar experience using stories, testimonials, discussion groups, post-tour photos/mementos, and group reunions, when appropriate. Outbound operators/tourism resellers/packagers

Potentially a very important audience for many attraction or amenities operators, and smaller inbound operators, though direct Internet sales and promotion are reducing reliance on these distribution channels.

Capture reseller's attention.

Demonstrate products and destinations.

Show products' appeal to target/geographical markets of reseller.

Demonstrate relation of your products to reseller's products or packages, as well as transportation links or facilitating services involved.

Reassure reseller of your professionalism and capability of your staff. Support these claims with testimonials from satisfied tourists.

Present marketing tools, images, and information about your products which will help reseller's to distribute your products. Government and private funders

Usually a secondary audience for tourist organizations, but an important one; particularly for tourism development projects which are dependent upon financial support.

Capture attention of potential funder.

Demonstrate that project meets social, economic, development, and environmental goals of funders and their constituency, or convince them of importance of your goals.

Introduce proposed or existing products.

Demonstrate any necessary input, participation, and approval from important constituencies within tourism host communities; and from suppliers, service providers, and distributors.

Demonstrate competency.

Address target markets of tourism products and demonstrate projected economic viability based on their demand.

List concrete outputs that will be made possible by funders' involvement.

(Seattle, USA; August 2004)