Tourism'S Changing Face: New Age Tourism Versus Old Tourism

Times are changing and so are the demands and expectations of the 'new' traveller, the search for different experiences, different adventures, different lifestyles has paved the way for this concept called the 'new tourism' Attention is being turned to exploring new frontiers or daring to go where traditional thought did not allow. "New" tourists however, are increasingly being seen to be environmentally sensitive, displaying respect for the culture of host nations and looking to experience and learn rather than merely stand back and gaze. "New" tourists are participators not spectators. Things that would never appear on the list of the "mass" tourist such as adventure, getting of the beaten track and mingling with the locals are now the foundations of the new tourist experiences. Responding to the shift in market dynamics towards a "New" style of tourist, a number of initiatives have or are likely to fuel the growth of experiential tourism, these include: network tourism initiatives; the development of interpretive highways; the explosion of interpretive centers;the latest trend towards regional base camps. A new era has arrived, and a new kind of tourism is emerging, sustainable, environmentally and socially responsible, and characterized by flexibility and choice. A new type of tourist is driving it: more educated, experienced, independent, conservation-minded, respectful of cultures, and insistent on value for money. Typically these tourists are turning away from travel and prefer to have a high level of involvement in the organisation of their trip.