Well Heritage Traveler, what do you know? The groundhog saw his shadow and we’re in for 6 more weeks of winter. Just enough time to get ready for the spring and summer travel season. So in the spirit of looking forward to warmth and sunshine, The Heritage Traveler is going to go out on a limb, and give you our take on the top travel trends for Spring and Summer 2010. In no particular order:

1. Slow Travel. Remember? We talked 10 Good Reasons to TRAVEL SLOW early on. Slow Travel is about independence and freedom from rushing from one ‘must see’ location to another. It is about settling into a place for a week or more and seeing it in depth, getting to know its people, connecting to its spirit and culture.

2. Green Travel. Green Travel is designed to reduce the environmental impact associated with tourist activity. It involves a wide range of options that are typically centered around the idea of preserving natural resources and reducing environmental pollution. Like slow travel, taking a ‘green’ approach often makes for a more rewarding, authentic travel experience, encouraging deeper connections with the people and places you visit. Aspects of Green Travel may include:

• Walking, cycling, and using public transport
• Renting “hybrid” vehicles
• Using biodiesel fuels
• Taking advantage of ridesharing and carpools
• Staying at green hotels or lodges
• Booking with a green organization or a green travel provider
• Volunteering some time and giving back to the community you visit
• Offsetting your carbon footprint — making a donation to offset the amount of carbon that your trip expels into the atmosphere.

3. Sustainable Tourism. Sustainable tourism is not the same as green tourism or even ecotourism. It is a way of defining efforts that have a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income and employment for local people. The aim of sustainable tourism is to ensure that development is a positive experience for local people, tourism companies, and tourists themselves.

4. Community-Based Tourism. Community-Based Tourism is tourism in which local residents (often rural, poor and economically marginalized) invite tourists to visit their communities with the provision of overnight accommodation.

• The residents earn income as land managers, entrepreneurs, service and produce providers, and employees.
• At least part of the tourist income is set aside for projects which provide benefits to the community as a whole.
• Community-based tourism enables the tourist to discover local habitats and wildlife, and celebrates and respects traditional cultures, rituals and wisdom.
• The community is aware of the commercial and social value placed on their natural and cultural heritage through tourism, and this fosters community-based conservation of these resources.

5. Pro Poor Tourism. Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) is tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people.  It enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people, so that tourism’s contribution to poverty reduction is increased and poor people are able to participate more effectively in product development. The critical factor is not the type of company or the type of tourism, but that an increase in the net benefits that go to poor people can be demonstrated.

6. Ethical/Fair Trade Tourism. To engage in Ethical Tourism you will want to:

• Learn about the country you are visiting. Do your homework. Know something about the history, geography, economic and political situation of a new land before you arrive.
• Know about the cost of your holiday. Think about where exactly your money is going – is it going directly back to locals, or is it maybe filtering out to multinational corporations?
• Bargain responsibly. Consider the price you would be willing to pay for something, and keep in mind that you are most likely wealthy compared to local people.
• Open yourself to culture. Try to learn about the customs and beliefs of the local people – and expect that they are different than your own. Be prepared to adapt the way you dress, talk, and behave.
• Think about you footprint. Consider the kind of ecological mark you are making on the land – think about your waste, take biodegradable products, bring a water bottle, and conserve resources as much as possible.

7. Do It Yourself. It may be a lot of trouble, but do the research yourself and book your own trip. This way you’ll make sure that you get exactly what you want. It will also ensure that your trip accords with your values and ethics. And it may end up being cheaper and more fun.

The last three trends are for all of you Heritage Lovers.

8. Agritourism. Agritourism is recreational travel to agricultural areas or to participate in agricultural activities. Agritourism:

• Can take place on a farm or ranch
• May include the chance to help with farming or ranching tasks
• May use farms or agricultural villages as a base for exploring the countryside
• Is especially prevalent in wine growing regions.

9. Industrial Heritage Tourism. Industrial Heritage Tourism involves exploring the buildings and artifacts of industry which are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. For example, the European Route of Industrial Heritage is a network of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe.

10. Cold War Heritage Tourism. The New York Times recently had a three page article on Biking the Iron Curtain Trail replete with slideshow, and info on ‘where to stay’ and ‘where to eat’.

Whatever your particular interests, these hot trends for spring should give you some good ideas on how to explore in new — and possibly different — ways. Close on the heels of the 10 trends I listed is an up and comer: VIRTUAL TRAVEL. We’ll talk about this in more detail later. And look for our free Sustainable Travel Dictionary coming soon.

Posted by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe.

Photograph by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe.

Remember the Frank Loesser song about the Slow Boat to China? The verse goes something like this:

I’d love to get you
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself alone.
Get you to keep you in my arms evermore,
Leave all your lovers
Weeping on the faraway shore.

There’s a later song with the same title espousing the same idea. It’s sung by John Prine and you can listen to it here. The idea, of course, was that traveling by boat to China (from almost anywhere in the world) was about as long and slow a trip as one could imagine.

Lately, though, slow travel has become quite trendy. For some travelers, slow traveling means foregoing plane travel. For others, it means traveling independently and staying in one place for at least a week.

Regardless of interpretation, here are 10 good reasons to TRAVEL SLOW:

1. Slow travel is less stressful. There’s no more hurried packing and unpacking, loading and unloading.
2. Slow travel encourages you to make choices about where you want to be and how you want to spend your time.
3. Slow travel makes it easy to have new friends since it involves person-to-person contact and revolves around a deep appreciation of people and place.
4. Slow travel gives you more freedom. You have time to explore a destination thoroughly and to experience the local culture.
5. Slow travel is easier on your budget. If you slow down and stay in one place, your money goes further.
6. Slow travel is personally rewarding. You take the time to savor the countryside, enjoy food and wine, and search out local markets.
7. Slow travel encourages you to engage. It favors visits to spots enjoyed by local residents instead of following impersonal guidebooks.
8. Slow travel encourages personal growth and development. You have time to engage all your senses in adventures of cultural understanding, self discovery and personal enrichment.
9. Slow travel is an exploration of artful living. The emphasis is on deceleration rather than speed.
10. Slow travel gives you time to soak in the Spirit of Place. There is no more flitting from one ‘must see’ place to another.

Unlike Phileas Fogg, we don’t have to race Around the World in Eighty Days. We can choose to immerse ourselves in places and their stories, and at the same time we can enjoy low-impact travel that is respectful of our heritage and our planet. On your next trip, why not give SLOW TRAVEL a try?

Post written by Lisa Reynolds Wolfe.