November 02, 2015 – LONDON – Euromonitor unveiled today the WTM Global Trends Report 2015 identifying the top emerging travel trends:

The new American dream: work less, play hard A growing number of American companies offer unlimited vacation time to create a happier, loyal and motivated staff, which will have an effect on travel bookings.

Smart technology drives travel to UK’s secondary cities Digitalisation and hi-tech solutions are redefining the tourist offerings of UK urban centres to boost travel outside of London, currently the jewel in the crown of UK tourism.

‘Hipster Holidays’ revolutionise European city break Young and hip travellers’ interest in alternative city areas opens new business opportunities and helps diversifying urban attractions in European cities struggling with excessive tourism.

Travel 3.0: the advent of smart travel Smart technology is transforming the tourism industry with personalised services to create enjoyable experiences suited to a traveller’s individual preferences.

Iran: the next travel hotspot The recent sanction lift sparked a scramble to open Iran to international visitors, attracted by its ancient Persian history, 17 World Heritage Sites, as well as natural attractions.

Technology Start-ups changing the face of Africa With technology start-ups flourishing across the continent, Africa is entering a new era of innovation, which will help change the perception to international tourists.

Luxury hotels keeping in with the crowd Luxury hotels are turning to crowdsourcing and crowdfunding to get their properties financed, rather than relying on traditional sources of investment.

The sharing economy heads to China After a shaky start, the sharing economy is taking off in China, with the rise of new local players in 2014, a trend boosted by the number of Chinese millennials.

Travel for the Indian unbanked Travel firms are adopting ‘cash-on-delivery’ payments to cater to the half a billion Indians without a bank account.

Download the report here: http://bit.ly/wtm-emi-15