There was an interesting small story on travel trends in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper yesterday (available here). A number of emerging and current trends were identified and discussed.

Among these are:

• organised tours using more public transport to take their tour groups around
• visits to smaller restaurants in locations
• ethical holidays where you contribute to a greater good
• holidays that allow travellers to meet locals

Whilst it’s good to see these trends emerging, I think the challenge is still going to be the extent the focus of the experience is on the traveller, the local communities or the integration of both sets of experiences.  To my mind, that is one of the defining characteristics of the LoST experience – the extent the journey and the location are integrated, and the ways in which the traveller’s experiences form part of a move to sustainability for travellers and the landscapes within which they travel. I’ll devote a longer post to this specific issue in the near future.