The world of travel is changing, so before you book with Domestic Flights South Africa and hire your vehicle from Europcar and take to the road, take a look at these 8 top travel trends for 2019. Perhaps one of them will inspire you to visit a new destination or try something new!

  1. ‘Try before you buy’ hotels

Ever spent time in a hotel and thought “oh I just love that”? Latest travel trends now make it possible for you to buy the things you like in the hotels that you overnight in! If you are heading to Shenzhen or Beijing in the near future, you have the perfect opportunity to try out  one of these Japanese hotels by Muji. When you check out, you can leave with your own toothbrush stand, pillows, shampoo bottles, duvets, and even oak chairs.

  1. Social networking for luxury home stays

Book your flights, hire your Europcar vehicle and prepare to stay in luxury home-style while exploring the likes of London, Paris, Rome, and Lisbon. How? The latest social networking trend for luxury holiday stays makes it possible to enjoy a custom experience in an exclusive private home. The Marriott International Hotel Group has homes listed in their “Tribute Portfolio” allowing only vetted members to make use of each other’s luxury homes.

  1. Extreme travel experiences for couples

It’s long been acknowledged that challenging experiences are great for team building in corporate environments, and now we are seeing similar experiences emerge in couple’s travel packages. Couples are looking to push the boundaries together and not just to experience new things, but to experience new extreme things.

The Karakorum Highway in Northern Pakistan is just one example of this. If you are looking for extreme couples travel locally, Dirty Boots offers a variety of packages for you and your partner to try out.

  1. Going the distance alone

Traveling with a partner or a group is a thing of the past. Nowadays, solo travellers are becoming somewhat of a norm.

Have time off and want to get away? Hire that Europcar and head down to Cape Town, Durban, or the Garden Route. In fact, overseas solo travel has become so popular that co-living communes are popping up all over the place. This is where solo travellers can check into a complex or apartment building where other solo travellers are staying. In New Yok there is a co-living company called WeLive that presents apartments, social spaces, programs for events, yoga classes and even shared hot tubs.

  1. Environmentally friendly travel

Ever been called a “tree hugger” because of your environmental impact awareness? You will be happy to learn that the travel industry is changing. And it’s changing to cater to your needs.

In South Africa, the Saxon Hotel in Gauteng has its own herb and vegetable garden and has transformed the hotel space into an eco-hotel. The Salt of Palmar hotel in Mauritius is also self-sufficient with its newly installed hydroponic vegetable garden.

  1. Crypto bookings for travel

While you cannot hire a car from Europcar with your Bitcoin, LiteCoin, or Ethereum just yet, you can book some accommodation venues. While you might not have a virtual wallet jam-packed with cryptocurrency at this point, market trends show that crypto bookings will become the next big thing for the travel industry globally.

  1. Biometric travel processing

Ever stood at the airport frustrated by the length of the queue at the security check point? Tired of hauling your passport or ID out of your bag or pocket every few minutes? Biometric airports are something to expect during the course of 2019. Many people are used to using fingerprint scans and iris scans to access their smart devices. Airports will work on much the same basis. With biometric security check points, time consuming processes will be simplified, saving both time and effort.

  1. Family gap travel

You might have heard of people taking a “gap year” just after matric to travel the world and gain life experience. This is changing as more families are taking weeks, months or even a year off to travel as a family. It’s a great way to bond and ensure that you spend your time with family wisely. Accommodation venues are now catering to larger family group stays with big houses, villas and sprawling apartments.

Hire a Car and Start Exploring

Whether you are traveling overseas or locally, hireyourself a vehicle from Europcar and experience some of these emerging travel trends to add lasting value to your life. Need to book flights and car hire for your next trip? Use our flight search feature and car hire booking feature above.