Contiki's brand refresh shines a spotlight on what travelers are craving most and how to best deliver the experience.
Social travel may be a new term, but it's something that people have always been craving when they seek out new experiences: Connection. Contiki has found that social travel means bringing a group of like-minded people together on a trip all designed around the phenomenon that our experiences are heightened when shared with others.
The concept is wildly popular. Contiki research revealed that 97 percent of Australians have a positive feeling toward Social Travel along with the U.K. and Europe (96 percent), New Zealand (91 percent) U.S. (87 percent) and Canada (83 percent).
There are three core pillars to the idea of social travel. Survey participants associated the concept with travel that offers new experiences (72 percent), making friends (64 percent) and good memories (59 percent).
While Contiki sorts out all the details of a trip and handles the logistics, guests traveling with the company are able to enjoy each other's company and focus on making connections.
"Interestingly only half of participants stated 'sharing experiences' as one of the appeals of Social Travel, but this dramatically increases to almost 98 percent once the trip has concluded. The biggest shift in any of the original appeals," Contiki's chief marketing officer Simon Llanos said.
"So, while we might not initially realize its appeal, our unconscious does and craves this kind of connection," added Llanos. "Our sensory experience is changed depending on whether it is shared or not. The shared is more intense than unshared, leaving it as the number one appeal on exit surveys. Our job is to help our travelers understand this before they depart-it's going to be great".
A Yale University study found there is a powerful psychological impact when people share experiences. The finding noted that people found chocolate more enjoyable when sampling it in a group setting.
Contiki, which has long catered to group travelers, has found that a growing number of solo travelers joining its groups are enjoying their time making new connections and friends through shared experiences.
Contiki's commercial and product development director, Natasha Lawrence, said "We're seeing a steady increase in solo travelers, that really ramped up between 2018-19 and continues to grow close to 10 percent year on year. It is now our most dominant traveler type."
Social travel trips provided by Contiki are designed to quickly create a strong group dynamic where strangers are not strange for very long and travelers quickly become integrated with one another so that there is little competition for attention or thought. This leads to a sense of camaraderie.
"It stands to reason that a Contiki Social Travel trip filled with travelers on the same wavelength enhancing each other's experience would be an ideal fit for a solo traveler," said Lawrence. "Travelers meet people from all over the world, both travelling solo and in small groups, but all aligned on having the best time ever. It's nice to know you can get this great travel experience even if your friends are pro 'ghosters' when it comes to actually sorting the details."
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