The fall 2021 travel trends prove that Americans are desperate to get up out of the house and get back out into the world.

But there’s a catch: travel is no longer focused on the destination. Rather, it’s focused on the people.

“According to tourism academic Fabio Carbone, post-COVID tourism is also expected to focus more on people than destinations,” reports The Conversation. “Those eager to get away from measures like social distancing will likely use travel to embrace existing relationships with loved ones living abroad or seek new encounters. Carbone suggests that because of this, post-Covid tourism will pivot toward prioritizing human development, dialogue, and peace.”

As can be expected, then, the Fall 2021 travel trends focus less on where you’re going and more on who you’re going with, what makes you comfortable when you go, and how you can maximize your travel when you finally have the opportunity to get away from it all.

With the industry proving to be more and more unpredictable as more strains of “the Rona” emerge, people are jumping at the chance to travel on their terms, with flexibility and comfort, at an affordable cost, and with the people they care about the most.

Let’s take a look at the fall 2021 travel trends, and what you can expect from your next vacation.

Trip Stacking

Unsplash | Christina Wocintechchat

Prior to the pandemic, travelers would book one vacation at a time. In a post-COVID world, though, travelers are booking several vacations at once, in a Fall 2021 travel trend known as “trip stacking.”

“Now a growing number of people are booking two or even three trips over the same travel period in case Covid-related problems ruin their preferred plans,” reports CNBC. “By planning multiple trips to different geographic areas, travelers can also pick the trip that suits their comfort level closer to the time of departure.”

Open Middle Seat

Frontier Airlines
Witthaya Prasongsin

As travel continues to pick up in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more travelers are beginning to board planes — but they want more distance between the travelers.

A study conducted by Virtuoso (via Texarkana Gazette) revealed that 66 percent of all travelers would be more willing to fly if the middle seat was left open.

The Return of the Cruise

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In the same study conducted by Virtuoso, it was revealed that as travel restrictions began to ease up, cruises were becoming an increasingly popular option for beleaguered travelers. 2021 cruise bookings are currently out-pacing 2018 bookings, and river cruises — along with cruises to Mexico and the Caribbean — are proving to be the most popular.

Increased Flexibility in Travel

 

“If we have learned anything over the past year, it is to make sure you are prepared for anything that life might throw your way,” said Fox World Travel. “You have taken the time to plan and book your trip,

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but have you asked yourself, “what’s the plan?” if or when something arises? Adding travel insurance to any vacation helps put your mind at ease so you can focus on what really matters – enjoying your trip.”

Back to Nature

As the demand for fresh open air and wide-open spaces continues, more travelers are making plans to go back to nature. (If this is up your alley, you might want to consider booking a trip to Cobles Landing, the first Black-owned nature preserve in the Southeast.)

Workation

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A portmanteau of the words “work” and “vacation,” “workations” became more popular as remote work became more commonplace. Why would you want to work in a tiny, cramped apartment if you could enjoy the sunny weather and sandy beaches in, saw, the Caribbean for the same price?

Our sister site, AfroTech, sat down for an interview with Ronald Ndoro Mind — the founder of WorkMango, a site specializing in pairing workers with “workation” spots in the Caribbean — and he said that this hot fall 2021 travel trend showed no signs of slowing down in a post-COVID world.

“In the past, you used to have to live and work in a 24-hour city in order to make good, and serious, money,” he told AfroTech. “Places like London, New York City, Los Angeles — the titans of industry — required you to be there and work, work, work. For many, though, that lifestyle isn’t sustainable — not everyone wants to live in a city environment, and living in suburbs has become unaffordable, as well. So, I thought, why not create something where you can love where you live and work from anywhere in the world?”

Travel Pods

Great Wolf Lodge
kali9

In a recent survey conducted by Virtuoso, it was revealed that nearly 80 percent of all travelers would like to travel in what’s called a travel pod.

According to Forbes, the travel pod trend first began in August 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A travel pod is a collective made up of “two or more households whose members have been following similar quarantine and social-distancing practices that make plans to vacation together.”

The travel pod trend is expected to be one of the hottest Fall 2021 travel trends.