whilst the motorcycle arm of the industry sees most looking toward Southeast Asia , the Indian subcontinent , and South America high on the priority list . In both instances Africa was placed last as a destination of choice , uncertainty of vaccination and infection rates being a driver .
Surprisingly , solo female travellers drove the numbers across 2021 with around 51 % being women , males only accounted for 38 % ( 11 % unknown ). Not surprisingly , the numbers favour males in the motorcycle tourism side however , solo women motorcycle travellers choosing to use tour companies is increasing .
The future is looking positive with over 80 % of adventure travel businesses expecting to see 2022 profits equal to or better than the previous year . Most suggested that they will increase advertising budgets for 2022 / 23 with an average of 14 % of revenue allocated to promoting regions and experiences .
“ The data is headed in the right direction – more travellers and more bookings mean business is coming back to life ,” Shannon Stowell , CEO of Adventure Travel Trade Association , said eagerly .
“ What ’ s still very unclear is how it ’ s coming back . Recovery will be uneven globally and regionally based on a wide array of factors and we ’ re dealing with an industry ‘ Lego set ’ where some of the pieces are still missing and some are lost forever ,” continued Stowell .
The industry is rebuilding although it will look very different to that of three years ago . It will be an improved model with business priorities change dramatically , continued ‘ pivoting ’ will see further change , some business will hibernate or disappear entirely , others will merge or morph into new enterprises , one thing will stand tall , the adventure / motorcycle tourism industry is resilient and will push on to new experiences . It ’ s a strong community and will only get stronger and more adventurous as we move further away from the pandemic . TRAVERSE
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