Demand for ‘Hipster Holidays’ is opening up tourism opportunities in areas of European cities that were once undesirable but are now considered trendy, reveals the WTM Global Trends Report 2015, released today (Monday 2 November) at World Travel Market London.
The movement is changing the landscape of the traditional city break, with more visitors wanting to explore areas outside the mainstream. Many cities are encouraging the boom, as it diversifies urban attractions and helps to avoid the growing problem of overcrowded city centres.
A ‘hipster’ can be defined as a person who follows the latest trends and fashions, especially those outside the cultural mainstream. Hipsters live in ‘edgier’ areas and visitors are seeking out these neighbourhoods to experience hipster culture such as pop-up restaurants, vegan cafes, independent shops and craft galleries.
Sites such as Airbnb and its peers have played a central role in opening up hipster areas to tourists. With a lack of hotels in these neighbourhoods, private rentals are often the only option, reveals the WTM Global Trends Report, in association with Euromonitor International, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary at WTM London 2015.
Local residents are spotting new business opportunities, providing authentic hipster tours of specific city districts, while online travel guides including Likealocal and TravelsofAdam list up-to-date reviews of the ever-changing hipster scene.
There appears to be a battle among European cities for the title of ‘hipster capital’. But while many places lay claim to the accolade, leading areas include Kreuzberg in Berlin, District VII in Budapest and Miera iela in Riga.
In London, Dalston is the key hipster destination; in Barcelona it’s Gracia, while in Amsterdam it’s Amsterdam Noord, reveals the WTM Global Trends Report’s list of key 2015 European hipster destinations. However, the districts are constantly changing.
Euromonitor International, Head of Travel, Caroline Bremner said: “The hipster trend will evolve as destinations become more popular and mainstream, resulting in other edgier locations becoming the new alternative haunts.
“Boutique hotels have started opening up in hipster areas, but hotel chains are likely to struggle due to the independent nature of consumers.
“The exception is for budget hotel brands and those providing a trendy alternative edge such as the Hotel Rival in Sodermalm in Stockholm, which is located in a former cinema.
World Travel Market, Senior Director, Simon Press said: “Trailblazers are the mainstay of the ever-changing tourism industry and the ‘Hipster Holiday’ phenomenon is helping to change the landscape of city breaks for good, providing an alternative for visitors to Europe’s major cities.
“East London, where WTM takes place, is the perfect example of this. The area has transformed beyond all recognition since WTM moved to ExCeL in 2002 and is now a must-visit, happening and iconic part of London that attracts everyone – be they hipsters, tourists or well-travelled business people.”
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About WTM Global Trends Report, in association with Euromonitor International
Celebrating 10 years of partnership, the leading global travel event World Travel Market (WTM) and strategic global market research provider Euromonitor International are pleased to reveal the top travel trends in the WTM Global Trends Report 2015, in association with Euromonitor International. For ten consecutive years, the report has been at the forefront of accurately predicting major travel trends around the world, looking at how the travel industry is developing in a rapidly changing landscape. The WTM Global Travel Trends Report, in association with Euromonitor International, offers an insight into to the size and shape of travel and tourism and identifies pressing industry issues, emerging brands, destinations and demographics, growth categories and consumer trends.
About World Travel Market London
WTM London, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
Almost 51,500 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.
WTM London, now in its 36th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals. WTM 2014 will generate around £2.5 billion of travel industry contracts.
WTM London is part of Reed Travel Exhibition’s World Travel Market events, which also includes Arabian Travel Market, World Travel Market Latin America and World Travel Market Africa. www.wtmworld.com
World Travel Market Events
World Travel Market is comprised of the leading leisure travel events in the world; World Travel Market London, WTM Latin America in Sao Paulo, WTM Africa in Cape Town and Arabian Travel Market in Dubai.
New events for 2016 are WTM connect Asia and WTM connect China, which join WTM connect Ski and International Golf Travel Market. These unique one-to-one events are targeted at leisure and niche travel markets, allowing exhibitors to exclusively meet with elite hosted buyers.
The World Travel Market events are attended by the global travel and tourism industry’s senior executives to conduct business deals and discover the latest research, insight and opinion.
In 2014, the World Travel Market events facilitated around $7 billion in industry deals from negotiations between the more than 15,000 buyers, 9,500 exhibitors (1,500 main stand holders and 8,000 stand sharers) in attendance of its four events.
WTM is part of Reed travel Exhibitions, the leading events organizer in the travel industry, and is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions.
Reed Travel Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry. Its wide-ranging portfolio of events around the globe covers leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
RTE, which organises more than 22 events around the world, includes three divisions; World Travel Market, IBTM Events and International Luxury Travel Market.
RTE is a business unit of Reed Exhibitions.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 500 events in 43 countries. In 2014 Reed brought together over seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 41 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of the RELX Group plc, a world-leading provider of information solutions for professional customers across industries.
About Euromonitor International
Euromonitor International is the world’s leading provider for global business intelligence and strategic market analysis. We have over 40 years of experience publishing international market reports, business reference books and online databases on consumer markets. We deliver market research solutions to support strategic planning for today’s increasingly international business environment. Our research offers in-depth market analysis on consumer goods and services industries worldwide, as well as economic, demographic and socio-economic data and insight on countries and consumers. Euromonitor International is headquartered in London, with regional offices in Chicago, Singapore, Shanghai, Vilnius, Sao Paulo, Santiago, Dubai, Cape Town, Tokyo, Sydney and Bangalore, and has a network of over 800 analysts worldwide.