g-Think | Issue 11 | Exotic Goes Mainstream: More travelers go in search of the new and unusual

In a decade that will remain nameless, I would run outside whenever I heard the deep whining of propeller engines belonging to an old Lockhead Electra as it lumbered skyward on its way from my hometown, Wellington, New Zealand, to Melbourne, Australia, 1,300 miles away. I would look up at the roaring monster and imagine the excitement the passengers were feeling—men in suits and ties and women decked out formally in hats and gloves—as they began their six-hour journey across the rough Tasman Sea. To me, Australia, our nearest neighbor, was far removed from my own little world and an exotic destination that I hoped to see for myself someday.

People used to embark from my hometown on their OE (overseas experience), traveling to London and the rest of Europe, with a sense of trepidation, excitement, and a strong feeling of adventure. Going the twelve thousand miles to London was arduous and very, very expensive—a once-in-a-lifetime event. The thought of someone sitting in a café on the Left Bank in Paris, or climbing up to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, filled me with outright jealousy.

Fast forward to 2005, the year when, according to the Airports Council International (ACI), airlines carried a record four billion passengers. Air travel has become so ubiquitous, so normal, that it has changed our concept of distance—and what we consider exotic.

People, of course, travel for all kinds of reasons, but there can be little doubt that the desire to experience ever-more hard-to-get-to and challenging places is more than just a whim; it reflects a deep-seated desire to explore, to challenge ourselves, to recharge our batteries, and to interact with the “real” world. More often than not, we also like the idea of bragging to our friends and family that our trip to Ethiopia was SO amazing.

Today’s boomers spent their youth exploring “exotic” Europe, backpacking with well-thumbed copies of John Fowles’s The Magus or James Michener’s The Drifters. Now, a glance at the media reveals a slew of destinations advertising themselves as the next places to visit. Whether it’s hiking in Morne Trois Pitons in Dominica, snorkeling in Jelly Fish Lake in Palau, Micronesia, or spending a week in the Tufenkian Heritage Hotel on Lake Sevan in Armenia, the cornucopia of the world is available for almost anyone with an Internet connection and a few dollars. Exotic has definitely gone mainstream, and everyone’s getting in on the act.

“Adventure travel” is the term du jour, and it covers all kinds of activities, whether whitewater rafting or interacting with the locals and experiencing local culture. Adventure travel is all about going to places that are hard to get to and that are not overrun with “tourists” or the cruise crowd. Adventure travel is not about staying in five-star hotels with four dining options and upscale boutiques selling duty-free watches.

Advertisers and marketers are well aware of the mainstreaming of exotic travel. A look at print, television, and online media reveals a long list of destinations, countries included, branding themselves to appeal to the adventure market.