The company’s lifestyle of staying engaged and placing a priority on healthcare was the inspiration for the release of EF Adventures. The leading academic learning organization with a men’s and women’s professional racing team is EF World Journeys, which owns a people’s and children’s division of EF Education First. EF Adventures launches with a passion for active travel and will respond to a still vacant market need for adventure vacation that also emphasizes cultural immersion by combining a business culture that values heath with industry trends in the vacation business. At start, EF Adventures may offer more than 20 tours with departures starting in October 2024 to more than 16 countries across the world, with many more walking, biking and multi-adventure tours in development.
Travelers are becoming more active than ever before, telling us immediately that they want more adventure on their trip that includes both learning about the locals, their history, tradition, and food. One of the many factors we’re launching EF Activities is to better assist this growing market demand”, said Heidi Durflinger, President of EF World Journeys Inc., which oversees EF Adventures.
We can better assist these adventurous people who want to experience both cultural immersion and action. We will help our travelers who travel on visit gain more experience in terms of travel and knowledge of global nations. We look forward to finding new ways to help them practice and learn about the world we live in by extending our years in the business as an experienced, guided tour operator to different age groups of mature travelers booking with EF Adventures.
Tour selection and design prioritizes sustainability, factoring in overtourism concerns, as more intimate groups of travelers are brought to off-the-beaten-path locales with a focus on engaging local businesses.
Nearly a third of travelers felt that these tours lacked cultural immersion in the destinations they visited, compared to more than half of the international travelers we polled. Similarly, travelers are expressing disappointment about lodging and food quality. We aim to change that. We think EF Adventures can and will provide a better adventure tour experience for these travelers looking to better understand this world, whether it is by bike in Spain, hike in the Alps, or kayak in Costa Rica,” Durflinger said.
The Survey Says: A Better Adventure Tour is in Demand
In July 2024, EF Adventures and Qualtrics Research collaborated to investigate over 1000 North American travelers who had traveled abroad in the last three years, with the vast majority ( 84 % ) planning to do so once more in the next 24 months.
Are people traveling abroad getting more active?
- 75 % of travelers said they want to be more active while on vacation.
- 79 % of travelers said they liked the idea of an active vacation where they are also learning about the destination ( people, history, culture and cuisine ) they’re visiting.
- 80 % of travelers said they found adventure travel to be exciting.
More than half of the international travelers surveyed ( 55 % ) said they had previously booked adventure travel experiences with a tour operator or a self-guided online travel agency. In addition, 85 % of those respondents said they would consider booking another active/adventure tour in the future ( with the same travel company or a different travel company ).
What prevents people from using tour operators to book adventure travel? Any hesitation?
30 % of international travelers surveyed said their immersion in local culture could have been better when asked what they thought was missing from their adventure travel experience. Over one-third of travelers surveyed ( 34 % ) said the overall quality of the tour was lacking, inclusive of lodging, food, transportation and equipment. And finally, 28 % wanted more free time on tour to explore on their own.
Takeaway: Adventure + cultural immersion is key!
The adventure travel experience includes pushing past our physical limits, overall well-being, and overcoming personal fears, but these are only a small portion of the total, and for the survey’s respondents, this is not even the most significant aspect of these trips. The number one reason adventure travelers choose to travel is to “immerse myself in new cultures.”
Travelers who surveyed found it to be true that they wanted to interact with people, places, and cultures more frequently while traveling abroad. 84 % of travelers on an adventure tour also anticipate seeing the world’s most famous and historic sites.
Traveler affinity matters
Nearly half of international travelers surveyed ( 48 % ), said they prefer to engage in adventure travel activities with a group they most identify with or feel most connected to, e. g., solo travelers, gender-specific groups, LGBTQIA+, immediate family, existing friend or friends. The stats:
- 44 % identify as women
- 24 % identify as men
- 14 % identify as members of the LGBTQIA + community
- 21 % of travelers want to travel with families
- 20 % of travelers identify as singles
- 17 % of Travelers identify as couples
- 7 % of travelers identify as divorced
- 6 % of travelers identify as widowed
About EF Adventures
EF Adventures is a new culturally immersive, guided adventure tour operator with more than 20 tours in 16 countries across the world. Launching in September 2024 as part of the EF World Journeys family of experiential travel brands, the company brings more than 30 years of operational experience running tours for adults of all ages. EF Adventures will offer varied forms of active travel focused on well-being and cultural immersion accessible to varied levels of fitness and age groups, including of biking and e-biking tours, hiking and walking tours, and tours with a blend of adventure activities, inclusive of yoga, watersports like kayaking, and multitude of other experiences in development.
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