Chris Anderson demonstrates in his book, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, that the future of business is in selling more of low-volume products.  What consumers really want is choice – and as long as a wide range of products continue to make a small profit for their vendor, the overall profit will continue to grow.

The travel industry has witnessed the rise of this phenomenon as much as any other. With the rise of low-cost carriers and a plethora of hotel sub-types such as luxury, eco and spa, the Amateur-Expert Traveller is becoming used to getting what he or she wants. The panel of experts we consulted generally agreed with the view that “the future of the travel business is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the distribution curve”. We asked them to rate the opportunities of potential niche markets:

Family-friendly travel was a market that our experts overwhelmingly viewed as a major opportunity; but there are more specific, emerging niche markets to consider as well. ‘Green’ travel is an area which could continue to grow as issues of sustainability become even more prominent in the consumer’s mind – so they might want to travel by boat or train, rather than plane, and stay in a hotel with grey-water plumbing. Another particularly specialised niche is religious travel. Though this caters to a small and limited group of consumers, they have very specific needs, and 22% of our experts viewed this niche as a major opportunity. Established niches will continue to be popular and even grow – weddings abroad, for example, or adventure travel, loved by thrill-seekers the world over. Even aircraft charter was identified as a potential niche.

The one thing a customer can’t buy online is expertise. This is where the travel agent is as invaluable to the customer as the customer is to the agent. Providing expertise or specialisation across many small niche products is an ideal way to compete in an increasingly web-dominated environment. The Amateur-Expert Traveller is evolving, just like travel services themselves. In the future niche travel may be more in demand than ever as customers realise that not only can they travel to the particular destination they want, but they can also have a choice of transport, have a choice between eco hotels and luxury hotels, and fit the activities on holiday to their own lifestyle and interests.