Have you ever thought of an “Experiential Vacation?”

It sounds exotic, expensive and exclusive. It’s been around since 2007 or maybe even before that, but it’s been thrown into the foreground recently by a TD survey.

The survey found that approximately ¾ (74 per cent) of Canadians have already taken or are interested in taking an experiential vacation, and almost 2/3 (62 per cent) would consider it if they could find ways to save on the cost of those trips.

The survey found that most people would consider an experiential vacation if costs are reasonable. Although visiting with family and friends or relaxing on a beach or by the pool are still important reasons for taking a vacation, a growing number of people are considering more adventurous travel.

So what constitutes an “Experiential Vacation?”

Come on… didn’t you know that it’s “The biggest trend in travel today?”

But what is it?

Well, apparently “consumers are seeking active, adventure, educational and experiential travel over traditional resorts or group bus tours.” And these people “see themselves not as tourists but as voyagers, they want an alternative to bus tours and straight leisure travel. Adventure travel is all about sight-doing, instead of sight-seeing.”

Oh, so it’s a vacation then…

At TravelBloggers.ca we’ve always promoted or encouraged people to take a more adventurous vacation – especially one that won’t break the bank or leave you paying off for years to come. “Experiential vacations” shouldn’t cost more than an ordinary vacation – in fact in many case it could be cheaper.

All Inclusive or Self Catered Vacations

Oktoberfest – Stuttgart, Germany

Swimming With The Dolphins In The Florida Keys

According to the TD survey, the cost of travel was the deciding factor (79 per cent) in deciding in what kind of vacation to take, with more than ½ (53 per cent) of those surveyed expecting an experiential vacation to cost more than a normal one.

Obviously if you take a more exotic trip – like an African Safari, you can expect a hefty price tag, but there are plenty of less expensive options available.

When a bank releases a survey about travel, it can only be for one reason – to promote their products – and here is the crux of the “big news”…

“A great way that can help reduce the cost of experiential tourism is to pay for some of your travel purchase costs with loyalty travel rewards that you earn when you make purchases with a travel rewards credit card, for example, under the TD Travel Rewards Program, Credit Cardholders can have access to benefits such as travel insurance and preferred car rental rates, and other advantages depending on which card works best for you.”

Actually that makes sense – we use credit cards all the time for specific reasons like additional Aeroplan miles and cash to spend in grocery or hardware stores.

This is where I laughed out loud… from the TD spokesperson:

Create a vacation savings account – identify where day-to-day savings can be made. Then put those extra dollars into a high-interest savings account, which can grow into a nice holiday fund. For example, saving $25 a week can generate $1,300 in a year that you can use for your vacation. (Do the calculations on this… 25 x 52 = 1,300 – where is the high-interest applied in this instance?!)

Look for free or inexpensive activities:Research prices online and see if savings can be made by booking activities before reaching your vacation destination. (DUH)

So, have you ever thought about taking an “Experiential Vacation?”

Apparently we’ve been taking them for 20+ years and didn’t know it… at least now there’s a label attached to it we can feel confident when we embark on our next adventure that we’re actually doing something meaningful and trendy.

But all this got us to thinking: why not share some of our tips on what we do to save money every day so that we have more to spend on our next vacation/adventure. Oh, wait we already did that!

Check out our article – Wish You Had More Money Travel? 12 Tips to Help You Reach You Goal.

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About TravelBloggers.ca
Iain Shankland & Gail Shankland started blogging in order to inspire and motivate people to travel the world from their perspective – specializing in having the most fun while using the least amount of money, travelling on the cheap without sacrificing comfort.

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