Travel and tourism industry cannot remain unaffected by the human desire for change and novelty. The quest for newness is visible in every sphere of businesses, including production to packaging and promotion. Competition to outdo the other compels businesses to evolve and endeavor for something different, something better than what the competitors are doing.

Travel and tourism industry is no exception. It has judged human liking for unusual and unexplored, and has introduced many niche tourism concepts within the last few years. Niche tourism is growing as the fastest sector within the travel and tourism industry. Common travelers are looking for variety of niche tourism concepts as big cities, museums, beaches, hotels, et al are done to death and people are looking for travel and tourism that will not only relax them but also amuse their minds.

Home-stays: This concept is fast catching up to cater to the tourists who want to stay away from the hustle-bustle of the big hotels and spend an innocuous stay. Home-stays offer all the comforts of a hotel and allow you to be yourself without being bothered with the artificial mannerism. Moreover you get the real feel of the culture of the place you visit.

Camping: Hitherto, camping was the favorite of trekkers and mountaineers. Now it has donned a new avatar to provide complete comfort even for a family stay. Family camping at the mountain peaks and in deep jungles is turning out to be a perfect way to get you lost, for the better.

Sports tourism: This existed since quite a long time; however now it is complete with travel, stay and ticket package with additional tit-bits thrown in. It has done away with sports fans’ separate worries for arranging tours, compromising with stay and then fighting for tickets.

Agricultural tourism: Modern city life has left us deprived of real rural feel and understanding about how the food we eat is produced. To understand the agrarian and rural life on which the altar of modernism is erected, more people are exploring how a rural and agricultural life is.

Ancestry tourism: Global cultural conundrum has taken us away from our birthplace and culture. However, the urge to explore our roots lie dormant within us. Ancestral tourism helps us to explore our origins and get up-close with our own culture.

Hobby tourism: No hobby is localized. There is thread running underneath that connects you to other hobby-mates and places that will enrich you with deep understanding about your hobby. Tourism industry is glad to meet your needs.

Creating a craze

The industry is getting flooded with many innovative ideas to instigate tourists to experience what they wished for till now. These niche concepts are catching the fancy of tourists who travel with family and average budget. They prefer to let loose during the vacations instead of falling into the systematic stay at hotels. They are not willing to let the artificial facades of hospitality spoil their fun.

Most of these concepts are run by small or medium sized tour operators. The increasing popularity of niche tourism is projected to cause a dent in the earnings from leisure travelers of major operators. Either the big operators will have to divert efforts towards niche tourism or restricted themselves to business tourism.