Europcar Spain, a subsidiary of the Europcar Group, has drafted a Decalogue for travellers. Data was obtained from the “Mobility of the tourist of the future” study that examined the habits and opinions of leisure travellers looking at both destination and transport in a sample of people from 18 to 44.
- Have greater social and environmental awareness. Almost half of the people who took part in the survey agree that within the next ten years there will be more electric cars than petrol or diesel models on the road and 55% believe the centres of big cities will be closed to traffic because of pollution.
- Choose hybrid or electric cars & respect the environment. Low fuel consumption is another decisive factor (32%) when renting a car. People are now starting to explore new forms of mobility like car sharing (5% of those interviewed).
- Pay more, pollute less. People are prepared to pay more for cars that pollute less. The survey says 32% of participants have no problem paying more for a car with lower CO2 emissions.
- Be eager to explore. The most repeated values in the study are independence, autonomy, and freedom of movement. These factors are now the main reasons why travellers decide to rent a car for holiday trips (mentioned by 42.7%). Tourists of the future prefer to discover unusual spots or unknown destinations by car that allows them to see the real environment.
- Trust the blogosphere when planning a trip. Tourists of the future use travel blogs (46.4%) and social networks (43.3%) before planning a trip and look for assurance, credibility, solidarity, and first-person experiences.
- Travel by car in the destination location. 62.2% of the Spaniards who took part in the survey said it’s a ‘must’ to travel by car in the destination as it offers greater independence and you really get a feel for the place.
- The perfect trip is the one that makes you feel. The ideal trip for tourists of the future is experiential, allowing them to know more about nature, local community and cultural heritage. In fact, in the Europcar survey, the ideal trip is to a rural environment (43%) and lasts between one and two weeks (40.5%).
- Object to the exploitation of the environment. Know how to say “no”, avoid mass tourism and stand up to animal and human exploitation, contamination, and intrusive tourism that changes local culture to satisfy travellers’ needs.
- Safety first. Nearly 75% of those interviewed said they are prepared to pay more for a safer model when renting a car.
- Tourists of the future possess human values that are aligned with responsibility, respect for customs, environmental awareness, bravery, authenticity and connectivity.