The Power of Transformational Travel: A Shift from Experiences to Meaningful Change
At GLP we take a collaborative approach to our work by building long-term partnerships with like-minded organizations in sustainable tourism such as the Transformational Travel Council (TTC). We recently ran an article on the emergence of Regenerative Travel as a move beyond sustainable tourism. Now we want to take it further and discuss the power of transformative travel. In this piece, we turn to thought-leaders in the industry such as Jillian Dickens of the TTC to help lead the conversation on the complexity behind transformational travel and why it matters. Check out Jillian’s article below.
What is transformational travel?
Our sector has a heck of a time understanding transformational travel. I wish it was easier to define and understand, like adventure travel or culinary travel. But while it is not simple to define, it is relatively easy to adopt and it presents a major opportunity. Here are some starting points to both understanding and adopting.
1. Transformational Travel is a Process.
All travel is a process. It starts before you leave on your trip and ends when you return home. You dream you decide, you plan, you experience, and then you return. What we call transformational travel is taking that process from transactional to intentional at each stage of the customer journey. As travel experience providers—from advisors to designers, suppliers to DMOs—we can coach our travelers throughout this process.
By that notion, transformational travel is not a travel segment or niche. All travel can be transformative. We can make sports travel, culinary travel, leisure travel, and business travel (and guys, the list goes on!) transformative. It’s not the place or the product; it's about the ambition, aspirations, and approach.
2. Travel, By its Nature Alone, is Not Transformational.
Hear me out. Yes, travel is an excellent medium for inspiration and a catalyst for small and big changes in a person’s life. That’s the basis for why organizations like the Transformational Travel Council (TTC) and OTAs like welovetransformationaltravel.com exist - because travel is such a powerful medium for long-lasting change. However, without intention or help to be intentional, travel is more often mindless and meaningless than mindful and impactful.
Jake Haupert, co-founder of the TTC put it best in a 2017 Forbes article:
“No, travel is not transformational. Just by relocating yourself from one point to another doesn’t transform you. You’ll have experiences, you may or may not learn something new, but until you’ve applied meaning and taken action, you have not changed.”
Using travel as a practice towards goal achievement and expansion works best with guidance, just as achieving fitness goals works best with a fitness trainer, or writing a book works best with an editor.
At the TTC, we teach a five-phased approach to guiding more conscientious travel. This approach involves becoming more rooted in your values, designing more conscious experiences and itineraries, and leveling up the traveler’s customer journey, from dreaming to planning to travel to returning home. More on that later.
Why bother?
We are moving from the experience economy to the transformation economy. This shift for the travel industry is just as significant as the shift from the service economy to the experience economy was only two or three decades ago. This is when travelers shifted from wanting to “site-see” to wanting to engage in experiences in a destination and place. Buckle up, because now travelers don’t just want to experience a place, they want the experience to transform them. Further, they want their travel to positively impact the people and places they visit.
The Progression of Economic Value. Source: Pine and Gilmore, The Experience Economy (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020), p. 216.
This means we as travel industry professionals are moving from staging experiences to guiding transformations. And if we can support this effectively, we help our clients become better travelers and more awake global citizens. As for the business case, here are a few stats from a travel trade survey conducted by the Transformation Economy Collaborative - a collective gathered to conduct a seven-year study to quantify and qualify the transformation economy. They are in year three of the study.
Successfully guiding transformations through travel:
82% Increases traveler fulfillment, well-being, and sense of purpose
70% Makes it possible for an organization to live its purpose and values
69% Increases loyalty and long-term relationships
58% Adds economic value to business and unique offerings
50% Improves work culture, unity, and sense of purpose
What can DMOs and tour operators do to facilitate it?
The TTC’s most recent State of the Industry Report, notes that lip service is (obviously) not an effective mode for transformation:
“As we’re seeing in the global marketplace, it is easy for travel companies to promise transformation. It’s much harder to deliver transformation and that outcome can only be acknowledged by the traveler, not the facilitating organization. This is why [The Transformation Economy Collaborative] is aimed at solving the following problem: Travel companies, hotels, and destinations tasked with guiding transformation for their guests and travelers need to provide an effective context and tools to help travelers learn, and grow to achieve aspirations in travel, and to travel more responsibly. Though travelers seek transformation, the action of igniting and sustaining change can be difficult and can result in disappointing outcomes and customer dissatisfaction.”
What is effective is prioritizing the ‘why and how’ over the ‘what and where’. This applies to everything from destination websites to traveler intake forms, to the experience itself and post-trip support. Now the vast majority of travel is about the what, where, and when. It misses the purpose and the associated or supportive behavior. Why do you want to travel? How do you want to show up or behave while traveling? These two questions can dramatically shift the traveler’s mindset, moving from passive to active engagement.
That is a great start. From there, tourism stakeholders can adopt transformative frameworks, techniques, and tactics to integrate into their experience strategy, customer journey, vision, and mission.
The TTC offers experience development training that goes into detail about principles, practices, and tools for each stage of the customer journey, for which travel professionals and destination managers can pick and choose depending on their business or place. An example of a tool is creating a traveler diagnosis to help the traveler determine their “why.” Another example is co-creating an unpacking list with your guest, of what beliefs or behaviors - such as closed perspectives or expectations - a traveler should leave behind.
Regarding the experience or itinerary itself, it always depends on context since there are so many different types of travel experiences, but as an example, leveling up experiences to make sure they celebrate the sense of place, are paced well, incorporate awe, nature, and human connection, is a safe bet to support transformations.
And finally, the return home represents the most significant opportunity to catalyze long-lasting change - and the phase of the customer journey our industry is generally terrible at supporting! Simply advising guests and visitors that integration back home can be tough and giving tips like having a rest day between return home and the start of work is helpful. Beyond this, creating check-in groups and reminders of promises and discoveries made on the journey can also be useful in helping them sustain motivation and see things through. Having great excuses to keep connected with your travelers after they return home also does wonders for repeat-visitor ratios!
What now?
The TTC offers a series of experience development workshops to help level up your experience strategy and prepare for the transformation economy. It’s a good place to start! More details here.
About the Author
Jillian Dickens, Head of Destination Stewardship and Private Training, Transformational Travel Council
Jillian Dickens is a responsible and adventure travel international tourism development specialist, focused on experience development, stakeholder engagement, and story-telling for destinations and tourism operators who value innovation and who strive to reach their full potential.
Jillian leads the TTC’s destination stewardship and private training programs centered around experience development and community-led tourism development.
Jillian sees intentional experience development as a key tool destinations and communities have to manage their place sustainably. Jillian has worked with tourism boards and tour operators on the creation and implementation of tourism experiences in North America, Central America, and the Arctic and is actively expanding her reach and experience in this field.
In 2024 Jillian sold the company she co-founded - Bannikin Travel & Tourism Ltd. - a niche-tourism development consultancy created in 2011.