The future of travel is less exotic

Fewer Western tourists seem to want to have challenging experiences — and that may be a boon for those who do

The Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar is one of India’s leading attractions. Picture: AP /Aman Sharma

I am writing this from Amritsar, India, in the state of Punjab. The Sikh Golden Temple here is one of India’s leading attractions, and last night I shared space with thousands of people over the course of four or five hours. In that time, I saw only two people who might qualify as white Westerners.

That simple observation — and my travels over the past year to Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal, Mexico, England, Argentina and Colombia — have led me to a theory about the future of travel: the world is entering a new era in which exotic journeys are for more of a travel elite than a moneyed elite.