Adventure Travel: New Survey Shows Soft and Hard Adventure Travel Experiences Are What's in Demand

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2013) - Travelers are no longer settling for the beach, buffet and bottled entertainment served up by travel packages of yore. According to a new survey released by the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA): mountains, caves and oceans are where it's at for both boomers and millennials in a sector that has been growing at a clip of 65% year over year since 2009 and into a $263 billion industry.

The latest issue of Travel-Intel looks at the study and reveals insights into who's traveling, what they want in a travel experience, what is considered to be an adventure travel experience and how destinations and resorts are listening.

Equally of import is a story about the rise of hotel room rates around the world. Travel-Intel gives the skinny on the world's most expensive cities for overnight stays -- and where the world's best hotel deals are. (Hint: If you're looking for bargains in Geneva, look again. You might find them, instead, in Warsaw).

These are just some of the stories in this week's issue of Travel-Intel. The weekly travel industry news channel from Tours.com reaches more than 100,000 sellers of travel in the U.S. and Canada.

Also of interest: Travel-Intel looks at Safaris in Africa: what various regions offer and what tour operators can be recommended, whether it is an overnight to a lodge in Kenya or a continental tour by private plane. Similarly, Myanmar is on the minds of seasoned travelers these days so a list of "not to be missed" moments in Burma is presented for this mysterious, but recently opened land in Southeast Asia.

Travelers heading to Europe will find out where to go in Vienna -- and what to sip. And others who are heading to Hawaii will find out about the legendary Halekulani luxury hotel on Oahu, where history and heaven collide. The Halekulani is a member of the exclusive Kurtz-Ahlers Collection of luxury properties and vacation experiences.

Travel-Intel, a division of Tours.com, monitors the travel industry with weekly updates on trends, news and destinations for a subscriber base of more than 100,000 travel agents in the U.S. and Canada, and an overflow of travel companies around the world. The publication dispatches writers to travel conferences and popular travel destinations to bring back the latest intel. Current features and archives can be viewed at www.travel-intel.com.

"Travel is complicated, whether you are going to Minneapolis or Madagascar. We try to help travelers and travel counselors with the latest information and details they need to make optimal travel decisions," says Lark Gould, content director for Travel-Intel and Tours.com.

As a veteran travel journalist who has been covering the travel industry for more than 20 years, Gould puts her incisive perspective into the weekly publication, with features and news updates, and also "packages" issues that detail great deals to be found at hotels and resort locations worldwide. Travel-Intel can be viewed as a stand-alone site on Tours.com. Gould also serves on the editorial team for travel in the online communities section of the Washington Times, and publishes her columns in Larkslist.

About Tours.com: Tours.com since 1995 - The Official Directory of Tours & Vacations Worldwide. Tours.com has a deep and searchable database of vacation and tour companies searchable by company name, destination and/or activity. A comprehensive one-stop Travel Resource section, plus the Find a Travel Agent Specialist search allows one to search for travel agents with in-depth knowledge in their chosen specialty.