Broadcasters Julia Bradbury and Kate Humble extol virtues of the great outdoors during WTM London

Julia Bradbury

Broadcasters Julia Bradbury and Kate Humble urged tour operators at WTM London to think carefully about how they target different audiences and the language needed to woo the right customers.

Speaking yesterday during sessions on the Wanderlust Stage, they both extolled the virtues of the great outdoors and getting off the beaten track – especially if it encourages travellers to put down their phones and fully experience destinations.

Bradbury’s session, entitled ‘Room to Breathe: Why the Outdoors Is the New Wellness’, looked at her long career in television and how a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2021 had transformed her life.

“I had always been an advocate for nature,” she told Wanderlust’s founding editor Lyn Hughes. “After my mastectomy, I wanted to get into nature and achieve something.” She walked up Mam Tor in the Peak District with three generations of her family as part of the healing process.

Next, she explored the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica for a TV show, in partnership with HX Expeditions – although recalled a “bittersweet” moment of camping out on the ice, seeing a humpback whale and feeling sad she wasn’t sharing the moment with her family.

She told Hughes how the global wellness market is forecast to reach $2.5 trillion by 2035 but said the sector is more than just spas and yoga.

Providing kit such as boots and waterproofs would reduce barriers to outdoor holidays, while using language such as “treks, adventure, challenge and expedition” might put some customers off, even if they are capable of joining a walking holiday.

Younger travellers like to take 48-hour city breaks, she noted, but these can still incorporate wellness elements, such as visiting local food markets, walking and ensuring a good night’s sleep. “There’s a gap there for the industry,” she noted. 

She is very active on social media but said other channels such as TV and print also have a place in marketing holidays to reach different audiences.

Kate Humble

Fellow broadcaster Kate Humble also spoke to Hughes, during a session called ‘Why the Future of Travel Is Human’.

She developed her love of travel after taking a rail trip across Europe after her O Levels, with “no phones, no internet and no influencers…it was heaven”.

An article she had written about Madagascar for the Telegraph led her to a role on the BBC’s Holiday Programme, with a “Humble Holidays” segment about more “edgy and independent” travel.

She hailed the development of specialist tour operators which offer local guides and experiences that ensure tourist dollars remain in the destination.

And she questioned how travellers can be sure about the veracity of comments on review websites, having stayed at an “amazing” B&B in Canada’s Bay of Fundy which had been subjected to a smear campaign.

She said tour operators offer better reassurance as “they know what they are talking about”, so they can help holidaymakers to “cut through the noise”.

Humble also bemoaned the trend for people to seek selfies for Instagram, having seen a tour guide point out an “Instagram tree” in Costa Rica and witnessed tourists climbing Lion Rock in Sri Lanka in high heels to get an “Insta” shot at sunrise.

Asked to give tips to delegates, she said: “So much effort is put on marketing through social media and influencers. For people like me, that does not work.

“Giving the tech bros more money and influence should not be necessary.”