*by Sonia Talatinou
Major European agencies are seeing an ever-increasing interest – around 25% – in night-time travel.
If last year you saw Instagram flooded with photos of friends and acquaintances posing against a backdrop of the Northern Lights, this year you too might be tempted to go on a night-time trip, as following the trend for astro-tourism, the next step is night-time travel adventures (night tourism).
Noctourism encourages travellers to enjoy the world under the starry night sky, as an alternative to the hustle and bustle of daytime tourism. How about a night dive on the Great Barrier Reef or in the Red Sea in Egypt, a night safari in Zambia and Kenya, or watching the Northern Lights in Norway or Iceland?
As the world’s temperature continues to rise, climate change appears to be affecting the popularity of night-time travel, according to the latest Booking.com survey (summer 2024), with half of respondents saying they plan to travel more at night to avoid high temperatures during the day. The global survey of more than 27,000 travellers also revealed that 62% are interested in night-time travel, whilst 59% of respondents are looking for rare celestial events.
Major European travel agencies are seeing ever-increasing interest – around 25% – in night-time tours, which are by no means boring or clichéd, such as a solitary evening tour of the Duomo or a visit to the Louvre just before it closes, allowing visitors to explore iconic sites in peace, without the crowds.
However, there are even more exclusive packages, such as attending an evening prayer at a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan, taking a tour of Hanoi, Vietnam, with stops for street food and live music, a safari after sunset in Africa, a night-time walk in Costa Rica to spot nocturnal birds, animals and insects, an overnight stay at Everest’s Khumbu Base Camp in Nepal, or a night-time truffle hunt in Piedmont, Italy!
Source: parallaximag.gr