From VR tours of the Grand Canyon on your SOFA to whopping £1k entry fees for tourist hotspots like Venice… how we’ll travel in the future
Sun Online has spoken to a futurologist about how Brits will be holidaying by 2050 - with replicas of attractions like Stonehenge and driver-less cars
WITH increasing terror threats, budget airlines in collapse and tourist destinations bulging with crowds, the future of travel looks bleak - and according to the experts, things will get worse before they get better.
But it's not all bad - holidays will also get cheaper thanks to modern technology.
Sun Online Travel has spoken to a futurologist about how Brits will be holidaying by 2050.
Futurologist Ian Pearson, who has an 85 per cent accuracy record reckons there will be huge changes to the travel market in the next couple of decades as the world gets better connected.
One of the biggest changes will be the cost of travel - with inventions like driverless cars meaning we have an extra £5,000 to £6,000 a year to spend on holidays.
That doesn't mean we'll be able to go wherever we want though - as more and more people begin to travel, Ian believes the popular destinations will start to restrict the number of visitors they get.
Demands for tourist bans in places like Barcelona and Venice will only increase.
He said: "As well as banning tourists, countries will place £100, £1,000 or £10,000 tariffs on destinations depending on their popularity.
“So that on top of paying for a flight and a hotel, only the rich and famous, politicians and royalty will be able to travel to the most popular destinations."
He said: “We visit Disney World and Las Vegas where there are replicas of these places.
"Ninety per cent of people happy to buy into it, despite knowing they're not real."
Fear will also convince more and more people to holiday at home, with global unrest getting worse.
Ian said: “Terror is going to get worse, but it’s also becoming easier for people in poorer countries to have access to the internet to see how richer people live.
"The huge gulf between rich and poor is getting wider and people are getting p***** off with that.
“You can see why they’d be resentful - smart phones give them access to access to the lives of the rich and famous , building awareness of the unfairness is the world.”
As people get more fearful of travelling to different countries, Ian believes that there will be a huge demand for virtual reality holidays.
These will enable us to tour the world form the comfort of our own sofa - there are no queues, large air fares or safety risks on a virtual holiday.
He said: “If you haven’t got three weeks to see India we'll be able to do it in immaculate detail online from your living room in one evening.
“It will be a lot safer to travel to a lot of places without physically going there."
There will be some new horizons opening up though - they just aren't in this world.
Ian predicts that by 2040, cheaper space travel will be available - costing a couple of thousand pounds instead of millions.
Supersonic flights are also looking likely for around 2050 if you make it that far - meaning you'll be able to travel between any two cities in an hour.
