Gone are the days when we went in search of travel agents and tour guides to take us on holiday trips. The FIT traveler is considered the “in thing.” Of course, apart from the precondition that a leisure traveler is fit and healthy, the abbreviation FIT herein refers to a Fully Independent Traveler.
Like most sports or industries have their own common terms or abbreviations, the term FIT is frequently used in the tourism industry. For promoting tourism locales, hotels or resorts, and transport options for traveling, the term FIT is not just relevant but significant as well.
The FIT, i.e., a Fully Independent Traveler, refers normally to single, individual travelers who do not take the help of any agency or tour guide for their travel needs and instead plan their own itinerary or route and staying options. Fully Independent Travelers do not have any set plans and, more importantly, are not part of any large tourist groups at all. They might come as singles, couples, or as a small family, and their ages can range anywhere between 18 and 81 years. They could be young and just before stepping into college they might want to explore the world outside their homes, or they could be retirees who have not lost the enthusiasm to travel independently and enjoy new experiences in life, and everyone else in between these two sets of people. Although the advancement of internet technologies has played a major role in boosting this segment of travelers now, they did not originate recently or with the boom of available online technology or with interactive tourism. The internet is being used by Fully Independent Travelers to research and find a holiday destination of their choice, arrange for their travel to and within this place, and maybe even find hotels, resorts, or home stays that cater to their personal preferences and budgets.
Fully Independent Travelers have enough money, are self sufficient, and can afford to spend comfortably on all their travel expenses. Taking the time to go on vacation to places that kindle their interests, be it locally or internationally, the Fully Independent Traveler can be of two kinds. FITs could either have specific interests in mind, such as wanting to test or develop their own physical and mental stamina on adventure trips such as hiking in the wilderness, or across deserts, or might want to fulfill their ambitions to study and research ancient ruins or the exhilarating world underwater. On the other hand, they could be without any particular agenda and be open to experiencing new foods, cultures, architecture, and history that are entirely alien to what they are accustomed to at home. Non traditional and unconventional are terms that are more suited for the tastes of Fully Independent Travelers in general.
Travel was always in groups. If you take a peep into history, voyagers and travelers always traveled in groups. This was primarily to ensure safety as well as to stay on course when traveling to unexplored territories. Giant leaps in transport and communication, combined with increased safety has led to people undertaking more of travel for work and recreation purposes.
Though group travel is certainly still on, there is a growing genre of travelers called FIT, an acronym which stands for Free Independent Traveler/Foreign Independent Traveler/Frequent Independent Traveler.
FIT travel involves traveling independently. You chart your itinerary, formulate your travel plans, make bookings and explore the place at your own pace.
An FIT doesn’t necessarily have to be a solo traveler. They can travel as a couple or in a small group ( less than five people, which could be family or close friends).
An FIT can be a retiree or a millennial, all that one needs is a passion for traveling and seeing the world and of course resources to fund their FIT travel. Compared to group travel, fully independent travel tends to be expensive.
Mass tourism includes tours to popular places. Only the most visited and talked about places find a place in the tour itinerary. However, there are many unique and unexplored territories. FIT travel helps you to explore such places and experience their beauty and culture.
Plus, tour operators look for economic viability. They only include places that are in much demand and earns them good returns. If you’re keen to visit such offbeat places and don’t mind the higher expense, FIT travel is apt for you.
When traveling in a group, you don’t enjoy flexibility. You need to conform to the charter itinerary. Say, you love medieval architecture and love to spend more time at a museum, but the accompanying group might want to catch the theatre. The biggest advantage of an FIT tour is that you can explore a place at your own pace and savor the local cuisine and culture.
If you’ve enjoyed the freedom as an FIT, it’s more likely that you shun group travel.
The desire to enjoy a unique experience combined with the quantum leap in technology has led to a burgeoning growth of FIT tourism. The Internet offers you options to research places, book tickets, make reservations, all at the click of a mouse. This access to the internet has enabled more and more people to plan out their travel independently.
To cater to this segment of tourists, travel agents have also begun to offer customized travel plans. These specialized agents put you through the contact resources, without hindering your independence.
So, what are you waiting for? Chart your travel itinerary and get set to explore the world.
