Whenever we talk about traveling, most people tend to think about international destinations. They want to see the Eiffel Tower, try typical Japanese food, shop in New York City, get tan in Rio de Janeiro… Those are all great ideas for trips, of course. However, what about considering our own attractions and what our country can offer? This is the main idea behind domestic travel.
Domestic travel, also named internal travel, it is the action of traveling to a new destination within the borders of your own country. Depending on its geography and climate, the domestic trip may be sufficient to show you a variety of environments, landscapes and attractions. In this article, we are going to delve into this kind of trip and show why you should consider it next time you plan to travel.
What does it mean to travel domestically?
If you want to get technical about it, we can use some examples. Imagine you are in Spain: you could try this type of travel by going from Ibiza to Málaga. The whole idea of flying domestically is that you do not cross international borders. That means no visas required, shorter trip times, no differences in applicable laws, and similar culture, language, food etc. between both cities.
Then again, that does not necessarily mean that domestic tourism is boring. Each city offers a plethora of attractions, whether natural, historical or cultural. And if you live in a large country, such as the US or Brazil, chances are you will see different climates, geographies, landscapes, traditions, and even languages! There is a lot you can enjoy without leaving your local borders.
Now, there are some unique cases to keep in mind. The US, for example, includes two overseas states. Traveling between them and the continental area implies crossing borders and reaching international waters. However, both origin and destination are parts of the same country, so the same general laws are applicable. Destination management companies are great at such trips.
One last thing to keep in mind here is that this kind of travel is applicable even to foreigners. Let us think of a British person living in Canada. Even though they are living abroad, traveling within the country configures internal tourism because they are not crossing international borders. In this case, they will face fewer immigration barriers and need fewer documents to make the trip.
Pros and Cons of domestic tourism
Now that we know a lot about this exciting type of travel, it is time to tackle an important topic: how does it compare with everyone’s favorite, a.k.a. international travel? Does it offer enough advantages to truly convince travelers to discover the wonders of their own countries? Here, it is time for us to analyze international versus domestic trip in multiple relevant characteristics.
Cost and logistics
International travel generally brings the need for passport and visa. Besides that, you will need special plane and/or bus tickets, and there is a foreign exchange rate. All those factors become sources of extra cost, which can easily render your trip plans out of reach. Traveling within your country is simpler to plan because there are fewer rules to obey and a much lower overall cost.
Cultural exposure
Traveling to another country will expose you to entirely different people – you might even learn a new language. However, we know how culturally rich our respective country is. When we travel domestically, we gain a chance to learn about our own culture and history in a more interactive way. There are many times when we discover a whole new world that lies just a few cities away.
Health and safety
When you travel abroad, you need to be more careful about diseases, since your body may not be familiar with some of them – make sure to get informed and get the necessary vaccines and other precautions. When it comes to safety, keep in mind that some countries may be at higher risk of natural disasters and/or terrorist attacks, for example. Inform yourself to stay safe there.
Practical details
Domestic travel is easy and cheap to plan. It is ideal for a long weekend, when you have only a few days off, or when you need to coordinate the plans with many friends and/or relatives. The best scenario for an international trip, on the other hand, is when you go on vacation: there will be more time to plan the trip and actually stay at the destination. You should keep that in mind.
Sense of familiarity
As big and diverse as your country might be, you can rest assured of one thing: it will always be more familiar than traveling abroad. People will not see you as a stranger, you will know more about where you are, and there will be no language barrier. Then again, that can be either good or bad: you need to understand how adventurous you are accepting to be when taking this trip.
What are domestic airline sub-brands like American Eagle?
At a first glance, both international and domestic travel can be done using the same airplanes. However, the industry makes a distinction for practical reasons. International airplanes tend to be larger and offer better infrastructure, since their flights are usually longer. Domestic planes are smaller, so companies like Boeing have built specific ones, with a “D” in their code names.
Last, but not least, you should know that domestic airlines are now using sub-brands to assign their domestic flights. American Eagle, Delta Connection, Lufthansa Regional, QantasLink and United Express are only some of them. It is interesting to check their offerings because, since this is their specialty, there is a chance you can get an interesting deal when you plan your trip.
Domestic travel insights shape MICE event planning and incentives
The MICE tourism industry usually plans both kinds of travel. There are many fields of industry which host important events that attract people from all around the world. Therefore, they end up requiring both international and domestic trips. This is actually a very important subject for them because it impacts the entire infrastructure they need to prepare so as to host the event.
In Europe, there are 26 countries which signed a treaty to lift border controls and the passport at their mutual borders. They form the Schengen area, which is an interesting case here: even though people are going from one country to another, they are able to do it with the same lack of barriers as of “textbook” domestic tourism, when you travel exclusively within the country.
Many companies are using this knowledge to promote incentive travel. This concept consists of planning an entire itinerary for a group to enjoy in a new city and giving it to selected workers as a prize for high performance or for closing an important deal. By gifting this all-inclusive trip, the company aims to foster collaboration and reward the hard work of its best staff members.
Conclusion
Our main goal with this article is to make it clear that, between domestic and internal tourism, there is no absolute winner. However, since the general conception is that international travel is so wonderful and desirable, pursuing that goal meant extolling the advantages of taking your trip within the borders of your own country. This is what you saw over all the paragraphs above.
After all that information, we hope that you take the time to appreciate everything your country has to offer. More often than not, we can find interesting attractions, rich culture, fun activities, and beautiful sights with a much simpler and cheaper travel plan. Next time you want to plan a trip, whether nationally or not, make sure to check our content. We will be thrilled to assist you!
