Skift Take
Staycations grew out of economic crisis, but "spafaris" seem to be an eggregious marketing stretch. At any rate, it's a jungle out there.
As a boating holiday specialist comes up with a grating new buzzword – flocation – we round-up some other awful examples.
This week Lateboat.com, a boating holiday specialist, unveiled the latest in a long line of irritating travel buzzwords.
According to a report in Travelmole, the travel industry publication, the firm is now calling on Britons to embark on a “flocation” – a domestic break, or “staycation”, but on water.
“I think staycations are great, in theory, but in practice I’ve found that you don’t really get away from it all – and if you want to see more than one place, it’s endless packing and unpacking,” said Dan Lockyer CEO of Lateboat.com. “With ‘staycations’ on the increase, I don’t believe heading for the beaches will be a relaxing option this year. Perhaps a more relaxing option is a flocation?”
The phrase “staycation” entered the British language in 2009, when the global financial crisis and the weak pound made overseas holidays less affordable. PR firms and tourist boards have since come up with dozens of alternatives. Here are few examples:
Neighcation – horse-riding holiday
Daycation – a one-day holiday (surely day out or day trip would suffice?)
Weighcation – dieting holiday
Gaycation – for gay, lesbian or bisexual holidaymakers
Mancation – think paintballing, tequila tasting and tickets to the F1
Traincation – rail holidays
Spacation – spas in Britain
Dogcation – holidays with Fido
Momcation – er…
And marketing wags have extended their rebranding skills beyond words with the suffix “cation”. Here are some others:
Floatel – a hotel on water
Voluntourism – combining a holiday with charity work
Glamping – roughing it with little Hugo in a teepee
Babymoon – a holiday when your ready to pop
Wellness – just an awful word
Intuitive medical – this will be replacing “wellness” soon, we’re told
Spafari – safaris combined with “wellness”
Doga – yoga with Fido
Cinetourism – visiting a destination associated with a film. A slum tour of Mumbai, for example, or “Hobbiton”, in New Zealand
Jetiquette – how to behave on a flight
Flightseeing – viewing an attraction, the Grand Canyon, for example, from an aircraft
Digital detox – a holiday without your mobile, tablet or laptop
Twixmas – a short break between Christmas and New Year
Brokepacking – backpacking on a budget (wasn’t that the point of backpacking?)
Have you heard worse examples? Leave your comments below.
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Photo credit: One person's glamping adventure is another's outing in a souped-up tent. This glamour tent is part of the 'glamping' experience at Ventura Ranch in Santa Paula, California. Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times