Having nothing to do with exercise or fitness, the business abbreviation FIT actually stands for free independent travel. This term is one used mainly by insiders of the travel and resort industries. What does it mean and how does it work? Read along as we take a look at the FIT concept.
What is FIT?
What exactly is FIT? FIT is defined as the independent travel and travel planning of a single person or family group. When people travel, there are many ways to go and equally many ways to see and experience a world of possible destinations. Despite there being so many options in travel and ways to experience destinations, it can all be narrowed down to two, separate categories of classification: independent travel and planning and dependent travel and planning.
In FIT, the traveler is self guided and independent of the guidance, scheduling, or membership of an outside business for such travels. You may have heard of group traveling events and clubs or guided accommodations and trip planning. These fall into the latter category of dependent travel and is opposite the independence exercised by the individual FIT traveler or family group of FIT travelers.
FIT: Where and How
Having covered the basic definition of FIT, let’s explore how and where FIT is exercised. Starting at home, the world wide web is the main platform for FIT arrangements and activities. Here, potential travelers can precisely research locations, travel means, and the making of arrangements. Planning and the exclusive jobs of yesteryear’s travel agents are now accessible to even beginner travelers. Book that hotel and the day activities as well as tomorrow’s destination, all from the comfort of your home computer, or smartphone.
Once accommodations and plans have been set, travel can commence. In FIT, the traveler moves absent of any tour group. This means for the use or arrangement of their own transportation, self-paced travel and stops, and complete independence in the enjoyment of destinations. Cars, trains, and planes fuel the FIT traveler movement.
When: FIT’s Best Times
Those with experience in free independent travel know that good deals in travel, destinations, and hotel accommodations can be researched and secured with a little effort. The more seasoned the FIT veteran, the easier it becomes in scouting the best deals in travel. A big part of this successful formula: timing.
Timing is everything when it comes to deals and bargains in travel. This is much due to seasonal influence on the industry. When the seasons change and attendance rates fall, deals will be made much more abundant. Similarly, good timing can come in the form of booking extremely discounted arrangements with a company that just started or is otherwise trying hard to gain new customers.
Why the FIT Route?
A look at the USA Today article, Independent Travel To Italy perfectly exemplifies all of the reasoning behind travelers’ tendencies to go the FIT route. In her piece on independent travels to Italy, writer Elizabeth Smith provides – “Independent travel to Italy offers the chance to escape tour groups and package expeditions and head out on your own to explore the country’s famous hill towns and storied cities. Without the burden of a group, you are free to travel when and where you please, which can be a benefit when a sprawling vineyard or charming villa beckons”.
FIT is a chance to just this; go with less direction, scheduling, and group limitations. In everyday life, we all experience the measures of guidance and strict scheduling on a very regular basis. A trip away is a chance to get away from this adherence to schedule and group intention. The break from this that FIT provides is why it is so popular today.
FIT is the way by which our ancestors traveled many years ago – independently. Today, we can do the same, but with a world of informational resources and planning tools that were unavailable to those of the past. This is the world of FIT, or free independent travel.
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