Travel

Implications - As consumers become accustomed to IoT within modern homes, hospitality brands are looking to stay ahead of the curve by integrating intelligent connectivity throughout their hotel rooms. Through AI and voice-controlled technology, guests can fully control their environments and easily customize room settings to their preferences. This increased in-suite connectivity ensures convenience for travelers while also ensuring consumer engagement for hotels as many guests would rather interact with digital features rather than hotel staff. [More]

Implications - While the ideal version of extremely personalized hospitality might have each guest paired up with their own personal concierge, many hotels are leveraging mobile technology that is offering something incredibly close. Through apps and mobile phones that are programmed to offer the same conveniences, tips and insider knowledge travelers are used to receiving from the front desk, the hospitality industry can cater to consumers on a much more individual level, wherever they are. This plays into the need for autonomy many travelers seek, providing them with a sense of confidence as they know they'll be receiving 5-star treatment even off hotel premises. [More]

Implications - To stay ahead of the unprecedented growth seen by the share economy and companies like AirBnB, hospitality brands are finding creative ways to join them rather than beat them. Through partnering with P2P startups to offer new accommodation experiences or creating their own shared hospitality platforms, hospitality megaliths are subverting consumer preconceptions of large corporations. By acting small, bigger brands can adapt faster to emerging market trends and recapture the attention of the previously elusive Millennial demographic. [More]

Implications - Boomers are redefining what it means to age by prioritizing new experiences and satisfying their sense of curiosity. Examples are seen in travel, entrepreneurship, and beyond. This shows that the characteristics this generation displayed in their youth remain intact as they age, a lesson that is invaluable when considering the growth cycle of today's youth demographics. [More]

Implications - Often leveraging tech tools such as virtual reality, tourism brands are launching aspirational campaigns that aim to inspire consumer travel with immersive activation experiences that blend entertainment and product education. This progression highlights the need to meet consumers in the physical spaces they occupy on a daily basis and the opportunity of brand activations to serve a moments of product education and brand awareness. [More]

Implications - As consumers look to pursue travel experiences that indulge a culmination of their interests, cruise companies are launching highly focused trip themes that offer the feeling of insider access and may explicitly afford expert-level knowledge in a particular area of interest. This shift speaks to the interest in curated experiences that enable individuals to celebrate their interests, as well as the push for one-of-a-kind travel that is highly shareable. [More]

Implications - With parents looking for travel packages that provide entertainment options for the whole family, cruise brands are leveraging iconic pop cultural franchises to create once-in-a-lifetime family vacations that take escapism to the next level with fantasy and fairy-tale themes. This progression highlights the continued influence of the nostalgia cycle on travel and specifically, among parents and within the realm of family travel. [More]

Implications - Tourism and hospitality brands are leveraging the low cost of virtual reality pop-ups as a means of effectively communicating their value in a visceral way. This progression demonstrates the continued interest in multisensory experiences. It opens up an opportunity for brands to embed themselves into physical spaces consumers occupy daily, while creating more more meaningful connections through brand touchpoints such as activations. [More]

Implications - Increasingly concerned about their overall health and wellness, consumers no longer look solely for relaxation and indulgence when planning their vacations, rather, they’re looking for ways to integrate productivity and self-improvement. Fitness-focused retreats are the ideal solution for the consumer looking to dip their toe into the aspirational healthy lifestyle and feel great about a vacation getaway with friends. This shift is indicative of the way health and wellness is increasingly being seen as a status symbol. [More]

Implications - Hotels are differentiating themselves by taking fitness out of the restrictions of the gym and placing into the hands and bedrooms of their guests. While total digital integration may be the future of hospitality, the industry is currently leveraging that technology to create convenience around consumer-driven lifestyle trends, particularly health and wellness. Gone are the days where travelers are happy to put their lives on hold while on vacation, instead, they’re seeking ways to carry their lifestyle with them while they go away, including their workout routines. [More]