Consumers are taking vacations with positive environmental impacts
While outdoor vacations are quite common, what travel-related companies are offering more of are retreats that respect the environment, and that have either a neutral or a positive impact on it. This new approach to travel parallels the trajectory of an increase in consumer engagement with environmental issues. Brands offering these eco-friendly retreats are playing to consumers' growing desire to not just observe these issues, but to interact with them in a very real sense.
Workshop Question - How can your brand/service avoid passive engagement by taking consumer interactions with important social and political causes a step further?
Trend Themes
1. Eco-tourism - An increasing trend in travel-related companies offering eco-friendly retreats that play to consumers' growing desire to interact and engage with environmental issues in a real sense.
2. Sustainable Hospitality - A growing trend in the hospitality industry where hotels and properties are designed and constructed with sustainable materials and practices.
3. Experiential Retail - An emerging trend seen in industries outside retail where home-like retail settings are created to provide relaxed shopping experiences and encourage natural interactions with products.
Industry Implications
1. Travel and Tourism - Opportunities to invest in eco-tourism infrastructure and retreats to cater to an increasing trend of consumers wanting eco-friendly vacations.
2. Hospitality - Opportunities to invest in materials and practices that promote sustainable construction of hotels and other properties to meet growing demand of consumers who prioritize eco-friendly accommodations.
3. Retail - Opportunities to create experiential retail, similar to the McKinley Bungalow Vacation Rental Home, in which to display curated goods and promote natural interactions with products.
