by Jennifer Hawkins
Nothing sits still for long in the travel industry, as hotels and tour operators put new and inventive twists on accommodations, amenities and activities to keep travelers coming back for more. From spa treatments with instant results to fitness adventures in the middle of the night, below from Hawkins International Public Relations in New York are the top 15 travel trends for the year ahead – what’s out, what’ll be in, and where travelers are headed:
1. Nighttime as Right Time
What’s Out: Encouraging a Restful Night’s Sleep
What’s In: Incentives to Stay Up All Night
Last year hotels were doing everything they could to encourage a good night’s rest for guests. This year they’re offering programs and amenities that don’t kick off until the sun goes down, such as nighttime skiing and snow groomer rides in the Swiss Alps, private after-hours spa access, and blindfolded night hikes and moonlit yoga for business groups and vacationers.
2. Tuning In
What’s Out: Signature Scents
What’s In: Signature Sounds
With signature lobby scents now a staple, hotels are focusing on other senses with custom music. Listen for signature tunes and special scores created by renowned singer-songwriters in public spaces of independent hotels, international hotel brands and even airlines.
3. The Personal Touch of a Touch Screen
What’s Out: Front Desk Concierge
What’s In: Digital Concierge
Hotels are meeting the demands of travelers who prefer technology to humanity for concierge service. Walk right by the front desk with check-in, check-out and more via tablets in hotel lobbies. Virtual concierge on hotel lobby touch screens or Android and IOS smartphone apps provide interactive access to recommendations for local restaurants and activities, flight schedules, virtual post cards and more.
4. In and Out, Indeed
What’s Out: Staycations
What’s In: Daycations
More and more hotels are quietly offering special day pass rates for visitors who won’t be staying the night, with everything from access to the fitness center and swimming pool to packages with spa treatments, picnic lunches and even mountain bike tours included.
5. Don’t Give Up on Africa
What’s Out: Traditional, In-Vehicle Safaris
What’s In: Treehouses, Boats and Small Planes
Many tour outfitters now offer Africa experiences that go above and beyond traditional jeep safaris, inspiring aspiring explorers to go deep into destinations and return with exclusive bragging rights. Highlights we’ve found include dhow sailing, kayaking and sleeping in mobile eco-fly camps on uninhabited tropical islands; perching in tree houses equipped with state-of-the-art night vision cameras; and scenic flights showcasing the other-worldly Skeleton coastline of Namibia, with a seal colony and shipwrecks along the way.
6. Dish This
What’s Out: Perusing the Menu
What’s In: Exploring Upscale Buffets
Who says buffets need be limited to Chinese restaurants and boring breakfasts? New one-of-a-kind spreads see seasonal and authentic side dishes served from the back of a pickup truck complete with a selfie station; farm-to-table specialties served at yogurt bars and doughnut buffet; and wild game dishes, gourmet cheeses and pasta laid out in self-serve style with an accompanying wine list.
7. We’ll Drink to That!
What’s Out: Top-shelf Liquors
What’s In: Exclusive Signature Liquors
Guests with a taste for fine cocktails can enjoy exclusive experiences inspired by private label blends and batches at luxury hotels. Look for partnerships with distilleries that revive historic recipes and create exclusive liquors available only at the hotel bar.
8. Cheers! Behind the Scenes
What’s Out: Experiential Food Tours
What’s In: Experiential Booze Tours
Hotels are taking the experiential culinary trend to the next level by inviting guests to learn the mechanics of beer, wine and spirits before they imbibe. Concierges are arranging beer-pouring tutorials, distillery visits, exclusive craft beer experiences, and guided tours of local hops and malts with samples of sought-after beers to take home.
9. Have Your Ice Just Right
What’s Out: Artisanal Ice Cream
What’s In: Artisanal Ice
Artisanal ice promises to make happy hour extra refreshing at hotel bars, with choices such as a custom ice spheres with laser-etched logos for drinks served tableside, or artisanal ice chosen specifically for its chilling/melting properties – for instance, large round spherical ice for an Old Fashioned and finely crushed ice in a Moscow Mule.
10. Meetings Get Playful
What’s Out: “Bored” Rooms
What’s In: Playrooms
Hotels are taking meetings out of the boardroom and into the playroom, offering groups excitement both on property and off. Amp up attendee enthusiasm with a conference table reinterpreted as a poker table, team-building ropes courses, treasure hunts with clues and riddles and sporting clays led by N.S.C.A. shooting instructors.
11. This One’s for You, Baby
What’s Out: Hotel and Brand Partnerships for Kids
What’s In: High-Profile Partnerships for Babies
Getaways with babies on board have never been more personalized. Hotels offer special amenities for children five and under, such as free meals, water bottle, toothbrush, mini-plush, and activity booklet. One hotel’s partnership with Jessica Alba’s Honest Co. provides non-toxic, eco-friendly amenities for little ones including all-natural wipes, baby bath, sanitizer, and healing balm.
12. Get-Fit Accommodations with a Local Twist
What’s Out: Boring Hotel Gyms
What’s In: Locally-inspired In-Room Workouts
Still trekking to the hotel gym to suffer on the treadmill? Hotels are bringing fitness to guests with locally inspired in-room workouts that make exercise fun. Partnerships with celebrity trainers and local studios offer one-on-one training and consultations on personalized nutrition, fitness, sleep, stress management and travel-ready exercise. A map and deck of cards from a Paris address depict yoga poses inspired by local landmarks: Pyramides du Louvre for downward dog or Tour Eiffel for tree pose.
13. Tapas Treatments
What’s Out: Tapas Menus at Hotel Restaurants
What’s In: Tapas Menus at Hotel Spas
Taking a cue from small plates dining and the uber personalized travel trend, hotel spas are offering small treatments for guests who prefer a custom experience. Pick and choose from shorter-duration mini massages, facials and much more, available à la carte or in combination at mini rates.
14. Better by the Minute
What’s Out: The Usual Results
What’s In: Spa Treatments with Instant Results
Hotel spas are getting serious about relaxation with instant-results treatments. We’ve found signature facials incorporating micro-circulatory massage techniques to rejuvenate and plump skin in a hurry, as well as multi-stage body treatments with special rollers that refine and smooth skin, slimming serum to stimulate lipolysis, and massage with nourishing vitamin crèmes. Such offerings are great for the special-occasion crowd.
15. Tour Them While They Last
What’s Out: Exploring Big Cities
What’s In: Exploring National Parks
Many adventure travel outfits now offer the natural wonders of national parks in the U.S. and around the world. Close to home, we’ve found guided explorations of Death Valley, Yellowstone, Acadia and Glacier National Parks. Overseas, a tour of Hustain Nuruu National Park in Mongolia explores the home of the last remaining species of wild horse in the world, while new camp scheduled to open this spring in the Linkwasha Concession of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe will offer the most luxurious accommodation around.