THE CREATIVE REIMAGINATION OF TRAVEL
January 2023
If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that it can be difficult to predict what the next few months in the travel and hospitality world will look like, let alone the next year.
However, we have also seen how resilient this industry is, and how it has proved to be more innovative and creative than many people would give it credit for. Matched with pent-up demand from travel hungry consumers, whose collective will to re-experience the world again, led to many hospitality and travel businesses making much higher than expected gains in 2022.
We expect that the travel trends of 2023 will reflect the notion of travellers adapting to these changing times, constantly moving in lots of different directions while navigating contradiction and chaos in their travel choices.
Here, we round up some of the key travel trends identified by industry specialists for 2023.
Travelling with purpose
This ongoing trend is here to stay, continuing to gain more traction year on year. The movement for more sustainable travel has been building for a few years but combined with the lockdown experience and the memory of relinquishing all freedom of movement, a new sense of responsibility towards travel has emerged.
Enhanced experiences - In a recent survey, 74 percent of Virtuoso travellers said they’re willing to pay more to travel sustainably if they know where their money is going. And 70 percent agreed that traveling sustainably actually enhances their vacation experience. Travellers are seeking out companies and experiences that focus on “benefitting local people and the economy” and “preserving natural and cultural heritage.”
Travel less, stay longer - Many people are now looking to travel to fewer places and spend longer in each one, focusing on quality and fully immersing themselves in the location and the people. Hybrid working, which we will also touch upon later, is allowing us to take longer holidays that are interspersed with working days throughout the trip.
Carbon reduction travel - France has now banned short-haul flights, where a train or bus alternative exists. Slower train travel is a more sustainable option and there has been an influx of innovative train companies lining up to offer creative and ethical solutions and inevitably more options for potential customers to travel with a lower carbon footprint.
This focus on reducing carbon is also being seen in hotels. Google recently launched its eco labeling system to Google Hotels and we have seen a number of hotel groups including Kew Green Hotels and Resident Hotels commit to a net zero future and socially responsible operations by engaging with sustainability specialist companies such as Planet Mark and Mission: Net Zero.
Bleisure Vs “Lisness”
Speaking to Conde Nast Traveller, Black Tomato, have redubbed the now familiar portmanteau Bleisure to “Lisness”, to reflect a priority shift that they are starting to see as their customers combine business and leisure trips.
While business travellers adding a few days of fun at the end of a a business trip has always been popular, it now seems that travellers are looking at holiday destinations first and foremost, before tacking on a few days of work as necessary.
The availability of relatively cheap and transportable equipment alongside the widespread availability of free, fast and reliable broadband has all helped make this possible.
The shift to hybrid working has also normalised the idea of employees working remotely for a few days out of the office environment. The particularly creative employees can now spend a morning on the pristine beaches of Thailand before logging in remotely to start work at 9am UK time.
TV Influencers
While one of the great benefits of bingeing on Netflix is the avoidance of those repetitive adverts for cars and washing machines, there is little doubt that TV is having a huge influence on our travel habits. While Game of Thrones did wonders for the travel industries in Croatia and Northern Ireland, more recent series like Emily in Paris and White Lotus are having a similar effect for those booking trips to Paris and Sicily . Having just finished Better Call Saul, anyone who can create an all-inclusive package direct from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to New Mexico will have some eager customers signing straight up.
Moving Off Grid
Some great news for anyone who has a corner of their garage full of camping gear bought when socially distanced camping holidays felt like a safer domestic travel option.
Booking.com recently polled 24,000 customers across 32 countries. Almost half of those admitted to looking for holidays with a more back-to-basics feel (44%), “off-grid”, escape from reality experiences (55%), using 2023 as an opportunity to learn survival skills (58%) and (most-concerningly) prepare for the apocalypse (39%).
Nostalgia
Similarly to how TV shows like Stranger Things appeal to certain demographics familiar with 1980’s cinematic and musical references, nostalgia plays a huge role in how we choose to travel.
This is especially true for those who may now want to introduce their young family to experiences we had growing up. Most importantly, the 1980s is now considered cool and proud millennials can confidently entice their families on holidays that eschew the digital age and take us back to the more innocent time.
Taking a cue popular movies like The Goonies and all those classic coming of age films that include scenes at theme parks, water parks or woodland summer camps, adventurous outdoor holidays are having a renaissance. Whether it’s a camping trip, a Butlins holiday or a trip to Disneyland, these holiday are also more likely to include multiple generations of extended family members more willing to relive previous experiences with grandchildren and/or nieces and nephews.
Travel and the Virtual World
2022 saw the first serious wave of hype for the Metaverse. Hospitality and Travel business announced their first moves into virtual real estate and we heard of the first experimentations with NFTs and Crypto. While this area has seen big losses in the second half of 2022, there is little doubt that the technology advancements that are coming in the next generation of the web will offer the travel industry huge opportunities to market their business to prospective customers. Those who establish an early presence in the virtual world will likely reap benefits in the longer term.
A New kind of All Inclusive
While our proposed all-inclusive Better Call Saul New Mexico trip might not appeal to all of our readers, the concept of an all-inclusive holiday is adapting to changing consumer tastes.
No longer does it mean cheap local beer, house wine and generic american style buffet. Creative operators are looking for ways to protect their businesses from the increasing costs of living as well as continuing to offer great value to their customers in a very competitive market. This shift from offering cheap deals, to promoting value for money at a higher level of quality is something that the industry will be working hard to do in 2023 across all areas.
In summary
2023 will certainly have a number of challenges for the travel and hospitality industries. However, adapting and overcoming these challenges will be no different to any other year, as the businesses that have a culture of constantly improving their operations and the guest experience will be best placed to creatively re-imagine travel and hospitality for 2023.
If you are interested to know more about how Halo could help your business in 2023, including but not limited to: guest and employee communications; hotel marketing; digital transformation; brand immersion and service culture training, please get in touch at ashleigh@gohalo.co.uk or +44 (0)7907 058206 and we will be delighted to chat.