Hospitality & Design Summit 2009 - 156

- Speaker Perspectives downturn leisure Chris Sanderson, Josh Sims, Martin Raymond, James Wallman, Tom Savigar January 23, 2009, LifeStyle:News:Global, reprinted with permission T his is a time of unprecedented upheaval for the global tourist industry, according to our forthcoming Leisure and Hospitality Futures report. As markets settle however, we are set to see the rise of Web 2.0 travel, slowtopian holidays, branded journeys, Bleisure hotels and the return and rise of the new city and country inn. The past year has seen the rise of a more considered approach to choosing the right travel experience–a new sobriety if you will. According to a recent survey we conducted for Condé Nast Traveler magazine, even luxury consumers are becoming “bargain hunters” by booking low cost flights (56 percent), booking out of season (45 percent), booking well in advance (45 percent), and choosing to take fewer, but more niche holidays: 33 percent said they were planning to do this. keePing it real Words like “authenticity,” “sustainability,” “realness,” and keeping things local (as in visiting small, unique neighborhoods in a particular city) are all words and activities consumers are increasingly talking about on peer to peer travel sites like TripAdvisor, Tupalo, and Travelistic. They are also asking questions about value and values, and what these mean in a cash-strapped economy. As the report’s co-editor, Martin Raymond, suggests, “All of our surveys show that consumers are increasingly keen on offers with an ethical, sustainable, experiential, and niche aspect to them, but they are still talking about and demanding value for money. Yes, cheap flights and package deals are here to stay short term, but as the market rallies, you will see people asking the kind of questions of travel operators and hotels that they are now asking of fashion, food, and lifestyle brands.” According to research by the International Ecotourism Society, ecotourism for example has been growing at rates of between 20 percent and 34 percent per year, and it is expected to make up 25 percent of the world’s travel market by 2012, despite the current downturn. travel aS narrative As technology, money, and material effects have become more obtainable and central in our everyday world, the demand for holidays that immerse us in other people’s worlds or experiences is a growing trend in the travel industry; above all else, travelers want a holiday that tells a story. Says Claus Sendlinger, CEO and president of Design Hotels, “Travelers more than ever are seeking stories from their travels. The only thing left is: ‘what story can I tell?’” Dining experiences and cultural holidays are growing in popularity, further supporting the idea that sensorial and emotional experiences are prioritized whilst traveling. In terms of the Condé Nast Traveler survey, which polled 22,681 readers, 33 percent said they were planning a cultural trip this year, up five percent from last year. Cultratainment, as a trend and an idea, is set to become one of the key themes for next year, says Sendlinger, whose Design Hotels conference next year in Berlin focuses specifically on this issue: the hotel as cultural hub and link within a city’s artistic community, rather than its commercial and retail communities. cUltratainment tHe new ‘commerce’ The Gladstone hotel in Toronto now has rooms designed by individual artists, and one floor entirely is given over to artist studios. At Hotel Monasterio, the Orient-Express hotel in Peru, there are now storyteller evenings about Machu Pichu. At Seattle’s Hotel Max, each floor is dedicated to the work of a single photographer, whilst the Savoy in London now has an artist in residence, holed up in the Mote’s Monet suite. Culture then, is becoming a new defining characteristic of how hotels will increasingly target a more affluent and experience seeking client. tHe crUiSe Set The more hectic and fragmented a consumer’s quotidian experiences are, as our report suggests, the more he or she will be interested in slower, more meaningful experiences, and in a greater number of experiences. This is where the cruise comes in: a version of soft adventure, it is here in the floating hotel that luxury and story are combined into one. The cruise industry has grown “to an unparalleled level” in the last 30 years, according to Aris Zarpanely, executive vice president of Romebased Silversea Cruises. And cruising is set to become more popular than ever. In 2006, more than 15.5 million people around the world booked ocean-going holidays, a seven percent increase from 2005. Figures are expected to reach 20 million by 2012. SlowtoPiaS Tourism will once again be about the glamorous departure and the languorous, civilized journey. As Richard Cope, senior travel analyst at Mintel, notes: 34 percent of (British) consumers say they love travel, but hate traveling. Rail networks, in particular, are enjoying a renewed popularity. In 2008, 9.1 million passengers used Eurostar, representing a 10 percent yearon-year increase in travelers on the London to Paris and Brussels services. In 2009, the launch of Railteam will synchronize operations of the Western European high-speed rail network, offering seamless ticket purchase and international travel. Significantly, research by Railteam has revealed that business travelers are willing to travel for up to four hours by rail rather than by air because of increased productivity–being able to use laptops and mobile phones on the go, for instance. Meanwhile, the sophistication associated with train travel is coming from the venerable worlds of fashion and gastronomy. Aside from Eurostar’s new “destination station” at St Pancras, futuristic designs by haute couturier Christian Lacroix bring a dash of high style to train journeys on the new TGV…Est Européen line. hospi tal i ty des i g n su m m i t 2009

Hospitality & Design Summit 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality & Design Summit 2009