DaphneP.

Desabel
l
e
BSTM 3A

CURRENTTRENDSANDI
SSUESI
NTHETOURI
SM ANDHOSPI
TALI
TYI
NDUSTRY

Saf
ety&Hygi
eneTour
ism Tr
ends

Whetheriti
sai
rli
nes,cruises,hotel
s,r
estaurant
sorbars,si
ncetheoutbr
eakofCOVID,saf
ety
andhygienestandardshavebeenabsol ut
elyparamount.Withthisi
nmi nd,t
herearea
numberoft ouri
sm trendst hatarerelat
ed tothis,such asincr
eased cl
eani
ng,soci
all
y
di
stancedseat
ing,providinghandgel andenforci
ngmasksi nsomesetti
ngs.

Thisisalsonow avi t
alpartoftour
ism marketi
ng,wit
hcompani esneedi
ngt omakecl
ear
whatt heirhygi
eneand saf et
ypoli
ciesareand whatmeasur est heyar
et aki
ng t
okeep
customerssafe.ThethreatofCOVIDhasmeantpeopl earemor erel
uct
antt
ot r
avel
andvi
si
t
touri
sm hotspots,sot
heywi l
lneedt
obeper suadedthati
tissaf
e.

Shi
ftFr
om I
nter
nat
ional
toLocal

Thevari
oustravelrest
ri
cti
onsandt herel
uctanceofmanypeopl etotr
avelabroadhasmeant
manyinthetourism i
ndustr
yarehavingtofocusonl ocal
customers,r
athert
haninter
nati
onal
ones.Thi
sdoesnotmeangi vi
ngup oni nt
ernati
onaltr
avell
ersent
irel
y,butiti
sl i
kel
yto
requi
reachangei nyourcoremar ket
ingstr
ategies.

Wit
hhot el
s,i
tcouldbebestt ohighli
ghtthekindsoff aci
li
ti
est hatmayappealtot
helocal
market
,suchasyourr estaur
ant,yourgym faci
li
ti
es,yourWi -Fiandeventhefactt
hatyour
hot
elroomsar eidealforremotewor k.Ai
rl
inesandt ouri
sm managementcompani esmay
al
soneedt oshi
ftgearsandprior
it
isedomestict
ourist
s.

Youngmar
ket
s

Youngpeoplehaveal wayshadasenseofadvent ureanddesir

etotravel.I
nt oday’scli
mate
theyareahugeconsi derati
onf orhotel
i
ers.Gener at
ionsYandZl i
vef ortheoppor tunit
yto
getawayandunder t
akel i
fe-changingorli
fe-enri
chingexper
iences.Theyal sobr i
nganew
focustotravel
,with oldergener ati
onsthinki
ng abouthotelsand carr ental
swhi l
et he
youngergr
oupar estart
ingtothinkaboutAirbnbandUber .

Gr
owt
hofCont
act
lessPayment
s

Contact
lesspaymentshavebeenas tapl
ewheni tcomestotechnol
ogyintour
ism f
orsome
ti
menow,butt heemer genceofopti
onsli
keGoogl ePayandApplePayhashel pedtotake
thi
stothenextlevel
,meaningcustomersdonotevenneedt ocarryaroundadebitcar
dor
credi
tcardtopayformeals,hot
elst
ays,t
ranspor
t,andot
herservi
ces.

Al
lowi
ng cont
act
lesspaymentshasenabl
ed t
ourism companiestoreduce f
ri
cti
on and
i
mprovet
hespeedofcheck-i
nsandcheck-
out
s.Italsomeansgoodscanbepaidforswi
ftl
y,
encouragi
ng spontaneous pur
chases.With cor
onavi
rus,contact
less payments arei
n
great
erdemandt hanever,asst
affandcust
omersoft
enprefert
oavoidhandlingcash.

Vi
rt
ual
Real
i
tyTour
ism Tr
ends

Virt
ualreali
tyisanotherofthemaj ortouri
sm t
rendsdisrupti
ngtheindustr
yandcapi tal
isi
ng
ont hetechnologycangi veyouanedgeoverr i
val
swhohavenotyetadopt edit.Through
onli
ne VR t ours,cust
omer scan exper i
ence hot
elinteri
ors,r
estaurantint
eri
ors,outdoor
touri
statt
racti
onsandmor e,al
lfr
om thei
rhome.

Thesetechnologiesarenol ongertheni
chesegment stheyoncewer e.Extr
emelypopular
al
readyingami ngandent ert
ainmentaswellasat t
ract
ions,theycanalsobequit
eusefulto
hotelcustomers.Virt
ualreal
it
yr epl
acestherealwor ldwi t
hvisualandaudioinputwhile
augment edreali
tylayer
svirt
ualelement
sont other ealworld.Cust
omer swhowantt otry
beforetheybuycant akevirt
ualtour
sofyourpr opertyandevenpar tsofthedesti
nati
on.
WithAR,ahot elmi ghtusesomet hi
ngli
keani nter
acti
vemapt oprovideinf
ormati
ont o
guests.

Sol
oTr
avel

Leisuretravelusedt obeaf amilyaf fai

rorsomet hi
ngthatcouplesunder tooktogether.Whi l
e
that’
ssti
llthecasef ormany,mor eandmor epeoplearechoosi ngtostrikeoutont heirown.
Enjoyingasol ot ri
pisnol ongersounusualandt ouri
sttrendsi ncr
easinglyref
lectthis.The
needsofsol otravell
ersar
edi ver se.Somesi mplywanttot r
avelwithoutthedistr
actionofa
compani on.Ot hersareyoungsi ngl eslookingforsoci
alact i
vi
ti
esort ofindapar tner.Some
widowedseni orsevenusel ong- ter m hotelst
aysorcr uisesasal uxuri
ousal t
ernativeto
conventionaleldercare.Theset our ism trendsaresett
ogr owandgr ow.

EcoTr
avel

Tourism trendsareheavilyi
nfl
uencedbyt heconcernsandmor esoft hecustomerbase.As
anew gener ati
onbecomesi ncreasi
nglyrel
evantinthemar ketplace,theidealsdrivingtheir
purchasingdeci si
onscr eat
enew t ouri
sm tr
ends.Ecot r
avelisjustoneexampl eoft hese
touri
sm t rends,refl
ect
ing a growing concern among t oday’stravell
ersf orethicaland
sustainabletouri
sm opt
ions.Ecot r
avelincl
udessimpl echanges,suchast heavai labil
i
tyof
carbon cr edit
s when booking a f l
i
ghtort he option tor entan el ectr
ici nst
ead ofa
convent i
onalvehicl
e.Mor esophisti
catedexamplesmi ghtincludet ouri
sm wi t
havol unteer
element ,perhapsworki
ngonanat urereser
veorengagi nginconser vati
onwor k.
Recogni
ti
onTechnol
ogy

Recogniti
ont echnologyi soneoft hoseincreasi
nglyimpor t
anttr
avelandt ourism trends
that’
s st
art
ing t o creep into a mult
it
ude ofdi f
ferentareas.One oft he mostf ami l
i
ar
appli
cati
onsofr ecognit
iontechnol
ogyf orafr
equentt r
avell
erist
hebankofaut omat icgates
atsomebor ders.Thegat esarecapableofreadingt hedataonthetravel
ler’spasspor torID
card and mat ching ittot hei
rface using a camer a and f
aci
alrecogni ti
on technology.
Recogniti
ont echnologyi soneoft hebigtouri
sm trendsinthehospital
i
tyi ndust
ryt oo,with
voicerecogniti
onbecomi ngmor eandmor epopularasamet hodofcont rolinsmar thotel
rooms.

Per
sonal
i
sat
ion

You’re pr
obablyf amil
iarwi t
ht hose adst hatpop up on soci almediaand cert
ain other
websites,adsr el
ated tot hingsyou’ ve l
ooked atorpur chased onl
i
ne.Thisisj ustone
exampl eofpersonali
sati
on.Aswel lasinmarketingtouri
sm mor eeff
ect
ivel
y,per
sonalisat
ion
canappl ytoeveryaspectoft het ouri
stexperi
ence.Today’ sconsumersexpectexperiences
thatcl
oselymat chtheirpersonalpr ef
erences,from dest
inati
onstoaccommodat i
onandt he
kindsofact i
vi
ti
est hey’l
lengagei n.Themor ecl oselyanexper i
encecanbet ail
oredt oa
cli
ent’
sdesiresandexpect ations,t hemor elikelytheyaret oretur
nandt ouset hesame
servi
ceagain.

Robot
s,chat
bot
sandaut
omat
ion

Oneoft hemor eeye- catchi

ngexampl esofthesepar ti
cul
artour
ism t
rendsisConnie,t he
Hil
tonHot elchain’srobotconcierge.Otherhotel
shaveal sogotinonther obot
-st
afftrend,
i
nstall
i
ngi nteracti
ver obotstohandlecer t
ainrecepti
ondut i
esorevenhavi ngthem ser ve
foodanddr i
nkt ovisi
tors.Thi
skindofnoveltyappli
cat
ion,however,i
sfarfr
om theonlyone.
Many cust omer snow book t hei
rtraveland accommodat i
on wit
ht he hel
p ofinternet
chatbots,specifi
callytail
oredAIwhocanhandl equeriesandassistcust
omer swit
husef ul
i
nformat i
onwhenhumanoper ator
sareunavail
able.

Sust
ainabl
ehot
els

Generall
y,soci
etyis becoming mor e envi
ronment
all
y consci
ous as i
tbecomes cl ear
sust
ainabi
li
tyi
san impor t
antissue.These changi
ng att
it
udesaref i
l
ter
ing i
ntothe way
tr
avel
lerschoosethei
rhotel.Sustai
nablehotel
slookateco-fri
endl
yconstruct
ion,energy
savi
ng,wastemanagementaspr iori
ti
es.

Ar
ti
fi
cial
Int
ell
i
gence

Aswel last he afor

ement i
oned chatbots,art
ifi
cialint
ell
i
gence isbecoming increasingl
y
i
mportanttothet our
ism i
ndustr
y.Machi nelearni
ngt echnologyisnow fi
rml
yent r
enchedi n
themarketi
ngoft hetouri
sm sector
,withAIhelpingt opersonal
isetheexper
ienceoff i
nding
andbookingt our
sandt ri
ps.AIisalsoincreasi
nglyvaluabl
ei ncont
extssuchassmar thotel
rooms,ident
if
yingthel
ikel
yneedsofguestsandf i
ne-tuningt heenvi
ronmentandser
vicesto
fi
tthe guest ’
s needs and prefer
ences. Art
ifi
ciali ntel
l
igence isf i
ndi
ng appl
icati
ons
everywhere,f
rom customerservi
cetosecurit
y.Fut ureAIt ouri
sm trendst
owatchoutf or
mightincl
udeself-
dri
vi
ngvehicl
esandvir
tualguidesf ortouri
sm.

I
nter
netoft
hings(
IoT)

IoT isr el
evantt o many t our i
sm t rends.I oT devices are gadgets equi
pped wi tha
microprocessorandsomef or m ofdi git
alconnectivi
ty,al
lowingthem t
oconnectt o,andbe
control
l
edf rom,thei nter
net.IoTdevi cesincludeheatingandcool i
ngsystems,entert
ainment
syst
emsandot heritemsof t
enf oundi nahot elr
oom,gi vi
ngr i
seto“smart”hot
elrooms.The
IoTisalsousedt oi ntegr
ateser vicesi nahospi t
ali
tysetti
ng,forexamplebyallowingguests
tobookact i
vit
ies(asessi onint hehot el’
sspa,swi mmi nginthepool,t
rai
ninginthegym etc)
orrequestsucht hingsasr oom ser vi
ceorext r
ali
nenvi aahuborasmar t
phoneappl i
cati
on.

Heal
thyandor
gani
cfood

Heal
thyf oodandt hekindoff areconsumedbyt our
ist
susedtobeant onymsi nt hemi ndsof
manyt ravell
ers,wit
hhol i
dayst radi
ti
onall
yr epresenti
ngachancet obr eakone’ sdietand
i
ndulgei nf or
biddent r
eats.Today’st r
avell
ersknow t hatdeli
ciousand nut ri
ti
ousar enot
excl
usiveconcept s.Demandf orexcellentcuisi
newi thaview tobet t
ernut r
it
ioni sdrivi
ng
new touris
mt r
ends.Themoder ntouri
stwant st oknow thatt
hef oodt hey’r
eeat i
ngi sas
heal
thyasi tisdeli
cious.Theor ganicfoodmovementi sal
soaffecti
ngt ouri
sm t r
ends,wi t
h
moreeat eri
esandhot elsoff
eringorganicoptions.Otherspeci
aldiet
sareal sorepresented.

Cust
omerExper
ience

Ofcour se,thecust omerexperi

encehasal waysbeencent raltothetour i
sti
ndustr
y.Wi t
h
new t echnol ogiesand an ever
-broadening ar
rayofopt i
onsf ortouri
sts,enhancing the
customerexper i
encehasneverbeenmor evit
al.Inthefi
nal analysi
s,cust
omerexper i
encei s
whatwi l
lmakeorbr eakyourbusi
ness.Fine-t
uningt heexperiencecanmaket hedi
ff
er ence
betweencr eatingaloyalr
epeatcustomerwhoboost syourbusi nessvi
awor dofmout h,and
onewhodr opsoutatt hebookingst age.Everythi
ngf r
om t hewebi nt
er f
acewher eyour
cl
ientsbookt heirtr
ipst
ot heverylastdayoft hei
rjourneyneedst obeasenj oyableas
possible.