Sustainability Remains a Top Priority
With sustainability becoming more important to both the environment and to conscious travelers alike, hotel & resort operations should ensure they are doing all they can to go green such as reusing towels to save energy and water, use local ingredients on their menu, and consider smart lights to save on electricity when guests leave their rooms. In a recent survey, 74 percent of Virtuoso travelers 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.
Travelers are increasingly committed to purposeful travel, and not just in a strictly ecological sense. They’re also seeking out companies and experiences that focus on benefitting local people and the economy and preserving natural and cultural heritage.
Guest Wellness
In 2019, wellness tourism reached a record $720 billion. The GWI forecasts that the wellness tourism industry will continue to grow and reach a staggering $1.3 trillion by 2025. With this in mind, hoteliers should include yoga classes, massages and spa treatments where possible although if these are not practical then can make smaller offerings to guests such as healthy breakfast options and in-room aromatherapy. Those that do are set to profit—guests traveling for wellness are big spenders. These guests spend 177% more than an average customer when traveling domestically and 35% more when traveling internationally.
Digital Nomads The number of digital nomads has doubled from 4.8 million in 2018 to 11 million in 2021. With COVID-19 and work-from-home life set to continue into 2023, that number is only going up. Nomads value work-friendly desks, monitors, and high-speed Wi-Fi. Hoteliers that adapt their offerings to meet their requirements will be best placed to take advantage of this growing segment.
Automated Operations
It is expected that hotel automation will continue to grow throughout 2023 with hotels introducing technology that is capable of automating various steps in the customer journey and guest experience from online check-in to custom upsells and activity recommendations. Which means your staff can give their full attention to doing what they do best—providing great hospitality.
For more hospitality trends expected in the year ahead you can view the below video from the Independent Hotel Show.
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