#Trending This Week - The Aspiration Economy, New Consumer Interests, Loyalty Programs, The Social Media Search Engine, And Hotel F&B Shifts
Issue 229 • January 14, 2025
First off, our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the fires in Los Angeles. We realize it’s a difficult time for those who live and work in Southern California and kudos go to all of the first responders as well as those in hospitality who are graciously welcoming people who have lost their homes or needed to evacuate.
For those who are back to business as usual, we’ll get right to it. We’re starting off with a huge roundup of 21 TRENDS TO WATCH IN 2025, and they represent a huge shift in consumer behavior regarding how people are traveling. We then move on to how people are searching and booking travel experiences, and the reality is SOCIAL MEDIA HAS BECOME THE NEW SEARCH ENGINE. Consumers, in fact, visit social media first to discover what they want to experience and then may go to Google to plan their trip. TRAVEL LOYALTY PROGRAM INTEREST is declining, with no significant growth shown over the past three years. We’ve entered what many are now calling the ASPIRATION ECONOMY, WHERE PURCHASING IS DRIVEN BY ASPIRATION rather than basic needs. And GEN Z IS DRIVING A SHIFT IN HOTEL OPERATIONS, most notably as it relates to food and beverage. The end of the three meal a day dining environment may soon be upon us. Check it all out in our three-minute read below.
21 Trends To Watch For In 2025
It’s important to pay close attention to what is happening in travel this year in order to leverage these growing trends for your business. New consumer interests — and their resulting behaviors — will have a significant impact on our industry. We’re talking Family Sabbaticals, Book Tourism, Female Thrill-Seeking, Athletic Adventures, Longevity Pursuits, Oenotourism, the Anti-Butler Boom, Cowboy Core Travel, and others! Read more in Conde Nast Traveler here.
Social Media Is The New Search Engine
There’s a new way to look at social media channels for travel. Travel brands are still seeing social media as a category of the internet when it is actually increasingly becoming the way Millennials and Gen Z access the internet altogether. Google admits that most Millennials and Gen Z search on Instagram and TikTok before going to Google search for just about everything. Read more in PhocusWright here.
Travel Loyalty Program Interest Declining
Travel loyalty program usage has stagnated in recent years, according to a recent report. The share of US adults who are members of a travel loyalty program was “largely consistent” between 2021 and 2024. No one demographic group showed membership growth during this three-year period. Hotel loyalty programs, in particular, appear to be worse at drawing repeat guests than other travel loyalty programs. Read more in Hotel Dive here.
Welcome To The Aspiration Economy
Technology has blurred the line between desire and necessity. Enter the Aspiration Economy, where every purchase is a staged narrative of who you might become. This represents an economic framework where consumer behavior is driven primarily by aspirations rather than basic needs or material desires. These aspirations often go beyond functional value and tap into deeper psychological, social, or emotional needs, such as belonging, status, self-expression, and personal growth. It reflects the colossal but largely silent shift of modern-age consumers from “what they need” to “who they want to become.” Read more in Smart Brief here.
How Hotel F&B Will Shift This Year
The emergence of Gen Z travelers will be among the defining trends which shape hospitality in 2025. In fact, many hotels will be re-imagining core aspects of their operations this year, including food and beverage. This could mean expanding nonalcoholic beverage programs or introducing more nontraditional dining concepts. One notable shift: people are eating differently — we're not necessarily in a three-meal-a-day dining environment anymore. Read more in Travel Weekly here.