#Trending This Week - The Psychedelic Holiday, Marriott Gamifies Hotels, Breakfast Is The New Lunch, And Heritage Travel Is Hot Again
Issue 103 • August 3, 2022
Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers was a fictional account of what happens on a psychedelic retreat, but the reality is these types of getaways are no longer just fiction. Heritage travel is hot again, Marriott gamifies hotels by appealing to digitally driven consumers who want to play games, and new trends are evolving as food and beverage recovers at hotels. Check it all out in our three-minute read below.
Consciousness Expanding Retreat Anyone?
You may have thought Nine Perfect Strangers was just a fictional account of people on a psychedelic holiday, but the controlled ingestion of consciousness-altering plant compounds is now edging toward the mainstream, and taking on the contours of a major industry. In tandem, consciousness-expanding retreats in destinations where the substances used are legal (or at least not explicitly illegal) are becoming an increasingly popular wellness ‘holiday’. Read more in the Financial Times here. Photo credit: Seana Gavin.
Marriott’s Moxy Gamifies Hospitality
Moxy Hotels launched an augmented reality (AR) experience that offers guests a chance to win prizes by exploring their hotel using a smartphone. Before check-in, visitors can customize a digital avatar with a selection of hairstyles, clothing and accessories. The avatars are visible through a smartphone camera, letting users combine computer-generated overlays with their hotel’s real-world surroundings in pictures. Read more in Marketing Dive here.
Breakfast Is The New Lunch
As hotel restaurants and bars bounce back from the pandemic, F&B teams are changing the guest experience in step with changing expectations. We’re talking redefining the meaning of local, innovations with plants, merging drink lists, an even greater focus on eliminating waste, and the rise in weekday meetings held over breakfast. Read more in Restaurant Business here.
A Renewed Urgency In Heritage Travel
Heritage travel is loosely defined as visiting places related or significant to one’s ancestry. People have been returning to their homelands for years, but such travel boomed in popularity with the advent of home DNA tests that enabled travelers to pinpoint exactly where their ancestors came from. And since the COVID lockdown restrictions, heritage travel is once again on the rise as people have a more urgent need to get out there and see where they are from in case the world locks down again. Read more in Travel Weekly here.