#Trending This Week - Virtuoso's Must Haves For 2024, The Rewilding Movement, The Next Generation Of Hotel Gyms, And Trends In Travel Bookings
Issue 173 • January 16, 2024
Here is some exciting news and helpful info to help you navigate the week ahead. For starters, those involved in any aspect of luxury travel will want to read these results from Virtuoso’s query of their elite travel advisors to learn what they feel are the “Must Have” experiences for 2024. Then we’re talking about a huge movement to bring back the authentic local landscape which many resorts bulldozed away when building their properties: guests want it back. Hotel gyms may have been a necessary evil nobody used much in the past, but as the “health-meets-travel” movement continues to take off, a boring old gym with a few rickety machines is no longer going to cut it. And finally, the path to purchase for consumers continues to evolve. We’ve got details on what you need to know to continue to successfully market your travel or hotel product. Check it all out in our two-minute read below.
Virtuoso Agents Share Nine “Must Haves” For 2024
Virtuoso tapped into its force of 20,000 elite travel advisors from around the world to share their top selections for the experiences that should be on every traveler’s list this year. We’re talking journeying from Paris to Istanbul aboard the Orient-Express, a visit to Japan, an expedition cruise to Antarctica or the Galápagos Islands, a slow safari, the Chelsea Flower Show, and more. Check out the full list in Insider Travel Report here.
“Rewilding” is Where It’s At
Many luxury resort properties invested a lot of money to clear the local habitat in order to build fancy accommodations, stunning swimming pools, elegant spas, extensive dining facilities, and more. The trend, now, however, is to “rewild” properties in an attempt to restore the landscape to its natural ecological habitat. And guests are absolutely loving it! Read more in Travel Weekly here.
The Next Generation Of The Hotel Gym
Say what you will, but the tired old hotel gyms of yesteryear are beginning to become extinct. There’s a fresh focus on the new and improved hotel gym and it’s become the hottest amenity in hotels as the health-meets-travel trend shifts into high gear. Perhaps the biggest debut of late is the the gym at Pillar Wellbeing, Raffles London at The OWO, led by celebrity trainer Harry Jameson, which offers custom exercise programs, a 20-meter pool, movement studio, top-notch physical therapists, and more. Read all about the hottest new gyms in Conde Nast Traveler here.
The Latest “Path To Purchase” Findings
Understanding how consumers make travel decisions is critical for travel marketers and a new Expedia survey is shedding new light on the consumer’s path to purchase. Travelers are consuming way more content than ever and yet recommendations from family and friends remain the top spark for planning a trip. Other key findings include that on average, travelers view 141 pages of travel content in the 45 days prior to booking. Nearly three in five travelers had no specific destination in mind. And most travelers use OTAs for research, regardless of where they book. Read more in PhocusWire here.