4 Themes Driving The Travel Experience
PSFK's trend intelligence system reveals 10 trends shifting hospitality's sensitivity to context, to community, to time.
I spent the early part of this week at an offsite on the Colorado river an hour west of Austin. With all the planes, ubers and rental cars, I guess travel has been on my mind - and so I dug deep when I received a newsletter from my friend and marketing thought leader
.The latest Giuseppe’s Glimpse is on Leisure as Strategy, and it got me thinking about the travel and hospitality signals surfacing in the PSFK Intelligence System I’m builing. His central insight - that “the next frontier of customer experience is about time, not transactions” - captures something we’re seeing across every layer of the sector.
For Giuseppe, leisure isn’t a pause between moments of productivity; it’s the arena where meaning, creativity, and connection happen. As automation frees up more human hours, the question becomes how brands help people spend that time well.
When I ran a 90-day scan across PSFK’s travel and hospitality data, the same theme appeared again and again: hospitality systems are being redesigned for presence rather than speed, coherence rather than throughput. Experience is now treated as infrastructure - a layered architecture that optimizes for comfort, recovery, and intention.
From multifunctional hotels that blend work, wellness, and culture, to AI-driven orchestration platforms that turn logistics into choreography, the future of travel is less about movement and more about design for meaningful time. It’s leisure engineered: measurable, regenerative, and human.
Below, I’ve organized the latest travel and hospitality trends into four clusters that together describe this transformation - from how we rebuild space and automate journeys, to how we embed sustainability, culture, and identity into every mile.
Piers, Founder, PSFK & Retail Innovation Week
Four Trending Themes Driving Modern Travel
The New Systems of Travel & Stay – reprogramming space, service, and experience.
The Automated & Orchestrated Journey – automation becomes orchestration.
The Sustainable Infrastructure Shift – from compliance to regeneration.
The Cultural & Design Renaissance – grounding innovation in heritage and identity.
I. The New Systems of Travel & Stay
Rebuilding the experience layer for modern travelers.
1. Mixed-Use & Multifunctional Hospitality
Hotels evolve into adaptive, multi-programmed assets blending hospitality with work, wellness, and community.
I thought one of the interesting patterns in the data was how hotel and real estate groups were shifting properties from static lodging to programmable spaces that sustain continuous occupancy and diversified revenue. Rove Hotels and IRTH Group launched HQ by Rove in Dubai’s Business Bay and Marasi Bay Marina — modular, hospitality-led offices that merge work, life, and leisure through smart design and shared amenities. Faubourg Galant in Paris adds coworking, a cocktail bar, and wellness zones within a 63-room hotel. The July London (featured in the video above) blends Art Deco lodging with communal dining and meeting spaces for both long- and short-stay guests. Zoku Amsterdam’s hybrid micro-lofts combine living, working, and social areas for remote residents, while The Ned London converts a historic bank into a hotel-members’ club with restaurants, retail, and events.
These models signal hospitality’s evolution toward mixed-use ecosystems acting as community and commerce hubs.
2. Cabin Segmentation & Premiumization
Airlines modularize comfort and yield through design and tiering.
Having fallen out of status on Delta since the pandemic ended, this theme jumped out at me as I sat at the back of the AUS-JFK flight yesterday: a big investment in improving the experience between basic and first.
Carriers are engineering cabins for granular traveler segments—introducing mid-tier premium classes, ergonomic seating, and new entertainment hardware. LATAM Airlines Group and Recaro Aircraft Seating are refitting Boeing 787s with PL3530 premium-class seats featuring 40-inch pitch, privacy wings, and 4K screens. Korean Air has launched a Premium Class between economy and business on 777-300ERs, expanding space ≈ 50 percent and upgrading amenities. Emirates is expanding Premium Economy to 68 destinations with wider seats and enhanced service. Also, rumors have it that Delta will be making an announcement soon telling flyers (and ex-Diamond status members :) about ‘premiumization’ plans. .
Cabin design is becoming both a profit lever and a brand signature — comfort as commerce.
3. Precision Recovery Hospitality
Wellness in hospitality moves from lifestyle offering to performance product.
Ok, ok - I was a little worried about telling readers that wellness was a travel trend but when I drilled deeper I started to see that rather than a feature of a hospitality experience, health is the concept.
From Proper Hotels Santa Monica’s shoppable Wellness Suites—outfitted with red-light therapy, dual-zone mattresses, and Peloton bikes - to sleep maximized Equinox Hotels New York and Mandarin Oriental’s biometric spa diagnostics, metric-driven wellness - and particularly recovery - has become the central focus of the stay.
At the restorative end, Evia Retreat, Meliá Hotels, and Appellation’s collaboration with the Chopra Foundation integrate eco-design, meditation, and whole-being itineraries that merge emotional and physiological renewal.
As the wellness-tourism market surpasses $1 trillion, performance-based rest is fast becoming the new definition of luxury.
II. The Automated & Orchestrated Journey
From check-in to check-out, automation becomes orchestration.
4. Hospitality AI & Automation Platforms
Property intelligence turns operations into predictive systems.
Automation is moving from back-office efficiency to front-of-house experience design.
In the data collected by PSFK’s trend intelligence system, I could see how property-management consolidation and conversational AI are reshaping how hotels are run. Guesty has been selected as the preferred PMS for Casago, following its acquisition of Vacasa; the combined group now manages 40,000 vacation rentals through Guesty’s unified platform. RoomRaccoon partnered with GuestButler to launch an AI-powered WhatsApp automation tool that answers ≈ 80 percent of guest inquiries. Hotel Communication Network (HCN) introduced a voice-activated AI Concierge accessible via in-room tablets, while Inntelo raised £500k to scale its own AI concierge for Park Hall Resort & Spa. The AI-in-hospitality market is projected to grow from $0.15 billion in 2024 to $0.23 billion in 2025 at a 56 percent CAGR. A global study by h2c Global found that 78 percent of hotel chains already use AI, with 89 percent planning to expand within two years (Apaleo).
Together these moves mark the shift from manual management to predictive, self-orchestrating hotels.
5. Chat- and OS-Layer Travel Orchestration
The journey is managed through conversational control towers.
This might not surprise anyone reading a PSFK newsletter but AI assistants are fast becoming the main interface to travel - helping coordinating itineraries, bookings, and recovery directly inside chat and operating systems. By merging APIs for transport, payments, and identity, orchestration is shifting from websites to ambient, conversational surfaces.
RedBery launched India’s first fully integrated AI concierge platform for lifestyle management, combining 24/7 trip planning, dining, and events with privacy-conscious personalization. At the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, Mafuwo unveiled its AI Travel Full-Chain Solution, an end-to-end assistant app handling flights, hotels, and on-ground services. Meanwhile, the Colorado Tourism Office partnered with GuideGeek to launch Colorado Concierge, a chat-based AI that delivers itineraries and tips across ski resorts, hikes, and local businesses directly.
As this traveler-side orchestration matures, expect assistants to evolve into anticipatory “control towers” that predict disruptions, re-route logistics, and synchronize identity and payment layers across the journey — effectively transforming the interface of travel itself.
6. Seamless Intermodal & End-to-End Journey Integration
Infrastructure players connect sky, rail, road, and stay into one data layer.
Travel companies have long understood that that journeys cross multiple formats - but they’ve only been able to focus on one part of it. Now, we see a move to help travelers across many aspects of the trip: in the data we saw how airlines, rail networks, and mobility platforms are weaving air, rail, and road travel into single digital itineraries.
Air Canada and Lufthansa now sell joint flight-and-train tickets via Deutsche Bahn, linking 24 German rail destinations through Frankfurt. Additionally, Lufthansa, with Airportr, has expanded door-to-airport baggage collection and digital bag tagging. In the UK, Via and Ticketer are integrating demand-responsive transport with public buses while Amap (Gaode Map) in China launched a rural trip planner that combines planes, trains, and coaches.
Together these efforts transform fragmented legs into one orchestrated, data-driven mobility ecosystem.
III. The Sustainable Infrastructure Shift
From climate compliance to ecosystem building.
7. Decarbonized Operations & Sustainable Infrastructure
Hospitality builds measurable climate action into its core model.
The one thing that I love about hospitality is that they’re powering ahead with sustainability and measurable decarbonization. I guess the investment is major and these projects take time - and so it’s hard for a hotel company to dump their agenda because, say, A politicial climate changes.
In the data, we see how operators are “hard-coding” renewables, circular materials, and low-emission transport into design and procurement. RIU Hotels transitioned all Balearic Islands properties to 100 % locally generated renewable electricity and signed a power-purchase agreement with Iberdrola for five Mexican hotels, adding CHP micro-turbines in Chicago. SWISS and Synhelion pioneered the first solar-fuel aviation pilot converting biowaste into renewable kerosene, targeting commercial rollout by 2027. Far East Hospitality opened two low-carbon hotels in Osaka featuring energy-saving systems and sustainable materials. Electric Dune Buggies Dubai replaced combustion fleets with zero-emission models at Al Badayer Desert
Collectively these projects turn sustainability from a pledge into an operational KPI.
8. Regenerative & Circular Luxury
Luxury evolves from extraction to stewardship.
Regenerative hospitality reframes exclusivity as reciprocity - offering healing ecosystems (to the planet and local community) while elevating the guest experience.
The Meliá Desert Palm Dubai, that we mentioned earlier, centers on low-impact architecture. Sariska Lodge India links conservation and community through organic farming and local employment. Al Zorah Beach Resort Ajman is transforming a coastal site into a Four Seasons-managed, nature-integrated sanctuary (Connecting Travel). Last year, Leela Palaces × Phool upcycled floral waste into incense made by marginalized women, proving circular supply chains can be sensorial and social. Luxury cruise brands Explora Journeys, Scenic Group, and Emerald Cruises integrate emission-reduction tech and waste-management systems across smaller-port itineraries. And finally, platforms like Tinggly channel experiential-gift revenues into community regeneration.
Together these illustrate how luxury can regenerate rather than consume.
9. Nation-Scale Tourism Mega-Projects
Tourism becomes sovereign strategy and urban experiment.
At the macro level, Governments are scaling tourism from destination planning to industrial ecosystem.
Sovereign capital, PPP frameworks, and diversification goals are producing cross-sector “tourism stacks” that merge infrastructure, digital ID, and experience design. Maybe the most well know of these projects is Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, but its found elsewhere: In Oman with Janaen Salalah, and in Sri Lanka with City of Dreams represent this shift—integrating airlines, resorts, and cultural assets into national operating systems. Created by the Omran Group, Janaen Salalah 5.5-million-sq-m project combines agritourism, education, and local retail to diversify the economy.
As these programs embed ESG metrics and visitor analytics, tourism becomes a form of national infrastructure—an industry of industries.
IV. The Cultural & Design Renaissance
Grounding the future of travel in heritage and identity.
10. Historic Revival & Cultural Heritage Hospitality
Adaptive reuse and narrative design anchor meaning in place.
Hospitality brands are restoring historic architecture and reviving design eras to create emotional continuity in fast-modernizing cities. These vintage-modern hybrids balance nostalgia with contemporary comfort, turning restoration into storytelling.
Hotel Ulysses in Baltimore has transformed the 1912 Latrobe Building into a 116-room theatrical retreat, its saturated interiors, bespoke furniture, and art-filled lounges (Ash—Bar and Bloom’s) celebrating early-20th-century glamour. In Catalonia, Transit Studio’s revamp of Le Méridien Ra layers terrazzo and terracotta tones with sea-blue upholstery to reflect regional warmth. India’s The Fern Hotels & Resorts opened Tapovana The Fern Heritage Resort amid Sakleshpur’s coffee plantations—mixing colonial charm with modern amenities and eco-sensitive design. Meanwhile, Portugal’s Grupo Vila Galé expanded with Casas d’Elvas and Collection Ponte de Lima Vineyards, both redeveloping heritage estates into boutique enotourism destinations.
Post-pandemic travelers crave grounded, character-rich stays that contrast with generic global luxury. Heritage reuse not only preserves culture but delivers sustainability through conservation and adaptive design.
Final Takeaway
Across design, operations, and infrastructure, the travel sector is being rebuilt as an intelligent network of spaces, signals, and services. Hotels are programmable platforms; journeys are orchestrated by AI; and culture becomes the medium of differentiation.
The competitive edge is no longer scale but sensitivity — to context, to community, to time. As automation handles logistics, human attention shifts to meaning. The winners in this next phase of travel will be those who design experiences worth the traveler’s most valuable resource: leisure, not labor — time.
Giuseppe’s note about leisure as strategy stayed with me all week. The most forward-thinking hospitality brands already understand that travelers aren’t just buying rooms or routes—they’re investing in how their time feels. Experience is no longer a service layer; it’s the system itself.
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The themes, trends, patterns and ideas in this Retail Innovation Week email were surfaced by PSFK’s trend intelligence system. For over 20 years, PSFK has been known for delivering the best trends research for major retailers and consumer goods companies.
Piers Fawkes
Founder, PSFK