The future is now: 10 luxury travel trends for the rest of the decade

According to Grand View Research, the personal development market will be worth more than $56 billion by 2027. This presents a huge opportunity for the luxury travel industry to design retreats that help people “level up”, whether that’s dealing with trauma, making a radical change, finding purpose, gaining clarity or executing a vision. 

In the British Virgin Islands, the Aerial BVI invites people to attend themed “summits” such as Abundance, Love and Strength, created by American self-made millionaire Britnie Turner. Meanwhile, Mind Environment hosts leadership retreats in France and Scotland; and Beckley Retreats is offering “transformative self-development programmes”, including the use of (legal) “magic mushrooms” in Jamaica.

6. Dramatised adventures 

Travel has always provided an escape from reality but innovators in the luxury space are taking that idea to a whole new level with highly choreographed journeys that transport people to fictional realms, supported by a crew of actors, prop makers, screenwriters and location managers. 

Black Tomato laid the groundwork with its Take Me on a Story trips for families with children that are inspired by classic works of literature such as Alice in Wonderland. 

Meanwhile, Based on a True Story excels in bringing movies to life with bespoke experiential immersions such as voodoo-themed Live and Let Die parties in the Seychelles. Most recently, adventure travel company Pelorus unveiled a series of pirate-themed yacht adventures that take groups around the coasts of Sardinia, Antigua, Barbuda and Indonesia in search of buried treasure. The idea will surely catch on.

7. Flying eco-taxis

By 2030, it will be normal to hail an emission-free flying electric taxi to transfer you from the airport to your home or hotel. Some will even operate autonomously, without a human pilot. 

Earlier this year, for example, the UK unveiled its first “vertiport” – Air-One – for flying taxis in Coventry. Over the next five years, 200 more Air-One hubs will be deployed worldwide. And that’s the mission of just one provider. Vertical Aerospace is another contender, and will be supplying sustainable VA-X4 air taxis to the likes of Virgin Atlantic as soon as 2024. The plan is to use them for the first and last 100 miles of customers’ journeys, instead of cars and trains.

8.Floating hotels

As sea levels rise, forcing coastal residents to move inland, property developers are shifting their focus to building on water. Not just a survival strategy, aquatic architecture has the benefit of 360-degree sea views and even the ability to be mobile, something the luxury hospitality industry is already capitalising on. 

One forerunner is the upcoming Kempinski Floating Palace in Dubai, which is expected to open in 2023 and will also feature 12 floating villas that can detach from the main building and sail off into the sunset. At the same time, full-scale floating cities are being planned for South Korea and the Maldives, 80% of which could be submerged by 2050.

9. NFT perks

When it comes to loyalty schemes, points and air miles are beginning to feel quite antiquated. The emergence of Web3, which is the latest iteration of the internet and underpins things like cryptocurrencies and the metaverse, is now opening up new ways to connect to consumers. 

The luxury travel industry has already started dabbling in NFTs, leveraging them as a delivery system for prestigious perks. One example comes from Pelorus, which is offering “experiential benefits” such as discounted private island hire to holders of its limited-edition Superyacht NFTs. Over in San Francisco, NFT-based Sho Club is selling membership NFTs for up to $300,000 apiece. Emirates and the Dream hotel in Hollywood, among many others, are also launching NFTs.

10. Carbon-negative trips 

With climate change a serious existential threat to tourism, it’s not enough to be striving for “carbon neutrality”. By 2030, it will be imperative that trips are at least double carbon offset, making them “carbon negative” (i.e. they absorb more carbon than they create).

However, this will rely on honest emissions calculations – the BBC recently revealed that Google Flights, for example, has excluded all the global warming impacts of flying except CO2, making it appear half as damaging as it really is. Ahead of the curve however, is private jet charter company Victor, which has been offsetting 200% of its emissions in a bid to become “the world’s first carbon negative aviation company”.