4 Top Luxury Travel Trends

08.03.2024 - 18:47 / forbes.com

Many travel trends have proved fleeting, like revenge travel or buddymoons. But some evolve and help shape the future of travel.

At Forbes Travel Guide’s recent 2024 Summit, the premier gathering of the luxury travel and hospitality industry, top leaders revealed the hot trends that are taking hold right now.

There’s an increasing demand for luxury travel experiences, said Rafat Ali, CEO and founder of travel news website Skift, at the Summit. “This isn’t just about more people being able to afford luxury,” he said. “It’s about more people choosing travel as a form of self-expression and personal growth. Millennials and Gen Zers are driving this change, putting experiences over things.”

“The luxury hospitality industry has never been more strongly positioned to satisfy the growing appetite for elevated and distinctive travel experiences,” said Amanda Frasier, president of Standards & Ratings at Forbes Travel Guide. “With a continued hyperfocus on quality of health as a key ingredient to the definition of luxury for today’s traveler, we are excited for the years ahead and where this cultural shift will move the industry.”

Here are the other major trends that emerged from the Summit at Resorts World Las Vegas:

Well-Being Is Here to Stay

There’s been a great emphasis on wellness in travel since the pandemic, but it’s more than just a fad —it’s permanently changed how people think about travel. “What started out as spas, fitness and outdoor recreation in travel has exploded into full-blown branded hotels, health resorts, wellness retreats and travel partners all promoting wellness as a core brand value, if not their entire raison d’être,” said wellness and hospitality expert Mia Kyricos, president and “Chief Love Officer” of Kyricos & Associates LLC, at the Summit.

Last year, her company surveyed CEOs of the largest hotel chains, industry analysts, consultants and wellness advisers, and 97% agreed that wellness and well-being are very or extremely important to the future of travel and hospitality.

But what’s next in the wellness space is longevity — Kyricos called it “the wellness buzzword of 2024.”

“Longevity travel is a coming trend,” affirmed Chip Conley, founder and CEO of Modern Elder Academy (a self-described midlife wisdom school) and Airbnb’s former head of global hospitality and strategy. Conley said interest in achieving a longer lifespan made MEA faculty member Dan Buettner found Blue Zones, a leader in longevity research based on where people live extraordinarily long or happy lives. “Part of the reason it’s become so successful and has a Netflix documentary is because we’re all curious about how to live a longer, healthier, happier, deeper life,” Conley said at the Summit.

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