Biggest Innovators in Travel and Hospitality: The Return to Travel Edition
Skift Take
On Experience
Colin Nagy is a marketing strategist and writes on customer-centric experiences and innovation across the luxury sector, hotels, aviation, and beyond. You can read all of his writing here.Every year, I try to step back and take stock of the things I’ve seen on the road. I’ve managed to keep up a pretty aggressive pace of travel this year, checking in on lots of different products, kicking the tires on new airlines, and breaking free of a lot of my alliance shackles, as I documented in my recent column “Dawn of the Untethered Traveler.” What follows is a list of places, products, and people who are raising the standard with hospitality in the face of a difficult year. As more people return to the road, consider these products to reward with your personal dollars and business expenses. They are the best of the bunch.
Best International First: Air France
Admittedly I haven’t flown on some of my favorite products, namely JAL’s First Class in the past few years. But I did recently fly the Air France La Premiere product. And everything lived up to its cult reputation, even in the face of COVID. The cabin is beautifully designed and feels more akin to a nautical vessel than an airplane. There are just four seats on their 777 product, and they don’t allow easy upgrades or the mileage brigade to book it easily. The result is a true luxury product that is exceptionally private and lives up to the best of French cuisine and hospitality. I found the onboard staff to be cordial, and the car transfer to the lounge was premium, elevated, and seamless. The product clearly stands out from the head of the pack for a traveler who wants privacy, hyper-personalized service, and discretion. On the more opulent side, I did think Emirates First remains astoundingly good but felt the smaller cabin of Air France nudged it out in terms of the hyper premium product this year.
Best Business: Qatar Airways
I’ve highlighted them before, and I feel like a broken record. But it’s hard to dislike Qatar's Q-suites product, and I feel like their approach: a small, private cabin will portend the future of business class as
