On Experience

Twice a year, this column looks at who is doing it right. Here are some of the most inspiring innovations in design, service, and guest experience in hospitality and travel. Let the debates begin.

In 2020, the stakes for innovation and being customer-centric are higher than ever. Here are some gaps, opportunities, and much-needed prescriptions to improve travel and hospitality.

A lot of nature-centric hospitality experiences got lumped under the "glamping" moniker and seemed frivolous as a result. But the space is growing because luxury travelers like the ability to be closer to nature without sacrificing creature comforts.

If leaders continue to look at African conservation as a charitable cause, it is doomed. As a growth industry — yes, an industry — that creates jobs and economic mobility, there is still hope for a sustainable future driven by the very young population on the continent.

The state of luxury is evolving and morphing. And the commonality of those who are forging resonant experiences is that they are looking outside of some of the tried-and-true formulas, mining heightened sensory territories that evoke something deeper in guests.

Abuse of staff is a problem in hospitality. And too often, it gets swept under the rug. What will it take for a zero-tolerance policy to actually be enforced — consistently?

Luxury hospitality can sometimes operate on an antiquated system when it comes to human talent. Here are some progressive thinkers shaking up structures and sacred cows, providing for a more meaningful guest experience.

As brands struggle to break through with consumers, they need to consider introducing themselves within the environs of hotels. It's a means to create a new relationship in a contextual way. And hospitality brands have a huge opportunity to introduce tastemakers to up-and-coming products.

Conservation is too soft a word to describe the measures being taken to address the crisis facing land and wildlife in Africa. But the Grumeti Fund is an example of best-in-class anti-poaching. This, coupled with large-scale systemic change, education, and community empowerment, is the one-two punch that can counter the imminent dangers facing wildlife and ecology in Africa.

It would be easy to see Namibia's ascent as a run of great PR, but the country has been playing a long game to attract visitors from around the world. And now there's both more access and new product to match rising demand from travelers who crave isolation — not to mention social media cred.