Prepare for quirkier hotels, cool concierges and even more weekends away this year, because holiday habits are changing. Thanks to apps, niche websites and local insiders, you’ll get more out of each trip, whether you head to Copenhagen for food tours or Petra for cinema-inspired views.
Hold onto your passport – these are the trends that will influence how and where you travel in 2017.
Bespoke experiences for every budget
Threatened by the rise of Airbnb, and jumping on the fashion trend for all things bespoke, hotels are pushing unique concierge services. London’s Hilton on Park Lane offers stylist consultations, while in New York, The Quin sends Bergdorf Goodman stylists or hair and makeup artists to your room as required, and the Dream Downtown boasts a sneaker concierge.
Bespoke travel planners will be more widespread too, so you're not tied to strict itineraries. Describe your dream trip to India and companies like TravelLocal can hook you up with tour operators on the ground, who know the hottest new festivals and hidden restaurants.
Photo: Courtesy of The Quin.
Sustainable chic
Destinations and hotels will push their ethical credentials, as 2017 is the UN’s Year of Sustainable Tourism. Expect more locally sourced food on the menu and in-depth city tours, like modern architecture by bike – Copenhagen offers both. Marrakech is another sustainability champion, with ethical riads (B&Bs), and locally made crafts on sale.
Slovenia is officially the world’s first ‘green country’, where even luxury accommodation has a sustainable twist, like the award-winning Bohinj Eco Hotel and Spa (pictured), 30 minutes from photogenic Lake Bled. Park Hotel Ljubljana, a smart urban option, offers electric car transfers and free yoga sessions.
Photo: Courtesy of Bohinj Eco Hotel and Spa.
Post-work trip extensions
Blend a business trip with a holiday by tagging a few days leave onto your schedule – a trend known as ‘bleisure’. Booking a later return flight from New York (for Brooklyn adventures and Greenwich Village shopping) or Dublin (for art galleries and cute pubs) shouldn’t raise an eyebrow with your manager and won’t cost them more.
Tourist boards expect tight timescales, offering 24- or 48-hour itineraries; super-cool Helsinki has tips for three- or six-hour visits, though you’ll want to stay longer.
Photo: Zach Miles
Smart cities
Cities like Barcelona, Vienna and Oslo are driving innovation to enhance your visit: think fast public transport, futuristic bike hire schemes and technology hacks. Barcelona’s got USB charging stations at bus stops, city-wide free Wi-Fi, and the experimental 22@ district, in Poblenou.
Vienna promotes cycling networks and champions disabled visitors, too; Room Chooser sources accessible accommodation. In forward-thinking Oslo, Hilde Hukkelberg, from Innovation Norway, recommends the Norway Lights app (on Android and iOS) for Northern Lights forecasts.
Photo: Getty Images.
Digital try-before-you-buy
Before the internet boom, you ran the risk of your hotel not living up to the brochure (a bit like a blind date, but a more expensive mistake). TripAdvisor changed this, with more honest photos and reviews. Now, virtual tours go even further.
360° online tours of hotels and resorts – from New York’s Ludlow Hotel and Broome Hotel (pictured) to Caribbean retreats – are big news. If you’re weighing up destinations, try a virtual city tour – Dubai, Frankfurt, Basel and Oxford already offer them.
Photo: Courtesy of Broome Hotel.
Serial weekenders
Long trips can fall by the wayside when your calendar fills up with destination weddings and birthday vacations. Enter the serial weekender, choosing multiple two- to four-night breaks instead. According to eDreams Odigeo, 40% of travellers took three- to four-day breaks in 2016, while only 6% took a two-week holiday, and this is set to continue.
Cities like Rome or Florence (pictured) are perfect for quick trips; most sights are close together and it’s not hard to find nightlife and festivals. Further afield, head to Toronto, for vintage shopping, street art and an impressive shoe museum.
Photo: Jonathan Korner
Bucket list sights – minus the crowds
Machu Picchu is now notoriously overcrowded; gondola rides in Venice are an overpriced cliché. Swap the obvious bucket list sights for destinations that have slipped off the radar, and you’ll beat the crowds. Start with Jordan: you can see the main sights in about a week, including Petra, which you might remember from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(it's aged as well as Harrison Ford), and Wadi Rum, spotted in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
“I’ve been to Jordan six times,” says Lyn Hughes, editor-in-chief of Wanderlust travel magazine. “Petra, Jerash and Wadi Rum are incredible.”
Photo: Getty Images.
City hopping
Twin-centre breaks, hopping across borders, cities or state lines, are in demand. Companies like Thomson and British Airways offer long-haul options, especially in Asia, but in Europe you can easily city-hop by train – just consult sites like The Man in Seat 61.
Go from Prague’s medieval streets to arty Dresden in just five hours (€14-35), or from hip Lisbon to laid-back Porto in three hours (€24-43). It’s simpler and cheaper than taking separate holidays.
Photo: Samuel Zeller.
Hipster hotel conversions
New-build hotels are so passé for 2017. London is due a totally underground hotel in a former car park, and has just launched The Distillery in an old gin factory. Over in Bristol, the Harbour Hotel is based in two neighbouring banks, with a spa in the original vaults.
Meanwhile, Ace Hotel New Orleans, formerly a furniture store, celebrates its first birthday in March. The pre-loved building trend does attract hipsters – but you don’t need a beard and a fondness for craft beer to be tempted.
Photo: Courtesy of Ace Hotel.
Fitspo tourism
Create the perfect #fitspo Instagram shot or Tinder profile picture, and the travel anecdote to go with it. You get instant bragging rights for mastering ice yoga in Sweden (cooler than hot yoga, in every sense of the word), entering the Reykjavík marathon for a change of scene, or braving Edinburgh’s new IronMan triathlon. Wellness tourism, which also includes detox holidays and boot camps, is set to grow by 7.5% per year until 2020.
If you don’t crave a fitness challenge, find someone who does and support them from the sidelines. Hey, someone’s got to take that all-important action shot.
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