Luxury Travel, Lifestyle and Marketing Trends

Camping, the most ancient form of holiday accommodation, has seen a resurgence. In tandem with the heady fortunes of 2007, last year we saw the height of glamping (glamorous camping), which featured four-poster beds, lavish bed linens and fluffly towels, as well as tents for lounging, gaming and reading. Guests could dine on regional high-end food and wines, then commune in the fresh air while enjoying reflexology, massage and other top spa treatments. The next iteration…

Face it, flying these days can be only for the birds but airports around the world are offering fun and soothing options to make the travel experience a little less stressful. It used to be that the only way you could kill time at an airport before a flight was by eating fast food or drinking at a bar. Times have changed and nowadays you can indulge in a massage, mani/pedi or an oxygen session and even karaoke!

If you thought it was adventurous to stay in an ice hotel, a castle in Europe or a tree house in the jungle of Belize, now you can take it a step further and stay in a hospital, a jail, a bank, a lighthouse and even a railcar.

This past weekend’s re-opening of the legendary Fontainebleau in Miami Beach invoked nostalgic images of style and glamour. One felt transported to other (better) times, in what I would call a “Great Escape” – a fantasy, which at the end of the day, is part of what travel is all about.