If you’re still doing candle-lit dinners and getting couples’ massages, put down the wine, slip on the bathrobe, and get your lavender-oiled self out of there. This is not the way antiquated 2010s.
Boutique travel club Mr & Mrs Smith have teamed up with the Future Laboratory to present the next decade of millennial travel trends, with a special focus on romantic travel. With Valentine’s Day coming up (though love should be celebrated every day, and so on…), it’s a really interesting time to have a look and wonder. And maybe put back those heart-shaped chocolates.
Checking in on modern love and travel
Titled ‘Modern love: Exploring the future of romantic travel’, the report is far from your regular, not merely outlining standout destinations, but pondering what it really means to travel in the ‘20s. This takes into consideration new and changing attitudes, social and political melodramas, and environmental awareness and sustainability. Sounds familiar, right?
Buzzing millennials ourselves, it is refreshing to see that the report predicts that we’ll move away from those ‘mainstream’ notions of champagne and chocolate, and more towards more innovative experiences.
Martin Raymond, co-founder of the Future Laboratory, explains: “Now, it is all about true surprise, genuine wonder, new experiences. Just as it is no longer cool or correct to discuss gender, or sexuality as binary and fixed, so it is no longer correct to talk of romance in such fixed, linear, and familiar terms.”
So what’s hot or not for romantic weekends in the 2020s?
Whilst we could predict that farm-to-table dining and more transformative travel experiences would top the list, the findings are incredibly detailed, and pin-point even more specific angles. Find below a Hot or Not list of sorts:
On the Hot List
Responsive room lighting
Zero-impact tasting menus
Mindfulness for two
A California king bed (fits three)
Four-day peakend breaks
Ayahuasca-enhanced intimacy
Theirs and Theirs
Premium play spaces
Chief Romantic Officer
On the Not List
Candle-lit dinner
Fine dining
Massage for two
King size bed
Weekend getaway
Champagne-fuelled revelry
His and hers
Kids’ club
Concierge
…And what travel experiences will we seek for 2030?
These touch on several rising trends we’re familiar with in both social and environmental circles. A seeking for a deeper connection with ourselves and with the planet, find below the report’s top ten hotel experiences for 2030.
Love & Self Love
Sound healing: Aural baths for traveller wellness and sexual intimacy
On-demand, express beauty: Services as easy to select and order as a cocktail at a bar
Premium playspaces for children and parents: Providing bonding moments for adults and their offspring
Breathwork buffet: Offered at the same hours you would conventionally offer breakfast
Disconnection tour: A day where phone is locked away, guided by a local decelerator
Interactive tech
Pleasure pilgrimage: Guided play for one, two, or more, enabled by responsive room mood lighting, and aural and AR stimulation
XR-guided art tour: Where the city becomes an interactive canvas
Away from the toxins
By-product cooking masterclass: Learning how to adopt zero-waste practices at home
Low-proof and non-alcoholic bars: Tonics that engender emotive experiences
Immersive nature: Glamping and luxury blend, with accommodation merged into the landscape without foregoing convenience
Agree? Disagree? Pack your reusable bottle and ethically produced yoga pants and meet you at the airport?
Lisa Gries
Creative Content Director, Bangkok
Lisa is the Creative Content Director at Lifestyle Asia Thailand. When she’s not knees-deep in SEO analysis or editorial calendars, you’ll likely find her in downward-facing dog at the yoga studio, or immersed in conversation at a secret bar in China town. Lisa writes mostly on dining, travel, and pop-culture, and is a huge fan of soup dumplings, Riesling, and power napping — in exactly that order.
