TIME Living Travel The Top 11 Travel Trends for 2015 Courtesy of Boeing Whats on the horizon for the coming year? Here, a look at 11 trends that are changing the way we move through the world <\/p>\n
Remember when you actually had to go to an airport check-in counter to get your boarding pass? When calling home from abroad racked up exorbitant fees (hat tip, Skype), or when catching a cab meant waiting forlornly for one to pass? (Thanks, Uber and Lyft). <\/p>\n
Every year, the travel industry takes an evolutionary step forward, as companies offer up innovative solutions to the inevitable problems we face on the road. In 2015, we will see the rollout of Boeings new overhead Space Bin luggage compartmentspromising a faster, easier airplane boarding processand the rise of even-more-comfortable premium economy cabins to tempt us from the increasingly pinched back of the plane. <\/p>\n
Our smartphones, which serve as navigators, translators, itinerary managers, and taxi summoners, will get us into fully booked restaurants and double as our wallets (as if our relationship with them werent codependent enough). And our social media profiles will open doors and unlock deals at hotels, and connect us with useful business contacts while were traveling. Hotels, meanwhile, will find new ways to help us sleep better. <\/p>\n
But the changes ahead for 2015 are more than just improvements. This will also be a year of expanding horizons. Well stay in private houses and apartments that feel surprisingly like hotels (and vice versa). Well visit resorts and travel with companies where the bottom line is measured by how much goes back into local communities. And well make the world our classroom, attending workshops, salons, and conferences across the globe. <\/p>\n
In our annual trends package, Travel + Leisure tracks the biggest changes for the year ahead. Here are our predictions for how youll travel in 2015. <\/p>\n
If youre interested in staying at the new Drift San Jose, a stylish eight-room property in Los Cabos, Mexico, that appeals to independent millennials, you wont be able to book through its website, or any hotel website, for that matter. Rooms are available only through Airbnb. Thats a sign of things to come: since the apartment-rental behemoth enlisted boutique-hotel guru Chip Conley in 2013 to advise hosts on how to improve the guest experience (scented candles, fresh fruit, ambient music), the line between hotels and rentals has become blurred. Airbnb has introduced a range of initiatives to this effect, including a Super Host program that highlights some of the sites most professional-style listings and a three-day conference that offers tips for aspiring hosts. Other rental services, such as the high-end One Fine Stay and the affordable-minded BeMate, are also stepping into this nebulous middle ground, offering guests cleaning and concierge services. BeMate will even store luggage for you and, in lieu of room service, deliver food from nearby partner hotels. <\/p>\n
If your phone starts buzzing the next time youre in an airport, it could be location-specific alerts enabled by nearby beacons, low-frequency Bluetooth sensors that can tell you which currency-exchange counters have the best rates, how long itll take to reach your gate, and other useful tips. The technology is already being used in airports from San Francisco to Amsterdam. <\/p>\n
Las Vegas may be the best place to rest up right now, thanks to an array of sleep-centric tech enhancementsin lighting and furniture designin 171 rooms (and counting) at the MGM Grand. And that hotel isnt alone in prioritizing your REM sleep. Fifteen years after introducing the Heavenly Bed, Westin is piloting wearable monitors with a companion sleep-coach app, which it hopes to roll out to hotels in the near future. Crowne Plaza, meanwhile, has unveiled a new headboard that helps cut ambient noise by 30 percent. Heres a closer look at how hotels are rethinking your bedtime routine. <\/p>\n
Stay Well Dawn Simulator: The bedside fixture at the MGM Grand gradually wakes you up with cortisolproducing shades of blue light. <\/p>\n
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The Top 11 Travel Trends for 2015<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TIME Living Travel The Top 11 Travel Trends for 2015 Courtesy of Boeing Whats on the horizon for the coming year? Continue reading