The return to place through layered experience opens our understanding of luxury up to include deliberate reconnection with our natural environment. Image credit: Jumeirah-Al-Naseem / Woods Bagot In short, they must use storytelling to create genuine immersion in place. Aware that context is key, designers looking to create a successful hotel must make decisions that provide travellers with an authentically personal connection to the destination that binds them with the surroundings, culture, and people. Where objects are symbols of status, experience is born from context – a product of the sights, sounds and smells of the time in question. With 72 percent of millennials reporting that they’d like to increase their expenditures on experiences in the future, it’s clear that the definition of modern luxury is shifting to become more about ‘being’ than ‘owning’ – we’re choosing stories over souvenirs. The preference for experience is reflected in the way global retail consumer habits continue to lean from the possession of objects to the creation of memories, indicating a growing preference for access over ownership. Image credit: 25hours Dubai / Woods Bagot A global surge in journeys to culture capitals, a new wave of interest in wellness retreats, and a spike in demand for outdoor destinations beyond just beaches and mountains, mark a subtle change in appetite – we’re leaving behind escape in favour of experience.
But the real seeds of change lie in the type of trips travellers are booking. Evocatively termed ‘Revenge Travel’ by the media, this continued behaviour has bolstered global tourism to the point that it’s expected to reach approximately 80 to 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels this year – with the Middle East and Europe predicted to meet pre-pandemic visitor volumes by year’s end. Identifying a change in appetite, 2020 saw travellers taking ‘revenge’ against lost time during the pandemic by booking trips abroad. From delivery to detail, the age of the experiential, culturally connected, lifestyle-focused hotel is here, and with it comes new standards for luxury. For designers, this has sparked a quiet renaissance. This shift means that today’s definition of the ideal guest experience is deeply embedded in a genuine understanding of place. Instead of the rootless escapism that has defined travel’s last decade, a rising craving for connection through first-hand experience indicates the turning of a new leaf – we’ll settle for nothing less than pure wonder. Drawing on all this experience, Charara talks us through the changing face of luxury in the industry – looking at how the definition of luxury has changed as designers, architects and guests step forward in pursuit of wonder… In his role at Woods Bagot, Charara has worked on The Londoner, the recently-completed Minthis Hills, 25hours Hotel One Central Dubai and many other hotels and hospitality projects.
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