Q&A: with CEO Hotels of The Future – hotels.com
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We caught up with Dr. James Canton, CEO and Chairman of the Institute for Global Futures about how hotels will look like in the future. Dr. Canton is a global futurist, social scientist, author, and visionary business advisor. Keep reading to learn about the future of the travel industry and some megatrends that will shape the future of hotels,
Q: What does the future of hotels look like?
A: In the Hotels.com Hotels of the Future study, we found that radical trends in technology, science, energy and entertainment will vastly change the future hotel experience for travelers. The emergence of a new travel design science, which is a combination of using big data, artificial intelligence and predicting travelers’ dreams, will mean the whole travel experience will change. Hotels need to capitalize on this trend.
I partnered with Hotels.com on this ground breaking study that looks into the future of hotels and we have identified the top trends of hotels of the future from now through 2060 and beyond:
- Robobutlers
- Morphing hotels made to order
- 3D printers in every hotel room
- Neuro-Dreaming
- Pop-up hotels
- Wellness & longevity hotel spas
- Airport transfer of the future
- DNA mobile payments
- My travel avatar
- EcoHotels on the next level
- Augmented Reality Hotels
- Gourmet genomics in hotel restaurants
- Immersive themed hotels
- Deep sea hotels
- Out of this world space hotels
- Voice and gesture controlled hotel rooms
- Virtual reality entertainment
- The Internet of Hotel Things – hyper-connectivity
- HoloReal sports in hotels
- Hotels that think – AI
Q: Why is wellness + longevity such an important travel trend?
A: Health enhancement will be the largest market in the near and far future as average life spans will grow to 100. Consumers are constantly increasing their focus on wellness and want to be able to maintain a sense of balance while traveling. Because of this, improvements in this area are continuously evolving. In fact, the next generation of wellness spas will be mind-blowing. The hotel spa of the future is based on DNA analysis and promotes living a longer life. You will receive personalized prevention treatments, prediction and health enhancement programs designed to refresh your health, your fitness and help you to understand future health risks. These will also prevent disease and use the latest genetic medicine treatment, mind refreshing drugs and brain fitness exercises.
Q: Tell us about gourmet genomics
A: Gourmet genomics is where hotel restaurants will feature food designed for the individual’s palate, all based on DNA analysis. Before you even arrive at your hotel, your diet and nutrition menu will be designed based on your DNA and optimized for your health. The menu is created to improve health, nutrition and fitness, but the food will still be gourmet and delicious.
Q: What kind of themes may we see in hotel rooms?
A: When travelers check into a hotel in 2060 they can expect it to feature a personalized travel experience with augmented reality, artificial intelligence, morphing beds, robotics, touchscreen everything, hyper connectivity and much more. Specifically, future trends include themes such as: neuro dreaming, DNA mobile payment, RoboButlers, 3D makers in every room and pop-up hotels based on crowdsourcing.
Q: What do you think people will be most surprised about when it comes to the future of hotels?
A: I think people will be surprised how much the technology in hotels will change in the next 50 years. The way travelers choose a destination, book a trip, travel to a location and enjoy the in-stay experience will be dramatically different. By 2060 the standard hotel room you know today will be almost unrecognizable. The room of the future will be a blended reality that’s so personalized, so smart and techy down to the last detail.
7. What challenges are there to overcome?
Logistically, there’s some progress that needs to be made in the next 25-50 years. But the future of travel is really exciting, as we’ll see predictive travel analytics anticipating what consumers want from their experience before booking. The hotel booking itself will be helped along by artificial intelligence software agents, personalized robotics, neuroscience, using data mining and intuitive computing. The new travel design science will help create highly personalized in-stay experiences. And it doesn’t end when you check out, because new analytics will also ensure lifelong travel fulfillment.
Q: Tell us about your background?
As a global futurist, for the past 25 years I’ve been forecasting the impact of future trends and innovations on business, markets and society. I’m currently the Chairman and CEO of the Institute for Global Futures, a world renowned San Francisco-based think tank – which I founded in 1990. Here, I help clients better anticipate the impact of future trends and advise corporations and governments worldwide on trends and global strategy in innovation, robotics, health care, work, climate, energy, security and demographics.
I’ve had the privilege to advise three White House Administrations as well as over 100 countries and speak to thousands of organizations on five continents. I’ve also written multiple books to share my findings such as: Future Smart: Managing the Game-Changing Trends That Will Transform Your World, The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World in the 21st Century, Dutton 2006, and Technofutures: How Leading-Edge Innovations Will Transform Business in the 21st Century.
Previously I worked in high tech startups, investment banking and government. I also worked at Apple in global business, AI and forecasting, was a partner at Swiss Occidental an investment banking group, OxyNet investments and was CEO of UmeCorp – an early AI company.
