Adapted from KNOW: The Future of Travel, available to employees and clients across the Euro RSCG Worldwide network.
While overconsumption was the common practice prior to the economic downturn, we are now seeing a countervailing trend of mindful consumption that is changing how people define value and what they seek—and increasingly expect—in their brand experiences. Where once “more was more,” now different perspectives on luxury and service are emerging, with interesting implications for the travel and tourism category.
Roughing It Gently
Rough Luxe is a movement and a group of like-minded hotels, restaurants, retailers, and artisans connected by a philosophy of luxury that emphasizes authenticity over “bling” and experiences over excess. The movement began in 2008 with London’s Rough Luxe Hotel. Located in an iffy area of King’s Cross, this unique hotel celebrates the ambience of contrasts: architectural heritage versus gritty neighborhood, high-end amenities versus reclaimed furniture. Rooms boast original artwork and elegant bed linens alongside 25-year-old televisions and wallpaper peeling down to the 1920s stratum in a kind of urban archaeology. Priced at around $200 per night, each room offers a chic and engaging experience far removed from standard luxury fare. For its interior designer, Rabih Hage, a graduate of L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, this is a deliberate philosophy and practice. In interviews, he has noted that luxury should be about rarity, not duplication: “It’s not about bling or expensive objects,” he explained in The New York Times. “It’s about remaining true to real provenance.” Guests at the hotel or any other in the Rough Luxe Experience network might share a bathroom or have a small room, but they will find luxury in the surroundings, the choice of wine, the art on the walls, and in the service provided by the staff.
Network members include hotels and lodges in Cape Town, St. Moritz (a cowshed habitation with an upscale, organically sourced restaurant), Costa Brava, Palamos, and on a private island in Ireland. Criteria for prospective members include a unique location and a historically or architecturally significant building; design and decor featuring a mix of old and new; original artwork; organic, locally sourced food; and physical comfort—but not at the expense of the intellectual exchange of ideas and personal enrichment.
Less Pack, More Flash
A similar high–low series of contrasts and emphasis on personally enriching experiences plays out in the trend of “flashpacking,” where flash can stand for both style and flash drive. The next generation of backpackers, flashpackers eschew traditional youth hostels and other bare-bones accommodations in favor of boutique hotels and bed-and-breakfasts. Their version of “roughing it” comes complete with such must-haves as laptop computers and GPS systems. Unlike the impecunious backpackers of old, flashpackers can afford to splurge on good meals, fine wines and beers, and the nightlife. Rather than getting away from it all, these travelers often blog or tweet about virtually every detail. (“We set out at 2 a.m. from our hotel, arriving at about 3:15 with our guide Ketuk at the temple that serves as a 1,500-meter base camp.”)
A number of hostels are adapting to this trend, becoming more like hotel/hostel hybrids. One such boutique hostel, the Daddy Long Legs in Cape Town, has rooms individually designed by a local artist, while Berlin’s high-tech Baxpax Downtown offers hip ultra-modern gizmos and gadgets. In Girona, Spain, the Centre Ecologic Ilemena operates according to sustainable practices, including organic food and water pulled from a well. A floating hostel is available on the Rygerfjord ship in Stockholm, with water views from the top-deck bar.
“We’re going flashpacking. What’s that? It’s like backpacking with less pack and more flash. We’re packing less and buying more along the way. For the most part, we’re skipping hostel cooking, chicken buses, and group accommodations in favor of restaurants, discount airlines, and something with a lock on the door, a soft bed, and sometimes Wi-Fi. –Curtis, writing on Flashpackinglife.com
How else is the new mindfulness affecting the travel category? Please share your thoughts and observations.
Image credits: TobyBarnes@flickr.com; Flashpacking Life@flickr.com
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