In just 20 years' time the hotel of choice will be a self-sustaining elevated pod that can be moved from place to place with relative ease.
That is the view of a new report from holiday company Thomson's Future Holiday Forum. 2024: A Holiday Odyssey says hotels of the future will be egg-shaped pods on stilts that can be placed anywhere from the Australian rainforest to the Antarctic and can remain in place for up to 15 years or be easily dismantled as demand for destinations drops.
As holiday-makers become more concerned about the environment, sustainability will be a key issue for the hotel of the future. At present less than 1% of people look for sustainable holidays, but the number is expected to increase to 5% over the next 20 years.
The report reckons that by being built on stilts the pod hotels will leave only the smallest of imprints on the local environment when removed, and so will appeal to the ecologically concerned guest.
And, as consumers become more and more demanding, hotels will have to become personally tailored for each guest. The hotel pod will reflect this with different-sized rooms that can be upgraded or downgraded according to budgets. Inside the rooms "active" walls and floors will show changeable images, allowing guests to set whatever mood they want.
Sophisticated technology in hotel bedrooms will also become commonplace as the line between work and leisure becomes more blurred.
The report also predicts that China, Qatar, Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro will become major holiday destinations and that there will be a massive growth in the popularity of cruises as they become less formal and more affordable. It reckons that the number of people taking cruises could triple from one million last year to more than three million in 2024.