The Future

By Staff -- Hotels, 8/1/2006

Underwater Hotels And Space Elevators

In the November 1998, HOTELS reported on academics analyzing aspects of lifestyle and travel that would shape the hotels of the future. Alan Stutts, then dean of the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, was right on with his ideas about creating exercise programs that work in the guestroom, so “you can get a 15-minute workout without going to a gym.” Today there is Wyndham’s “No Shoes? No Problem!” in-room exercise DVD, Bally-designed in-room fitness kits for Hilton, Marriott’s Great Health—Fit For You in-room equipment, and the WestinWORKOUT powered by Reebok Gym. Other predictions that already are starting to materialize include biometric locks and guestroom windows being replaced by virtual windows featuring computer-generated scenes.

Today, only eight years later, predictions are more advanced, more forward-looking, and perhaps a bit more exciting: “Four decades ahead, underwater hotels and restaurants will be almost common,” writes Marvin J. Cetron, the president of Forecasting International, in a future forecasting chapter of HSMAI’s commemorative book, 75 Years Of Service And Achievement. “Most will appear in shallow water, where sunlight penetrates to illuminate abundant life; the most spectacular will be located on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.” Cetron has a number of interesting thoughts about the future of travel and hospitality. He notes in the book that dates are “guesstimates,” but he believes that one way or another, many of his predictions will materialize. For example, “At some point in the future, much-expanded leisure seems all but inevitable,” he writes,

“The late 2020s are our best guess at when thiswill occur.” What makes Cetron’s forecast most interesting is that others like him predict many of the same things. For example, Jeff Wacker, an information technology focused futurist with EDS and a longtime professional member of the World Future Society, also says that thanks to advances in technology and automation, there will be a real resurgence in leisure travel in 15 to 20 years, with people taking significantly more time off—up to 3 months a year of vacation. The two futurists also agree that a space elevator, which will climb a cable made of carbon nanotubes, will make space tourism a reality in the next 25 years.

Looking at the big picture, Wacker believes five fundamentals will drive future changes in travel and hospitality: information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics and ecology. He says the geographical presence of a hotel is at risk, as buildings could become more mobile thanks to lightweight construction materials (like carbon nanotubes) and a much more minimal footprint (picture energy-self-sufficient pods on stilts that could move from one hot destination to the next). Still, he believes that hotels in the best locations will do well: those under the sea, in the Arctic or in the Amazon.

As for guestrooms, Wacker envisions selfcleaning, self-healing surfaces that will be like new every time someone walks into a room. In addition, he says rooms will be completely configurable and customizable, including the view (thanks to organic LED displays on the walls). Rooms also will have the capacity to be aware of their occupants, those people’s preferences and their moods, he believes, and will be able to respond accordingly, perhaps by changing the color of the walls and putting on a certain type of music to put agitated guests at ease.

What about the bed? “The bed will be body-conforming for sure, and will do a health checkup on you all the time so that you will be as healthy when you leave as when you came,” Wacker says. “When you’re not sleeping, the bed will do an origami fold so it can be out of the way.”

Many of Wacker’s ideas about the guestroom of the future are reflected in the Hotel Of Tomorrow project, which brought together forward thinkers from hotel companies and hotel design firms to concept out the hotel guestroom of 2025. What resulted were ideas like a“bacteria bomb” to sanitize guestrooms for each new guest and a bathroom floor pad to monitor guest health and wellness through the feet. Whether or not these things materialize, hoteliers who continue to innovate will continue to win guests and loyalty.

Predictions and dates from Marvin J. Cetron, Forecasting International, and Jeff Wacker, EDS:

2010: Radio ID tags will guarantee that luggage arrives where its owners do

2010: Automatic translators for written material will be standard cargo for well-equipped travelers

2012: Passports and visas will be replaced by biometric identity cards that carry records of fingerprints, retinal blood vessels and other proof that you are really you

2012: Giant cruise ships with apartments owned by the passengers will be sailing from one luxury destination to another

2020: 500-mph magnetic levitation trains will carry tourists around Japan, from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and along other high-density routes

2023: 3-D videos delivered over the Internet will be the ultimate advertising medium for hotels, showing potential visitors exactly what they will experience

2025: Ecotourists visiting the Arctic, Antarctic and other pristine destinations will arrive by hydrogen-powered jets that emit only water

2030: A space elevator, which will climb an enormous cable made of carbon nanotubes, will make space tourism routine

2035: There will be computers as smart as humans; combined with robotics, this will produce android-like butlers

2040: Underwater hotels and restaurants proliferate

2040: First permanent moon base will accommodate tourists