Innovation and trends in tourism

There is an apocryphal ancient curse: “May you live in interesting times”. We in the travel industry are certainly living through an interesting time for tourism in 2025.

After a smooth take-off at the start of the year, the travel industry quickly hit turbulence as concerns about trade, tariffs, and policy weighed on the global economy. Make no mistake, the state of travel in 2025 remains strong. Our industry continues to grow. Travel has shown impressive resilience in a world tested by macroeconomic uncertainty and evolving consumer expectations.

Then there is the pace of technology. Machine learning, once the gold standard for artificial intelligence is now table stakes. Travel technologists have gotten their footing with generative AI tools and are scaling LLMs even as we start to look forward to an agentic future. Changes in how businesses and consumers use AI could upend the long-established competitive landscape. Interesting times, indeed

Sarah Balet, chercheuse en tourisme régénératif à l'institut Tourisme de la HES-SO Valais-Wallis était l'invitée du Podcast NOUVELLES VOIES dédié à l'entreprise régénérative. 

Dans cet épisode intitulé Voyager autrement : le tourisme peut-il devenir régénératif ? Sarah Balet partage les résultats de ses recherches et son expérience de terrain. On y parle d’une nouvelle manière de concevoir les séjours, à la fois plus responsables et plus puissants, pour les visiteurs comme pour les hôtes.

"Airbnb’s latest push into locally run experiences and on-demand amenities marks a strategic move to capture more of the $1 trillion travel experience economy.


Airbnb on Tuesday unveiled the much-anticipated relaunch of its experiences offering. Airbnb will add more options for large attractions – particularly through guided tours — though there remains a focus on niche, curated, and locally run experiences. 

The company also debuted a new services product, which allows consumers to order hotel-like amenities to their Airbnb. And these services aren't just for travelers: Local residents can also order them. 

The numbers are potentially big: Airbnb said it would invest up to $250 million and CEO Brian Chesky has previously talked about a goal for launching businesses that could do $1 billion a year in revenue."

Over the last couple of decades, technology has modernized the travel industry by streamlining bookings, enhancing digital customer experiences and making travel more accessible and efficient. Now, it’s time for technology to play a larger role, beyond the basics of bookings, to help solve harder-to-fix challenges like alleviating overtourism and empowering small businesses in developing regions.

In short, technology—done well—has the potential to transform tourism into a positive force in support of sustainability and economic inclusion.

By reducing intermediaries, redistributing tourism demand and integrating sustainability into core operations, travel technology has the potential to create a more equitable and resilient global travel landscape.

Like the rest of the travel industry, the future of the tours and activities sector will be altered by some form of AI, though exactly how remains to be seen. The evolution of the in-destination experience aided by AI was discussed during part two of Phocuswright’s The New Age(nts) Trend Series, an online event led by Mike Coletta, senior manager of research and innovation at Phocuswright.

Panelists Alex Bainbridge, CEO of Autoura, co-founder and CEO of TripSchool Mitch Bach and Janette Roush, senior vice president of innovation and chief AI officer at Brand USA, joined Coletta for a wide-ranging, in-depth and informative conversation. 

“We feel strongly that some of the recent capabilities of generative AI models have significant implications for the in-destination experience. Specifically, advanced computer vision capabilities allow them to understand surroundings and context really well, and advanced real-time voice capabilities enable very natural conversations,” Coletta said. “And together, these stand to revolutionize how travelers tour neighborhoods and sites of interest, get recommendations and interact with locals.”

Position description

Acquire, carry out and manage R&D projects in one or more of the above-mentioned fields.
Collaborate with regional, national and international companies, public institutions and universities to develop high-impact projects.
Establish partnerships with companies, universities and partner schools at regional, national and international levels.
Disseminate scientific results through articles and presentations at conferences.
Teach at Bachelor’s and Master’s levels in the corresponding subject areas at the School of Management.

Travel and hospitality is a huge industry, estimated at $955.9 billion in 2025. Once an industry dominated by travel agents, online bookings are now projected to account for 76% of all revenue by 2030. Travelers increasingly rely on digital resources, such as travel guides, mobile apps and streamlined booking platforms to fuel their wanderlust and plan their next adventure.

But booking travel online can be equal parts exciting and exhausting. The experience is often clouded by concerns about expectations versus reality, unclear cancellation policies and the pressure to find the best deal.

À pareille date ou presque l’année dernière, je vous rappelais ici-même l’importance du storytelling sur votre site web. Et dans une des solutions évoquées dans cet article, je faisais une brève allusion aux contenus générés par les utilisateurs – ce qu’on appelle communément le UGC, acronyme anglais pour user generated content.

Or, dans un monde numérique où la recherche en ligne se transforme et se déplace de plus en plus vers les outils d’IA générative ainsi que les médias sociaux, quels sont les impacts pour les destinations et les entreprises touristiques au coeur de l’offre d’un territoire? Et surtout, quel est le potentiel qui découle des contenus générés par des utilisateurs, voire même des influenceurs, pour votre marketing touristique?

"Im Rahmen der ÖW-Sommerpotenzialstudie 2025 wurde das Reiseverhalten von Urlauber:innen mit Hund näher untersucht.

Mit einem Anteil von 5 % (= 7,8 Mio.) aller Sommer-Reiseplanenden aus den zehn betrachteten Märkten stellen Reisende mit Hund eine zwar kleine, jedoch interessante Zielgruppe dar. Sie finden sich in allen Altersgruppen, überdurchschnittlich oft bei den 55 bis 64-Jährigen. Zwei Drittel dieser Gruppe sind Frauen. 39 % haben bereits Urlaub in Österreich gemacht und für fast jede(n) (86 %) ist Österreich im Relevant Set der kommenden drei Jahre. 

Sie verreisen überdurchschnittlich oft (viele Kurzreisen) und haben dabei hohe Ansprüche. Zur Anreise bevorzugen sie deutlich häufiger das Auto und das Wohnmobil. Auch bei der Wahl der Unterkunft gibt es mit Ferienwohnungen/-häuser eine klare Präferenz. Camping ist bei dieser Zielgruppe ebenfalls beliebter. Obwohl sie weniger oft das Flugzeug nutzen, liegen ihre Gesamtausgaben pro Reise nur knapp unter dem Durchschnitt aller Sommer-Reiseplanenden."

Studierende der HES-SO denken Abenteu­er­tou­rismus neu
Tourismus-Studierende der HES-SO Wallis präsen­tieren Geschäfts­kon­zepte, die neue Zielgruppen für den Abenteu­er­tou­rismus erschliessen sollen.

Rund 60 Studierende im vierten Semester des Studiengangs Tourismus an der HES-SO Wallis haben unter realen Bedingungen 13 Geschäftskonzepte für den Abenteuertourismus entwickelt. Im Zentrum des praxisorientierten Projekts standen die Fragen, wie sich neue Zielgruppen gewinnen lassen und welche Angebote im dynamischen Tourismusmarkt langfristig behaupten können.

Dans un contexte où la montagne est confrontée à des défis climatiques, économiques et sociétaux majeurs, la Compagnie des Alpes engage une transformation profonde de sa stratégie. Loin de se cantonner à l’exploitation de domaines skiables, elle affirme aujourd’hui une posture nouvelle, où l’investissement dans l’humain, la biodiversité et l’habitabilité des territoires devient aussi stratégique que le rendement financier.

Cette mutation se traduit par des engagements concrets, tels que l’atteinte du Net Zéro Carbone d’ici 2030, la participation à des programmes de restauration écologique comme Nature 2050, et le développement de partenariats industriels pour la production de dameuses électriques dans les Alpes françaises. Rencontre avec David Ponson, Directeur de la Division Montagne et activités outdoor de la Compagnie des Alpes, qui nous éclaire sur cette métamorphose silencieuse mais décisive.

Airbnb has been collecting user data to lay the groundwork for the future of the app: A digital travel concierge that learns and adapts to each individual user. 

Over the past few years, Airbnb has encouraged users to complete their profiles — answering questions like 'What are you obsessed with?' and selecting up to 20 personal interests. At the time, it may have felt like a feature with no real purpose.

But all that data has laid the groundwork for the future of the app: A digital travel concierge that learns and adapts to each individual user. 

The way people travel for work is changing. Bleisure travel -blending business trips with leisure time- has moved from a growing trend to an established part of travel

Earth Day might have passed, but according to research from Booking.com, consumer awareness of travel's impact on destinations is increasing.

The online travel company’s Travel & Sustainability Report 2025, which gathered opinions from more than 30,000 travelers across 34 countries, paints a more positive picture when it comes to sentiment surrounding the impact of travel.

While in previous reports in 2023 and 2024, many travelers (28%) expressed their fatigue around hearing about climate change and questioned whether their personal actions made a difference, this year's report revealed that sustainability is important for most travelers (84%).

As the travel industry works to meet the needs of environmentally conscious customers, the question remains: How can the sector ensure good intentions do in fact have a tangible impact? While many express a preference for sustainable travel, behavior while traveling differs.

Insights from Accor, Radisson Hotel Group, NH Hotel Group and Phocuswright offer strategies to tackle this sustainability behavior gap, with a focus on the importance of education and how technology can support more responsible travel decisions.

“We have been doing sustainability for a very long time. We had our first program in the early 2000s,” said Inge Huijbrechts, chief sustainability and security officer at Radisson Hotel Group. “We were the first hotel company worldwide to carbon compensate all our meetings and events worldwide.”