The future of travel and tourism: safe adventures, real-time guidance, and new frontiers

Last week, as part of the ongoing weekly future series on the Morning Show, I spoke about the future of travel and tourism.

Click on the image below to watch a video of the segment.

Some of the things I talked about:

* The impact of the ageing developing world population, including the quest for “safe adventures” and the likely continued rise of cruise ships as a way to travel.

* The desire for greater experience in both travel and destination, resulting in the possibility of glass-topped aircraft to see the night skies as never before, and moving beyond the usual tourist itineraries to ever-more exotic locations.

* A massive rise in sustainable tourism, with low impact hotels and activities and the opportunity to observe rare species.

* Medical tourism continuing to grow, supported by ageing populations and soaring costs of medical attention in developed countries.

* Technology driving our pre-holiday and vacation experiences. We will be able to experience what it’s like being there before we go. We will get personalised recommendations based on our interests and profile on where we should go and what we should do.

* Real-time translation will allow conversations with people wherever we go.

* Space tourism is on the verge of reality, with Virgin Galactic already having sold 500 tickets at $200,000 a pop and many new competitors arising.

* The spaceships that allow space tourism could enable far faster global travel, including potentially 4 hour flights from Sydney to London.