For some years now, thanks largely to millennials and Gen Z moving away from typical blind brand loyalty, we have seen a rise in consumers being more questioning of the ‘good’ that businesses are doing and as such people are taking a more active stake in the brands they engage with. In the Festival of Hospitality’s ‘Hospitality Futures’ webinar, Philippa Wagner (Creative Strategist at PW/c with over 20 years’ experience across trend forecasting, insights and strategy) talks about the way in which brands are now expected to prioritise the needs and growth of everything – people, plants and the planet – so that they can help to give back and grow the communities around them, and in doing so creating a depth of interconnectedness, or “togetherness”.

This focus has paved the way for some innovative and externally focussed initiatives across the hospitality sector which are fast gaining momentum. Philippa Wagner breaks down these initiatives into four emerging trends: togetherness travel, community owned models, empowering communities and culture of care.

Togetherness travel

For those of us familiar with shared hostel rooms, the idea of bringing together a community of guests isn’t necessarily new. However, what we are starting to see across the hospitality industry is an increase in purpose-led community building. For example, social retreats that look to bridge the gap between loneliness and wellness (again, issues highlighted by various lockdowns) and an increasing need for people to feel autonomous in how they live and work (think ‘digital nomads’). An example of this is Tiktok led Casa Camino – a residence designed to host travelling, like-minded, female creatives. It is a place that can support the nomadic lifestyle while also helping to develop creative potential.

The other aspect of togetherness travel is the concept of ‘insider agents’. In other words, the ‘word of mouth’ approach to sharing experiences. Travel bloggers and vloggers and even just regular folks with an active Tripadvisor account have been providing travel and hospitality recommendations for years. This new trend is enabling those who give out these tips and tricks to monetise their content and to make it more useful. For example, Step is looking to become the social network of travel – the content is built by creators for the people who they follow, trust and share values with, and therefore combining the interactive and curated world of social media with the more traditional hospitality review platforms.

Empowering communities

Diversity and inclusion has been moving to the top of board room agendas over the past few years, encouraging businesses and brands to be more aware of the part they have to play in increasing representation of previously marginalised communities and groups. Part of the trend of empowering communities is an understanding that we don’t all have the same abilities and sensibilities, and travel and hospitality needs to catch up to ensure it is more inclusive for all. Examples of some initiatives in this space include Hotel Brooklyn in Manchester, which has been designed from the ground up to be more inclusive for those with additional sensory needs.

As well as ensuring those of all abilities are considered and catered for, the hospitality industry is shifting its focus onto those communities that had previously been overlooked by investing in the local communities that surround hospitality venues on both a short- and long-term basis. For example, Fairbnb is a home sharing cooperative whereby 50% of the profits derived from home rentals are reinvested into projects in the local community.

Community owned models

Continuing with the theme of community, a desire for a more democratised and equitable hospitality industry is paving the way for community owned models, including community commerce and NFT hospitality.

With consumers more likely to trust their community as opposed to a CEO, community commerce provides a solution by enabling the coming together of businesses and individuals through shared values, with collaboration and community at the core. The owners of the Plimsoll pub in Finsbury Park turned to the local community, rather than relying on traditional investment, to help keep the pub alive. The money earned together through the thriving local now goes back into the community.

NFTs and the metaverse might seem like dark magic to some but they are taking consumer led industries by storm, and hospitality is no exception. The Manor DAO is using web3 and blockchain to crowdfund a luxury guest house as a decentralised, autonomous organisation. Members purchase an NFT artwork which in turn gives them a right to have a say on the decisions being made on the develop of the manor, meaning every decision is made in collaboration with the founding community. Members will also earn allocated time slots to stay at the guest house.

Culture of care

Finally, following COP26 and the coming together of the Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, we are seeing a new wave of hotels that are shifting their focus to the environment that surrounds them, and giving back in innovative and sustainable ways. StayOpen, a pod hotel in Venice Beach, operates a ‘bed for a bed’ system whereby 3% of the total of each paid night is donated to a local homeless charity to help pay for beds for the homeless. The newest room at the Treehotel in Lapland consists of a suspended glaze box surrounded by 350 bird boxed, providing food and shelter to the birds who live in the surrounding forest as well as to encourage population growth.

What’s clear is the level of progress that’s being made across the hospitality industry to ensure that brands are harnessing the potential that comes from the natural interconnected influence between us, our environments and the communities in which we live, resulting in fascinating and cutting-edge offerings. As consumer and brand focus continues to shift towards being more socially and environmentally aware, it really will be interesting to see what else brands come up with in the name of togetherness.

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