LOS ANGELES—Moderator Mark Owens, vice chair, of Hospitality Practice Group Leader at Colliers, began the “Global Outlook” conversation with one question, with the intention to start broadly and then zoom in: “What are some of the trends, what's going on in the business leisure incentive market?”
He then turned to Global Hotel Alliance CEO Christopher Hartley, representing the world's largest alliance of hotel brands based on the airline alliance model, formed in 2004 under the leadership of Kempinski, Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts, Rydges Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham International. “We’d love to hear some great insights on some of the trends that you're seeing in the leisure segment, and how that's going to influence what we're going to see into this year and going forward.”
Hartley stepped up to the plate with statistics and observations, underscoring macro changes in hospitality industry. He began with the dramatic shift among Americans toward more ambitious travel and personalized experiences.
“When I started my career in 1990, I learned that I should focus on markets where people are most likely to travel from. Germany was number one as 75 percent of the population, or 60 million people with passports,” he detailed. “At that time, only 5 percent of Americans, about 12 million, had passports. (It makes sense) to focus on the markets where you're most likely to get outbound travel. At the beginning of 2025, 51 percent of Americans, or 160 million people, had passports. With 30 million customers and a platform across 45 different brands, the U.S. is by far our top international outbound market. What you're seeing is a completely different type of customer coming out of this market.”
With Japan, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Dubai having strong showings on the American traveler’s radar, Philippe Zuber, chief executive officer of independent luxury hotel developer Kerzner International, was excited about future prospects of the four brands in the company’s portfolio (Atlantis, One&Only, SIRO and Rare Finds) in the luxury travel market. Amplifying experience and brand message through loyalty programs and partnerships with luxury consumer brands like Missoni, Balmain is effective with the upper echelons of hotels and resorts are still effective strategies. However, Zuber said paying attention to customer lifestyle is key for sustained growth and retention.
“We have seen a massive trend which is about to continue to expand, and there is no point of return,” said Zuber. “(It is) all about longevity and wellness. It was interesting to observe that before COVID in 2019, four out of ten guests were hitting the gym or fitness activities. Right after COVID, it increased to eight of 10. This means people are taking care of their health when traveling. This helped lead to the opening of the first SIRO flagship in Dubai with another location, SIRO Palmilla in Mexico, coming soon. The brand...is the place where travelers can continue their lifestyle journey while away from home.”
SIRO’s distinctive amenities include a sports concierge, on-site nutritionists, and thermal-regulated mattresses that promise 30-45 more minutes of deep sleep overnight. Later in the panel, Zuber was very enthusiastic when he discussed the expansion of the One&Only brand beyond beach resorts. These include and architecturally spectacular urban resort in Dubai with three floors of spa facilities and One&Only Gorilla’s Nest in Rwanda that’s tied into the brand’s mission to offer exclusive and “transformational” beyond the luxury safari.
Ritesh Agarwal, chairperson at G6 International, and Larry Cuculic, president and CEO of BWH Hotels, meanwhile, revealed other ways the post-COVID travel boom continues to push the boundaries of what consumers in different demographics are open to as their horizons in travel expand. They acknowledged an uptick in travel closer to home.
“We will try to leverage international travel as much as possible,” said Cuculic, adding BWH Hotels recently opened a wellness hotel outside Mexico City. He also noted significance of trends in countries such as China and India, whose governments encourage citizens to explore other regions of their country. “We're a global brand, but we also have to market very strongly to take advantage of the opportunities that are within those regions (where we have properties).”
Agarwal, the founder and CEO of hospitality chain OYO Rooms, recently acquired G6 hospitality and its Motel 6 and Studio 6 brands. This gives him a definitively global perspective to the reemergence of road trips in the U.S., Europe and India.
“COVID has made people fall in love with travel all over again, and realize that as they are going to live life once live it up as much as possible,” said Agarwal. “(They) want to experience new places, but the number of consumers who are willing to drive versus fly has disproportionately risen. Our brands in the U.S. have a long history with people who enjoy road trips. However, we have European customers who drive from Germany to Denmark, the Netherlands, or several nearby countries. The impact of online reviews leading to bookings is often far greater than (other types of promotion) when consumers make a travel choice.”
While the “White Lotus” effect on travel (film and television’s impact on popularizing a destination) got a shout out in the 45-minute conversation, the panelists consistently turned it back to role technology plays in consumer decisions, particularly among younger Millennials and Gen Z travelers. While a good number of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers still respond to certain tried-and-true forms of communication, advertising, and advisors within the the current travel boom, younger travelers are moving toward communication driven by social media and other advances even faster than hospitality companies in some cases.
“The next generation of travelers—those under 30—are emerging, and our generation of management has to adapt to how we're going to communicate with them,” said Hartley. “While I am older and not a tech guy, I'm very aware that we're all going to have to adapt quickly to these much younger audiences as we want to capture a good share of what will be surging through the travel space. It's amazing what social media has become. It used to be a way where ideas could be shared, but it is now marketing that you cannot ignore.”
Hartley added that AI content is something that is powerful yet something established industry managers and executives need to grasp to use it effectively. “In order to deliver on any activation, events, whatever else we want to do, we need to be able to do it and execute it at the moment, push (messages) out at the instant, and repeat (constantly),” he said. “We're pretty excited about (its potential) as long as we control the narrative of the brand and be sure the information going out is correct.”