Luxury

Luxury short-term rentals sit at the intersection of old-world hospitality, expert-led curation, and innovative new-world tech, but they'll need unique models to stand apart in the rapidly growing alternative accommodations sector.

Giant companies see the benefits of investing in wellness — and have enough money to take chances. But the wellness landscape, as we all know, is littered with fads gone bust.

When it comes to keeping up with the Joneses, luxury travel brands are falling behind. The value of brands from fashion, automotive, and financial services sectors is far stronger than those from hospitality and travel.

Within the travel industry, brands like Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons loom large. But according to a just-released study of brand valuation, in the real world, hospitality brand names don't carry as much weight as their high-end counterparts in other industry sectors. To address this, companies like Marriott and Hilton are focusing on establishing ironclad loyalty offerings.

Independent hotels are well-positioned to capitalize on a growing consumer appetite for experiential destinations and one-of-a-kind moments. Enduring soft brands like Preferred Hotels & Resorts are now taking advantage of this shift by tapping their 50-plus years of experience delivering for consumers while boosting revenues and lowering costs for hotel owners.

It will likely take years for the wellness industry to really fix its diversity problem. But the process could speed up if more people start to speak out about it.

In a growing luxury wellness trend that's built to last, nature comes indoors in the form of living green walls, natural materials, and more at high-end hotels.

This week in wellness news, the hot springs movement gains traction in the U.S. Meanwhile, mental health apps aim to address the rising tide of anxiety in the U.S. Admirable, yes, but it’s debatable whether apps that gamify the quest toward beating anxiety can really catch on.

The ancient Greeks did it. So did the ancient and not-so-ancient Romans, Japanese, and Chinese. Heck, even some of the founding fathers of the United States did it too. But despite its illustrious past, the idea of taking the waters has never really caught on in the United States, until now. Hot springs could be on the verge of a major wellness moment.

Consumers are so overwhelmed by choice these days, they sometimes simply give up on travel plans altogether. Brands like American Express Travel are hoping to end that lamentable state of affairs by combining old-school service with new technological tools that make the complete “customer journey” both high tech and high touch.