Travel Trends 2020

Whether you are after the next-generation of experiential travel or just lusting after some good old fashioned soul-searching, there’s a holiday out there just for you. In 2020, luxury takes a new turn, offering more bang for your buck with the latest show-stopping hotels bringing cutting-edge design and bespoke services. Luckily, we’ve done all the hard work for you, so all you have to do is read on, then book.

Wellness Wonders

Predicting a rise in preventative health retreats as well as a trend in ‘slow wellness’ holidays, founder of Compare Retreats, Dervla Louli Musgrave, says that ‘adventurous wellness’ will also be big in 2020. Native-American inspired therapies at Mii Amo Sedona Resort and active ‘safaris’ at Six Senses Fiji fuse enlightening experiences with healthconscious activities, and appeal to those who desire a wellness holiday but don’t want to lie around in a spa all day (compareretreats.com).

An expert in tailor-made tours, Scott Dunn has also seen an increased demand for boundarypushing wellness practices, and, as a response, is introducing trips to lesser-known parts of Finnish and Swedish Lapland. Its new adventure to Beana Laponia, an adults-only retreat in Meltaus, and the Golden Crown Glass Igloos, in Levi, Finland, offers ‘Arctic Cocooning’ – a new form of forest bathing, where you become immersed among the trees, wrapped in an insulated cocoon and soothed by the gentle swaying of the branches (scottdunn.com).

Meanwhile, in Swedish Lapland, the new Arctic Bath Hotel is a floating hotel concept with just 12-rooms, found on the remote Lule River. Designed by architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kaup, it offers detoxing and mindfulness as a focus. Floating on the water in the summer, and freezing into the ice during the winter, it has a giant ice bath in its centre, ringed with four saunas, hot baths and relaxation areas. Expect to come home recharged and rejuvenated (arcticbath.se).

The sky’s the limit

With climate change very much in the spotlight, there’s a new legion of travellers wanting to fly less, and, instead, opting for alternative modes of travel. As a result, says Original Travel, ‘Tagskyrt’ – a Swedish concept for ‘train-bragging’, which is all the rage on social media – looks set to be the zeitgeist among those wanting to journey as greenly – and scenically – as possible.

The company has launched train-only itineraries for 2020. The first will leave from London in January, taking in four different European cities, and finally arriving in Gotenburg (originaltravel.co.uk). Meanwhile, whisking you away from London to Scotland, the Caledonian Sleeper, which first left London Euston in 1873, has recently been given a £150m revamp with new double beds and hotel key cards on board. Offering some of the most opulent train travel in the world, the Orient Express has announced it is to double the number of its uberluxe grand suites on its European city trains. Tickets, please!

Once a must-do for any well-heeled explorer, a cruise down the Nile is also back on the map. One Traveller’s new five-star cruise ship will take solo holidaymakers along the famous river to many of Egypt’s key landmarks (onetraveller.co.uk). While Original Travel’s ten-day voyage takes place on the actual 19 th century steamer, the SS Sudan, that Agatha Christie originally sailed on.

Go for Gold

With the Olympics gearing up to start in Tokyo next year, Japan will undoubtedly see an influx of tourists. With most luxury hotels in the city already booked out for the event, you could try something different by staying at TRUNK(HOUSE), a new hyperlocal and immersive concept developed by the team behind the design hotel, TRUNK(HOTEL) , also in Tokyo. The onebedroom property is located in an historical building within Tokyo’s Kagurazaka neighbourhood and is inspired by the many salons that permeated the city in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. Four overnight guests will have the chance to reside alongside an array of newly-commissioned artworks by internationally acclaimed and up-and-coming artists (trunk-house.com).

To get away from the crowds, why not head to Kyoto instead? Just two hours on the bullet train from Tokyo, it is having a moment in the spotlight with two notable launches. Opening in spring, is the new Ace Hotel – the group’s first property in Asia. It has been designed in collaboration with award-winning Commune Design and legendary architect Kengo Kuma— the principal architect for the Tokyo Olympic Stadium 2020. Working closely with local artisans, it features a range of handcrafted interior features, to pay homage to Japanese design (acehotel.com).

Finally, André Fu, designer of Hong Kong’s Upper House and London’s The Berkeley, will unveil his design for The Mitsui hotel in Kyoto in early June 2020. Located near to Nijo Castle, interiors will take guests on a sensory journey rooted in Kyoto’s tradition, heritage and authenticity.

New names, old favourites

Sometimes you can’t beat a starry hotel-opening to bring you back to a classic destination. Next year sees the much-anticipated Aman New York launch, carved out of the iconic Crown Building on Fifth Avenue and 57 th Street, and overlooking Central Park. Built in 1921, it is one of the finest examples of neo-classical Beaux-Arts architecture in the Big Apple. Promising a distinctive design ethos from Jean-Michel Gathy, its three-storey-spa intends to be one of the best urban sanctuaries in the city. There will also be a subterranean jazz club, a 10 th floor wraparound Garden Terrace and a lavish penthouse (aman.com).

Also long-awaited in France is the Airelles Château de Versailles, Le Grand Contrôle – said to be as lavish as the historic palace in which it is found. Due to open next spring, the 14-bedroom hotel will allow guest exclusive access and experiences at Château de Versailles. Architect and interior designer Christophe Tollemer has been inspired by 18 th -century design with guests able to indulge in a private spa and restaurant by Alain Ducasse (airelles.com).

Antigua – a long-time favourite of sunseekers – also has a cluster of new openings on the horizon and an increased Virgin Atlantic service from London Gatwick making it even easier to arrive in the Caribbean isle. First up is the adults-only Hammock Cove Resort & Spa found close to Devil’s Bridge National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Pool villas offer indoor-outdoor living, while Michelin-starred chef Marco Festini says his kitchen will be the most inventive on the island (hammockcoveantigua.com). Further down the line, the island will also welcome new openings from Waldorf Astoria on the south-eastern coast, and Rosewood, with its new Half Moon Bay, which will boast 47 pavilion-style suites, with private infinity plunge pools, open-air baths and live orchid walls in each bathroom.

Get lost in dark skies

Demand for experiential travel, in a quest to feel awe and wonder, continue unabated. Astro-tourism, for instance, is on the rise, not only with star-gazers but with those wanting a new pure form of digital detox. Offering some of the darkest skies in the world are Chile's Elqui Valley and Namibia's southern Namib Desert. Here, in remote lands, you can be at one with nature, with no interruptions. Black Tomato's immersive take on the trend will take you to Peru and to a traditional Andean earth ceremony. With the guidance of a local shaman, travelers with take part in a ceremony which venerates the Earth under star-studded skies on Lake Huaypo.

Taking it one step further still, is Black Tomato's Get Lost service. All you do is show up at the airport, and the innovative company will take you to an unknown, unchartered destination, so that you can feel like you are genuinely lost. Under the distant watch of a support team, you call on your inner steel to reach the journey's end - the result, they say, is euphoria as a result of your travel accomplishment (blacktomato.com)

Hidden Europe

Named as one of Lonely Planet’s must-see destinations for 2020, Macedonia – recently rebranded as North Macedonia – is a tiny nation in the heart of the Balkans. With the new flight routes to Unesco-protected Lake Ohrid, some of its most stunning areas are opening up to tourism, especially with the recently-launched High Scardus Trail, a 495km trek along the region’s most dramatic peaks (lonelyplanet.com).

This also sets the tone for other lesser-known European countries just waiting to be explored. Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, is one of Booking.com’s top trending destinations for 2020, due to its spectacular architecture. It’s also the perfect base from which to explore the stunning landscape of the South Caucasus. Check out the new luxury The Alexander hotel, in the historic centre of the city, inspired by a classical Armenian aesthetic.

Bulgaria is another destination emerging on the luxury travel map. Its standout Relais & Châteaux Zornitza Family Estate, in the south of the country, offers inventive local culinary experiences, hot air balloon rides and Vespa tours of the Melnik winemaking region. The Zoma Spa is exceptional and inspired by the local terroir – with grapes, lavender, olive oil, honey from the estate’s own beehives and healing mud from the nearby extinct volcano all used in therapies (book through carrier.co.uk).