Ask yourself, what does the future of travel hold? Do you want a flying taxi? A 3D-printed steak in space? How about robot assistants haggling the best travel deals on your behalf?
TPG asked a range of intimidatingly smart experts and futurists across the travel, technology, design and food industries to peer into their crystal balls and tell us how travel might look in the near and distant future.
Related: I gave ChatGPT complete control of my city break. Here’s why I wouldn’t do it again
From smart airline amenities to artificial intelligence and cutting-edge sustainability solutions, here’s a snapshot of how our vacations might look one year, 10 years and 100 years from now.
Biohotels that think for themselves
Melissa Sterry, a design scientist and biofuturist, says the next era of hotels will be kitted out with biological furniture and natural heating systems.
One year from now: “Hospitality will grow in the health and wellbeing market, but expect prices to increase as inflation drives a need for frugality. Rises in utility rates and general running costs will limit the extent hotels can compete on price. To attract customers and reduce costs, hotels could look at creating more sustainable and seasonal menus, using local producers and removing single-use plastic products from breakfast buffets and instead using large dry-food dispensers.”
Ten years from now: “Check in to a luxury hotel in a decade, and you may see furniture, decor and insulation made from biological materials such as fungi. These living innovations will initially be priced at the higher end of the market. A swath of new products and services are already near market-ready. We’ll see baby steps in this direction over the next few years, with significant uptake in the hotel sector and wider travel arena by the 2030s.”
One hundred years from now: “As the world grapples with climate change, biodesigned hotel rooms would be self-cooling or self-heating, as increasingly sophisticated airflow modeling enables buildings to work harder and maintain the right temperatures without the need for heating and air conditioning. By 2123, holograms might meet you at check-in and robots could theoretically clean your room.
“That said, most humans are social creatures. The true luxury of the future could well be a human touch, as even the most high-powered AI robots of the future will struggle to relate to the human experience. Where cleaning is concerned, advances in materials science have led to many and still emerging materials which ‘self-clean’ and ‘self-repair.’ As bio and smart materials advance, the future hotel room could have its own material agency, enabled by what you might think of as ‘biological intelligence.’”
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Flying taxis and lunar bases
Fabian Alefeld, manager of Additive Minds Academy and Consulting, details how 3D printing could aid sustainability and the rise of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOL.
One year from now: “Within the next year, aerospace manufacturers will continue using 3D printing to create lighter and more efficient aviation parts, leading to significant fuel savings and reduced emissions. It will not only make your flight quieter but also reduce your carbon footprint, too.
“There’s a campground in Marfa, Texas, beginning a project next year with 3D-printed houses that blend innovative design with sustainability. As this trend becomes more widespread, expect to find more 3D-printed lodging globally.”
Ten years from now: “Fast forward a decade, and we’ll see the rise of the eVTOL aircraft — eco-friendly flying taxis of the future. They’ll be powered by 3D-printed electric engines and propellers, revolutionizing urban transportation and offering a new, efficient way to move within cities.”
One hundred years from now: “A century from now, personal jetpacks could finally become a reality. 3D-printed components would make them lightweight and efficient enough to get you airborne. Forget Segway tour groups; you could take to the skies to see some of the world’s most iconic landmarks by jetpack.
“Space exploration and tourism will also be transformed by 3D-printing technology. SpaceX’s Starship or its successors could all rely on 3D-printed components to make space travel more accessible and cost-effective. Any lunar bases will likely be constructed using 3D printing from materials sourced from the moon itself.”
Printable burgers and anti-jet lag menus
Tony Hunter, food futurist at Future of Food Consulting, explains how airlines could 3D print your inflight meals to order and fight jet lag by using smarter ingredients.
One year from now: “From airline lounges to hotels, expect vegan options and plant-based food menus to increase in the next year. Emirates alone now offers 180-plus recipes, and some startups are looking to grow fungal-based protein to create whole-cut steak-type products. Others are creating dairy-free whey protein from yeast, which can be used to make milk, ice cream and more. The possibilities of sustainable food alternatives are endless.”
Ten years from now: “Israeli company SavorEat has a 3D burger printing device that allows you to select the patty size, fat content and density you want via an app. It cooks in just six minutes. An inflight version of this is quite possible in under a decade, operated via your entertainment console.”
Another company, Cana, has [developed] a molecular beverage printer capable of creating anything from lemonade to a mai tai. Each machine can create thousands of drinks, and it’s available right now, meaning they could be installed on planes, trains, cruise ships and even within hotel rooms very soon.”
One hundred years from now: “Travelers will still get jet lag in the future of hypersonic planes, but I believe airlines will put products into your food to help overcome this. Personal AI will share your info with the airline or hotel so you have the right drink or food with just the right compounds to help you sleep or adapt to your destination.
“On top of this, research is already being done for off-Earth gourmet dining. Aleph Farms have sent cultivated meat cells into space to see how well they can grow them in extreme atmospheres and ensure people on future trips to Mars can eat fresh meat.”
AI that haggles for you
Devin Liddell, principal futurist at Teague, reveals how “hearables” will become the next generation of AI-led smart devices.
One year from now: “We’re already in the era of driverless cars. There are fully autonomous vehicle fleets available in San Francisco and Glendale, Arizona, and the fact they’re operating in those two metropolitan areas offers a clear signal that more cities could follow sooner rather than later. Companies like Uber have been road-testing them. If you’re visiting those cities, you could well find yourself getting into a driverless vehicle soon.”
Ten years from now: “Hearables — or in-ear smart devices — are likely the next big user interface. Right now, it’s the smartphone, but moving forward, it will be an AI-led type of headphone. Some tech companies started tinkering with wearables five or seven years ago, and they were ahead of their time. Apple AirPods have already opened the door, and it’s not crazy to think you could book hotels on them in a decade. There are obviously accessibility issues, but it could open up a different world of travel, allowing you to opt in to gate announcements only applicable to you or help you navigate your way around an airport.”
One hundred years from now: “By 2123, your travel will be curated by a personal AI helper. It will reveal the best restaurants in the city you’re visiting based on your personal tastes and tell you, ‘I’ve gone ahead and made a reservation at two of them and secured this perk.’ You’ll get the best deals possible because while many people are uncomfortable with haggling, AI will negotiate on your behalf, securing bargains on flights, hotels and more.”
Biometrics and speedy security
Billy Shallow, senior director of security, technology and innovation at Airports Council International, describes how major aviation hubs will beef themselves up by 2123.
One year from now: “Over the next 12 months, most major airports will continue to roll out computed tomography machines, which have explosion detection capability and can allow liquids and large electrical items to remain inside your luggage.
“On top of this, an exciting new concept called automated prohibited item detection systems is being trialed at various airports. Its algorithms automatically detect prohibited items, including guns, weapons and sharp items, improving airport operations and reducing the chances of security holdups making you miss your breakfast before boarding.”
Ten years from now: “Expect more self-screening concepts where passengers can have more flexibility over their own security screening process. The combination of CT and millimeter wave scanners are forecast to detect threats on a person and in their cabin baggage at a walking pace without the need to stand still, massively speeding up the security process.
“By 2040, our own ACI World’s Smart Security Vision program combines off-airport processing, CCTV predictive and behavioral analysis, biometrics, stand-off detection, walk-through screening gateway, automated algorithms and even expert human alarm resolution for a multifaceted approach.”
One hundred years from now: “It’s hard to predict exactly, but by then, passengers could be using apps to scan and secure their own bags. Airlines could use holographic technology for off-airport processes, and AI scans may even compare previous and current airport appearances and bags to make comparisons or detect anomalies. The future of airport security will always be to ensure that passengers are safe, secure and happy on their travels.”
Transatlantic travel pods and dimmable glass
Mike Behm, director of business development for aerospace tech at Gentex, reels off some of the nifty onboard amenities just around the corner.
One year from now: “Except for Wi-Fi, smartphones are still very separate from the current flight experience. But, we’ve started to see inflight entertainment systems that allow Apple casting, and I expect more to follow. Why embed all that stuff separately when 90% of us get on the airline and have that content already? Passengers just want to use their own devices on a big screen.
“In the next three to five years, we’ll make headway on smart lighting for cabins, where sensors can detect objects or situations and control responsive light modules. This would improve how people eat or read a book, minimizing disruption for other passengers normally put off by overly bright overhead lights.”
Ten years from now: “Digitally dimmable windows on planes will allow customers to control how much light gets through from outside. There are complexities around cost and weight right now, but that will decrease in time; the efficiency gap between cheap plastic pulldown shades and our system will be less and less. It will probably initially be used in first class but go mainstream as the cost comes down. I predict we’ll see it regularly by the mid-2030s.”
One hundred years from now: “We’ll continue to see a merging of the mobility sector. This may eventually reach the point where we travel from A to B in a type of pod that’s interchangeable with unmanned taxis or even large aircraft moving at hyperspeed across the Pacific Ocean. You’ll be in the same environment but moving differently. A coalescence of technology is hard to do right now as everything is heavily regulated. But, it does feel that flying is moving into a more disruptive period driven by the urban air mobility sector.”
Pandemic-prevention IFE devices
Gentex’s Behm explains what airline safety and security developments lurk right around the corner.
One year from now: “There is emerging technology that could help in the fight against future pandemics, including hover technology with inflight entertainment that will remove the need to touch buttons. By next year we’ll have a demo that shows it’s possible to bring your finger close to something and initiate a button press, swipe or other gesture without touching a surface. The distance at which you can do this is dependent on how much resolution you need and how big the area is.”
Ten years from now: “We’ve also developed optoelectric sensors to detect the presence of smoke or fire. It’s a digital nose concept, and our focus has been on nanofiber sensing platforms, where you build specific nanofibers to be sensitive to a specific thing such as smoke, vaping, fire, food spoilage or the presence of formaldehyde and other chemicals. This is coming sooner than you think.”
One hundred years from now: “AI will be so good in a century’s time that it’s not hard to imagine passenger security for an entire flight being handled by computers. First-class passengers could use virtual staff who appear as holograms to provide flight safety advice and even help do duty-free shopping, which can then be shipped straight home.”
Weather prediction and climate change adaption
Should global warming continue, travel will face some radical changes, Sterry says.
One year from now: “Travel insurance companies will lean heavily on AI-based algorithms to help them decide when and when not to insure travelers for business and leisure, as well as whether to insure travel companies and tour operators. Some companies are already using advanced system modeling technologies, so this will be a scaling up of a preexisting trend.”
Ten years from now: “AI will help travel firms to better predict external events, including weather at a time when global climate patterns such as stronger hurricane seasons are becoming increasingly hazardous. The accuracy with which future meteorological and other events are predicted is increasing and likely to become much more accurate by 2034.”
One hundred years from now: “We can expect the probability of pandemics to go up, not down; we can expect the probability of destructive wildfires, floods and storms to increase, plus more volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Travelers and companies alike will use AI modeling systems to process real-time data streaming from millions of points across land, sea and air. They will be able to identify where it is safe and sensible to visit. Some regions will experience extreme water scarcity, and the odds of conflicts could go up, affecting our options of places to travel to.”
