No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come. Anand began his deliberation on ‘Mega Trends of Tourism & Hospitality’ with the above quote by Victor Hugo which was the underlying message of his special address at the 3rd HAI e-conclave.
He spoke of five trends – the first two being ‘the curse of excess’ and ‘digitalisation & technology’, which he termed as the key trends. The other three were luxury, health and security, which he termed their after effects.
Elaborating on ‘the curse of excess’ and the consequent sustainability agenda, Anand pointed out that the global per capita consumptions are five times what they were 50 years ago. In the last fifty years, there has been an 800 percent increase in water consumption in the industrialised nations whereas population during the period has only tripled. Closer to home, five star hotels in Delhi alone consume 15 million litres of water daily and generate 10 million litres of sewage.
While humanity has taken great strides in conquering the sky, moon and space, all of these have come with a price tag, and that is green house emissions, which have been increasing in the last 20 years. There is an ecological overdraft. It now takes the earth one year and four months to regenerate what we use in a single year.
What then is the way forward? Anand suggests that the way forward is to live off the interest of our planet’s resources – sunshine and biological richness – rather than the capital that is non-renewable resource.
Speaking of the second key trend, i.e. ‘digitalisation and technology’, Anand said that with mobile internet, facebookers, bloggers, texters, yelpers and tweeters, digital movement is the new moment of truth. The word of mouth has now become the word of mouse. Review is the new advertisement. That what an unhappy customer in the physical world can tell to six friends, a customer active online can tell to 6000. Facebook, twitter, SMS, placards and candles have emerged as the new lexicons of dissent. Efficiency in this digital world is the minimum threshold attribute.
Moving on to luxury, health and safety, Anand said that the luxury industry is worth approximately GBP77 billion and is now truly global. Despite this boom, the current trends have cast a shadow on it and there are warning signs of a coming impasse. Questions are being increasingly raised about the ethics of luxury goods.
The definition of success and the way it is perceived by others is changing. Many successful people now want the brand to reflect their concerns and aspirations for a better world. Over-consumption is no longer a signal of success and is being replaced from conspicuous to conscientious consumption. A new type of luxury whose deeper values are fully embodied in the sourcing, manufacture and marketing and distribution of products and service is gaining prominence.
Moving on to health, Anand pointed that the increase in life expectancy could lead to an e-commerce surge in the years to come. It is anticipated that by 2050, the fastest growing consumer group in the world will be over the age of 60. Companies will need to re-look at products and design, and so will be the hotels with new services design, F&B and other offerings.
