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more in upcoming designs in the luxury market. “It has a lot of potential with the way it
overlays onto reality,” he said. “I’ve seen it used for a cricket match where you weren’t just watching the game but actually taking part yourself… perhaps in the future you’ll be able to walk down a corridor of a hotel and there will be [an augmented reality] booth you could go into and use to see different things.” Speaking as part of a panel on the current and future trends in hotel design, Balmond also discussed how the availability of nanotechnology and 3D printing had opened up a series of new options for high-end properties but insisted their use needed “rigour”. “It’s a huge brave new world for design now
but we still need rigour and rules and to only use these elements if they can add to the experience of the guests,” he added. Fellow panelists Will Meyer and Gray Davis of
Brave new world for hotels of the future
By Tom Parry
The use of augmented reality is among a range of experimental technologies forming a “brave new world” in the design of luxury hospitality and leisure projects, according to Cecil Balmond. The renowned designer, artist and architect
told this year’s Ultratravel Forum in partnership with ttgluxury at The Savoy how he had incorporated the tool, which creates a
‘Tourists would flock to Donald Trump’s United States’
The possibility of Donald Trump becoming US president and the ongoing economic slowdown in China are issues that could shape global demand for luxury travel next year, according to political commentator Daniel Franklin (pictured), executive editor of The Economist. He said the current US presidential race was
“absolutely fascinating” and said he could foresee a Trump presidency sparking a trend of travellers journeying to the US just to experience what the country would be like under his command. “There’s an awful lot of uncertainty,” Franklin
said. “With Trump in charge it’s looking like it would be a very inward-facing America. Given his stance on immigration, Mexicans would stop coming to the US – even the wider South
America market. At the same time, you could see great curiosity about Trump’s America in visitors from other countries.” Franklin, who since 2003 has been editor of
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TTGLUXURY.COM SUMMER 2016 IN THE KNOW
composite view of a real environment with computer-generated graphics, into his plans for Cinnamon Life, a “city-within-a-city” project currently under construction in Sri Lanka. Located in Colombo, it will include an 800-
room hotel, with the project due to finish in 2019. Balmond explained to Forum delegates how the technology would be used to enhance “dining and shopping experiences”. He also expressed his desire to see it featured
New York-based interior design firm Meyer Davis furthered Balmond’s championing of developing technologies, citing an ongoing virtual reality project with social media app Snapchat. The New York-based duo told the session,
which was moderated by ttgluxury editor April Hutchinson, how they were using the as yet “undisclosed partnership” to tap into the needs of the millennial traveller. “Working with Snapchat we have been able
to get an insight into the way the younger generation uses media and of their tastes, which is important as they are the luxury travellers of the future,” said Meyer. In another session at the Forum, Robert
Swade, group chief operating officer of Jumeirah, said the group had worked with Google to create Jumeriah Inside, which allows future guests to have a real-time interactive digital experience of hotels such as its iconic Burj al Arab in Dubai.
The Economist’s annual The World in…, also highlighted the current downturn in the Chinese economy, with growth of 6.9% in 2015, its lowest in 25 years, as a warning sign for the industry given the recent increases of Chinese luxury travellers. “China is crucially important to the world of
tourism as last year the Chinese took 100 million trips abroad and that’s expanding,” he explained. “But this wobble has everyone asking ‘will
there be a hard landing?’ as it’s clear the rate with which the economy grew wasn’t sustainable and if [the Chinese economy] does slump, luxury spending will take a hit.” But Sally Booth, head of brand for Elegant
Resorts, said the slowdown in Chinese and Russian travellers had been good news for the operator’s UK clients. “For example, it means we have been able to
get our customers into some of the top resorts in the Maldives where we have been having issues with capacity,” she said.
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