Transformational Travel Heating Up
But is it the “right kind” of transformation?
The travel industry perfectly exemplifies the Progression of Economic Value, so much so that while I’ve long used the coffee industry and the birthday party to exemplify the Progression through experiences, I now use the travel & tourism to exempify it through to transformations, which I showed in this post.
In it I wrote about a promotion one large luxury hotelier did in October 2023:
“The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company sent an email to all its members promoting how ‘Transformative Moments Begin at The Ritz-Carlton’, beautifully illustrating the successive phrases, ‘You arrived a bud, you departed a bloom’, ‘You arrived a shell, you departed with wings’, and ‘How will your stay leave you?’. (The question arises on how much Ritz-Carlton actually and intentionally makes that happen for guests.)”
And then I recently saw an article in Travel and Tour World, “Bali Redefines Luxury Travel at The Ritz-Carlton with Authentic Experiences and Wellness Focus“, that began:
Ritz-Carlton is synonymous with top-tier luxury and service. However, as the expectations of luxury travelers continue to evolve, so too does the brand. Gone are the days when elegance was simply defined by opulence and formality. Today’s affluent travelers, particularly those from younger generations like Gen Z, are redefining luxury with a focus on experiences, authenticity, and personalization. The brand is embracing these changes by offering not just lavish accommodations, but transformative experiences that speak to the desires of modern travelers.
I posted this on LinkedIn and wrote that “This article gives me confidence that the company is actually and intentionally focused on transformative experiences.”
Not everyone agreed. I think this issue was it’s the Ritz-Carlton, for goodness sake. There’s a strain in the transformational travel business – including through the Transformational Travel Council – that intertwines transformation of guests/aspirants with that of the destinations. This is a great emphasis, and exactly the sort of focus that yields collective flourishing.
There’s a strain in the transformational travel business that intertwines transformation of guests/aspirants with that of the destinations.
It is not, however, necessary to be in the transformation business, and again if the Ritz-Carlton is doing what it (and the article above) say it is doing, then that also is a great thing.
And so too is this: “Hyatt Hotels Corporation Launches Retreats by World of Hyatt: An Exclusive Series of Wellness Retreats Offering Transformative Getaways Across Iconic U.S. Destinations” as another article in Travel and Tour World put it, as well as what Marriott (the owner of Ritz-Carlton) is doing as seen in yet another article at the same website, where “Marriott Bonvoy invites wellness seekers to explore its exclusive resorts across the Caribbean and Latin America, offering a transformative experience that goes beyond typical relaxation.”
But what these hotel companies are doing is also a great thing.
These articles were propitious as I spoke at the Arival 360 conference in Washington, DC, on October 1st. If you’d like to get a taste of that – or just learn more about how travel & tourism is and should be embracing the Transformation Economy, watch or listen to this podcast I did with Arival this summer.
And, in case you didn’t know, I join in on the Experience Strategy Podcast every week with my colleagues at Stone Mantel, Dave Norton and Aransas Savas. We were also together at Arival for a pre-conference Executive Summit, and so we talked about what we learned at Arival in this podcast and spoke more recently about transformational travel here.
Here is to many other industries shifting beyond goods & services to experiences & transformations!
Joe
© 2025 B. Joseph Pine II