Hotels that float and fly - welcome to the future of tourism

Published on Sunday 12 December 2010 15:58

Huge airships containing apartments and aqua-village floating holiday resorts are among tourist developments that could feature by 2030, according to a report to be published today.

• Thomson's vision includes resorts floating off Monaco. Picture: PA

The airships would be vast structures featuring bars and restaurants, trend forecasters the Future Laboratory said.

The aqua-villages would harvest energy from the sun, wind and rain and could be moved from one location to another.

By 2030 the travel world could also see the world's largest airports transformed into aerovilles - destinations in their own right, featuring cinemas, hotels and restaurants.

In 20 years, second-generation biofuels developed from algae could be mixed with jet fuel to power aircraft with significantly reduced carbon emissions, according to the report, commissioned by Thomson Holidays.

This vision of the future of tourism could help save some of the world's most vulnerable tourist destinations such as Venice, Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu in Peru, and the Great Pyramids in Egypt, the research claims.

The report said radical changes in tourism are needed to prevent a number of bleak scenarios from becoming reality by as early as 2030.

It claims climate change and over-consumption of water is turning some of the world's most popular holiday destinations into deserts and putting world heritage sites at risk. However, rather than advocating that tourists stay at home, the report says the new eco-friendly developments will ensure people can enjoy foreign holidays with a clear conscience.

It creates a vision of the hotel room of the future that includes energy-saving features such as bathrooms where water from the basin and shower is used to flush the toilet and where a device called a Waterpebble sits in the plughole and glows red when too much water is used.

High-efficiency windows that minimise glare and heat and can also be dimmed will reduce the need for air conditioning or curtains, according to the report.

Other elements include low-energy coved ceiling lights powered by the resort's own wind turbines and solar panels.

The report suggests holidaymakers will want to be able to check a resort's carbon emissions before booking.

Jane Ashton, head of sustainable development at Thomson Holidays, said: "In order to meet the demands of social, environmental and legislative changes over the next decade, we need a radical shift in how sustainable holidays look and feel, and the way in which we all behave on holiday."

VisitScotland, which operates a Green Tourism Scheme, said its own research also indicated tourists were increasingly concerned about sustainability.