When industry forecasters wrote their 2020 to 2021 trend reports, they couldn’t have predicted the grounded planes, the quarantine measures, and the slamming of collective brakes on the whole world’s holiday plans. While all industries have been impacted by the pandemic in different ways, the travel industry has arguably been one of the hardest hit. Yet, it offers the industry time to pause, reflect and reset, giving it the opportunity to re-emerge in a more sustainable way. While uncertainty is still looming on when the world will get back to ‘normal’, we’re questioning what the ‘new normal’ will look like. While the economic downturn is going to be an inevitable hurdle, travelling less often could mean people will be prepared to spend more on quality experiences when they do. They’re likely to seek resorts with an abundance of space and prioritise companies that they trust to meet high standards of hygiene – all of which could see responsible luxury brands given a well-deserved boost. “In the short to mid-term, the experience in a luxury hotel will not be diminished at all,” says Brian Gore, VP of Brand, Marketing & Digital for the Butterfly Mark Certified The Set Hotels. “In fact I think the opposite will happen. A stay will become more...