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Travel to 2040: New Tech, New Tourists, New Experiences

  • Writer: horizonshiftlab
    horizonshiftlab
  • Sep 4
  • 14 min read
Glowing brain overlaying world map with icons like planes, towers, and landmarks. Blue digital background with circuits, tech theme.
Source: AI Generated Image

In this episode of Signal Shift, Sue and Raakhee dive into the rapidly transforming world of travel. From neuroscience-inspired tourism and AI-powered trip planning to VR therapies for flight anxiety and the rise of new global traveler groups, they explore how tech and innovation is reshaping not just where we go, but how we experience every journey by 2040. Whether you’re a frequent flyer or future-focused thinker, this episode will help you imagine what travel could look like in the years ahead.


Image Images Used in Video: A blend of free stock photos, AI generated and others with credits listed further below.





Selected Links:


Video Image Credits:

  • Design Hotels link

  • Further Forecast via Design Hotels link

  • Arts and Mind Lab link

  • Suchi Reddy entry via Wikipedia link

  • Refik Anadol entry via Time 100 AI 2025 link

  • Article by Serra Utkum Ikiz via Parametric Architecture link

  • Fear of Flying Treatment via Overcome.io link

  • Article by Christian Jarrett via BBC Science Alert link

  • Prophetic link

  • Halo Neuroscience link





Episode Transcript:

Sue (00:00)
Hello and welcome back to Signal Shift. I'm Sue and I'm here with Raakhee and well, the kids are back in school. People are back to work from summer holiday, but you know, before you know it, we're all gonna be travel planning again for the holidays, cause it's gonna be here before you know it. So today we actually wanna dive into the future of travel, which is an industry that's being transformed very rapidly.

You know, we've tackled innovations in the past from things like blue visas to immersive experiences. Overtourism has been a recent thing we've mentioned quite a bit. And so we wanted to talk about how innovation is reshaping not just where we go, but maybe how we get there, how we plan to get there. So we'll look at all of those things today in these signals. So Raakhee and I have both brought two signals each that we'll share. And I think this is a

big scope, so I'm really curious what signals you brought today, Raakhee. What would you like to start off with?

Raakhee (00:56)
Yeah, hi Sue. I got quite excited about this one and landed on it accidentally. But I'll share the starting point that my husband doesn't like to see anything beforehand when we travel. wants he wants the surprise and all. So he really hates the fact that there's so much out there about every part of the world, you know, by means of photos and videos.

And so I do all the planning and I see the stuff and I really don't mind as much, but I think he gets the lucky end of the straw there. And he gets that real like, wow, this is what it looks like, which is really cool. And something we've sort of lost in a certain sense. But thinking about that whole process and his journey, I kind of fell into looking into something that I think is going to be a future trend, probably soon in the very near future.

And then I think it'll become very normalized after that, but it's definitely going to be a big trend at some point. It isn't right now, but it's coming. And what it is is this concept of neuro-aesthetic travel or neuro-tourism. And now, of course, neuroscience has been brought into so many realms. We've seen it in business and leadership and neuro-marketing, and it's become really popular. But neuro-aesthetics is basically

a subfield really within neuroscience that is about how the brain perceives, feels and creates art and anything else of beauty, anything that's aesthetic and not just creates it but also experiences it, right? So both as the creator and the person who's experiencing it and what happens with the brain in the process of creating but also experiencing. there's a popular book called Your Brain on Art.

a couple of years ago and that was quite, you know, that was quite a popular book. So there's that book, the Penn Center. There's a Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics at the University of Pennsylvania. And then there's also the International Arts and Mind Lab, the I.M. Lab at Johns Hopkins University. And they really look at neuroaesthetics from the perspective of bringing it into health and well-being and learning as well. So it's really popular in academic and scientific communities.

and it's filtering into the design space. So I found that design hotels, which is a collection of 300 independent hotels, right? They focus on the sort of more boutique hotels that are really about design and locality and culture. And I think the parent company is Marriott. They're pretty big, but they sort of focusing on this from last year and they explored this in something called the Further Forecast in 2024.

And now they've gone and done an even deeper cultural study on neuroesthetics, looking at how aesthetics, culture and technology impact our brains, our bodies and our behaviors. And they've worked with a few other studios, I think an architecture studio, a design studio in collaboration with this, as well as the Penn Center I speaking about and some of the big names there, as Suchi Reddy being one of them. She's a neuroesthetics architect

I think it's Anjan Chatterjee. And then we have spoken about this guy before, but Refik Anadol, he is the guy who inaugurated the sphere in Vegas. he basically uses AI data to create art and images. And so working with him as well. So they're really looking at this and saying, OK, how is this going to impact tourism? And what is neurotourism? And how do we bring neuroesthetics into it?

I think we're going to start seeing more articles and, you know, holidays geared towards this. And I think really the the message is saying that I think very soon we'll be at a point where, you know, marketing will speak to, OK, here are the neuro aesthetic benefits of this kind of holiday. If you buy in the package, right, you will increase your language capabilities, your memory and your learning in this particular area.

Whereas another one might be about wellness and they'll be like, okay, this is really stress reduction. But I think they'll start bringing scientific facts and data to back it up I think what will happen is it'll be very trending for the next couple of years. And then I think it'll just be normal, like how it's become normal to just go to certain restaurants, right? We don't like specifically talk about the gastronomy of a trip, but it's a part of it.

I think the same thing will happen here in time. So I'm kind of excited about that and really want to focus on that when I think about a trip now, right? And what am I getting cognitively in different senses? So that was my first one, Sue.

Sue (05:11)
I love it. And I can see how excited you are about this, bringing the neuroscience into travel. But that is really interesting thinking about, you know, there are so many ways that we've built micro communities for niche interests. And this is just another way that you can customize your experience based on kind of your typology or what you want to get out of a particular vacation. Well, it's really interesting because it segues into one of the signals I brought, which I think originally I was like, this isn't that

innovative, but it's going to continue to do this, which is just the increased use of AI in travel and travel planning. And I think last week we talked about just how rapid the adoption has been around generative AI tools. Well, I saw that over the summer, there were a couple of surveys that came out. booking.com was one of them. They released a survey that said 89 % of their respondents

wanted to use AI in their travel planning needs. And actually 24 % of them said that AI assistants are now more trusted to them than travel bloggers or social media influencers, which I thought was really interesting. There was another piece on Wired magazine just about using the next-gen travel agents like OpenAI has operator, Anthropic has computer use, and doing everything to book stuff. And it's not

100 % there yet, but it's as someone who's used AI to help all my planning needs last year, it just cut down the amount of work that I had to do, which was great. But it just makes me think again, if you're using these models to continue to customize to your preferences, having that in combination with something like the neuro aesthetic design for hotels, that could be a really neat.

combination where now you're being, you know, you're being offered these opportunities that really know you really well. I mean, there's a scary side to that as well. But if that gets you exactly the type of break that you need, that could be a positive.

Raakhee (07:15)
Yeah, think that's spot on, right? So it's like, it's there.

And I'm sure ultimately everything is just going to shift to, literally everything kind of popping onto like the glasses we'll wear, you know, and any information we want will literally be like, ting, ting, ting.

Sue (07:30)
I think it was still that same article that they were saying, you know, using Operator or Computer Use helped with the planning. But once you get there, it's the Meta glasses that really can help you get around exactly to your point. Like, what is that? What am I seeing? Where should I go eat? So yeah, already people are using it like that.

Raakhee (07:48)
Yeah, I've really been, I think, itching to get some of those glasses. I think I'm going to wait for the next iteration I guess speaking about AI and tech leads nicely, I think, into the second bit of signal I had. The signal is really just around some of the technology.

to help us with I think something we all are feeling right now, which is anxiety when flying because of course of the headlines this year, right? mean flying is a little bit nerve-racking, but there's just been so many accidents and mishaps and near misses in the media this year that I think everybody like kind of, you know, feels apprehensive when flying. So I was looking at what kind of technology is going to offer in this realm, you know, to help people and actually found some really cool things and

The first one was actually a site. It's called overcome.io And it's you know, we'll link this of course with our notes, etc So, you know go to the website post for all these details, but it's called overcome.io and they offer virtual reality therapy for phobias in specific like specific fears and so in essence its exposure therapy

but through virtual reality, which is deemed to be that much more effective, like really immersing you so you really get through those fears. And then you have the tools, which is the breathing and the visualization and all of that that you'll actually do when you're in that real environment. But simulation that helps you overcome these fears. they've got it for like, you have to sign up for specific fear, whether it's spiders or whatever they have. And they have quite a long list of fears, and flying is one of them.

And I was like, oh, I could see people taking it on. And then the other one is a story of two Halos. I'll call it the story of two Halos because both these products are called Halo. And I'm like, we are really running out of imaginative names for products. But two different companies, one is actually an older one. they showed at South by Southwest like a decade ago, I think.

And another one that was actually one of the category finalists this year. So I'll talk about that one first, the one from this year. that is a company that has really also a tool, kind of a headband that gets you into lucid dreaming. The company's called Prophetic.

the tool is called the Halo. It's like a little crown, like a headband that you wear on your head. And it's meant to give you control over your dreams, right? And they're working in collaboration with the person who was a designer for Neuralink for Elon Musk. it uses a combination of ultrasound and machine learning models.

using EEG and fMRI data to detect when you are in REM, and it induces and stabilizes lucid dreams. OK, I don't know how deep they are. I don't know how deep the research is, but they are out there, and they are meant to be getting out there and shipping the devices this year.

The other device is also one called Halo from a company called Halo Neuroscience. And they use something called neuro priming technology. And what they do is they deliver small electrical signals to the brain. It's called transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS, and enhances the motor cortex.

They're enhancing what's happening with your motor cortex and your prefrontal cortex through electric signals so that you have enhanced learning capability. So it's more about skill than it's, you know, therapy overcoming anything, but it's about giving you this period of like, whoa, I boosted to learn faster and quicker now. So that, you know, they've also been around for a long time. I'm going to say something and I'm going to disclaim it here with all these products.

There is not enough research on this. I certainly would not go and purchase this. So we are not in any way endorsing any of this stuff. What we are highlighting and showcasing is just some of the interesting things that are out there, that actual products that, yes, people can purchase. I think there's a lot of research and work to be done with things like this. But coming back to kind of that in-flight experience, I was just thinking about how these tools and technology could be used when you're on a flight to help you,

Sue (11:56)
That's very interesting. was just thinking about when you're booking a flight, you get to kind of the special needs area of special services that you have. And this might be an add-on that you can get to make your flight much more pleasant and not anxiety inducing, right? and very good point that we are not endorsing any of these products.

At this time, we're just introducing what novel innovative ideas are out there. Well, my last signal kind of takes a little right turn from what we've been talking about. And it was imagining what travel might look like in 2040. Now, you know, being from the United States, it's been a luxury and a privilege that for many destinations I've been to, they have catered to Americans for a long, long, long time.

You always manage to figure out someone who can speak English to help you where you want to go. There's English menus, you you name it. But although the United States will still be, you know, the largest travel group in terms of outbound travel, there are a lot of countries that are now going to be having outbound travel. And I think that's really going to shake up how travel destinations are catering to different groups of travelers.

what kind of things that they'll be paying attention to. So I saw this study that said by 2040, the Financial Times said that India will actually be the fifth largest outbound traveler nation and the third largest domestic travel market, actually by 2027. And it's not just India, there are a whole bunch of kind of next tier countries from emerging markets that are doing more outbound travel, and that includes Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh.

Bulgaria, Egypt, Morocco, and Vietnam. And that doesn't include everyone that they mentioned. And so when I started thinking about this, yeah, I just thought travel destinations will really have to think about how they're going to cater to all these types of different travelers, from dealing with a lot of the capacity constraints that we've already seen to language barriers, what's on menus.

Thinking about travel peak season, it might have been school holidays or summer holidays for folks in the States, but what are other big religious holidays or cultural holidays that are big travel weeks or weekends for people? It's really going to change. And it made me wonder also, is my experience that I've had for so long as an American going to change over seas? Yeah, it probably will. But I just.

thought, OK, this is going to be really interesting how people will need to adjust, how they can use AI tools to help customize travel itineraries for folks, and exactly the type of experience that they want. Because now we really are going to have to differentiate.

Raakhee (14:46)
Yeah, I love that Sue and I was like, yeah, I'm going to take a guess that India is probably one that's high on that list. And you see that shift. I think we spoke about it even with the cultural holidays episode we did a long time ago, right? even with brands and we think about how brands cater to both like the Lunar New Year, right? And what a big deal that is and making sure that customers get these beautiful

gift sets that celebrate that and specific products designed for that. And I see a similar thing happening with Diwali, right? And now that recognition of that, know last year with Target, there was a lot more in the store.

I think we spoke about food as well, right, Sue, and we spoke about the cultural malls and just saying like, what kind of, you know, it's not gonna be that like the burger is the standard food when you go everywhere, right? It'll be something else. Is it gonna be noodles, right? Will that be like the standard food? Is it gonna be like naan and the curry? And would it be that instead of McDonald's and Starbucks when you go to Italy, right?

is it going to be something different now? Is it going to be like the, yeah, is it going to be noodles and dim sum? Are those going to be the corner stores?

Sue (15:56)
That's right. You might find different burger teams from actually different countries that are heading over. But it will be interesting to see not only kind of what the regional food may look like, but other what kind of cultural touches they'll put on it to attract kind of this next wave of visitors.

Raakhee (16:12)
I'm excited. I'm excited about the cultural shifts, as you've mentioned. And I'm excited about the technology making it easier. I there's simple things that I think is going to make life easier, like not having to go through such rigid sort of customs, like if there's facial recognition, I just walk through.

you know, in and out. Like going through Canada, immigration and customs on my last trip was like such a nice breeze.

Sue (16:38)
That's right. I was just wondering, will there actually be an off-peak season anymore, the more travelers we get? Who knows? As more people try to find just that perfect window of time to travel. So yeah, I was wondering what that might look like. But overall, think, yeah, I'm excited to have these technologies available to me as more travel destinations.

are differentiating their experiences, right? So you're not just going to kind of, you're going to go to Paris, you're going to go see the Eiffel Tower. Yes, you can do that. But there are also very, very niche opportunities that I don't even know exists. And if these technologies can help me find it that's suitable to me, I would love that feature.

Well, thank you all who are listening and also watching. And if you have any other travel ideas or innovations that you have, we'd love to see it in the comments. If you have any questions, let us know. For those of you listening, go over to YouTube and onto the comments section. We'd love to hear from you. But as always, thank you for watching and listening, and we will see you next time. Bye.

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