AI imagery by Intrepid Travel
Global – Adventure tour operator Intrepid Travel and The Future Laboratory have published a new report, A Sustainable Future for Travel, warning that travel as we know it could soon become extinct.
In the face of the climate crisis, the travel industry is at a crossroads – climate breakdown and tourism restrictions could curb the pursuit of wanderlust, while the optimistic outcome would be regenerative breakthroughs changing travel for the better.
Insights explore the possible remapping of popular tourism destinations, and calls for action from key players in the travel sector by showcasing the social, cultural and technological changes that can propel the industry forward in a positive direction through to 2040 and beyond.
Read the the full report here. If you would like to connect with our experts and learn more about our Commissioned Thought-Leadership, please reach out to us at hello@thefuturelaboratory.com.
France – Carrefour is cementing its position as a cost of living ally for consumers. The supermarket chain has rolled out shrinkflation labels in stores, warning shoppers of deceitful pricing and pressurising suppliers to quit the unethical practice.
Shrinkflation refers to reducing products’ size while charging the same or a higher price. As costs of raw materials started dropping but inflation is still high, suppliers have been widely using this pricing tactic to increase profit margins.
French supermarket chain Carrefour has been noticing dozens of such examples: Guigoz infant milk formula produced by Nestlé has been reduced in size from 900g to 830g, while PepsiCo’s Lipton Ice Tea bottles shrank from 1.5 to 1.25 litres. If these small but substantial changes can be hard to spot, Carrefour made them impossible to miss, with labels on shelves stating that volume or weight fell, effectively raising the price.
‘The aim in stigmatising these products is to be able to tell manufacturers to rethink their pricing policy,’ explains Stefen Bompais, director of client communications at Carrefour. This Retail-flation Response is a masterclass in loyalty-building, showing how to play the long game and be a part of the solution, instead of exacerbating the problem.
Photography by RF_studio
Port of Leith Distillery, UK
Scotland – Port of Leith whisky has marked its entry into the world of spirits with a distinctive twist – a vertical distillery spanning nine storeys that overlooks Edinburgh’s seafront. The brand, founded by friends Ian Stirling and Paddy Fletcher, both with a passion for whisky, celebrated the opening of its headquarters in the first week of October 2023.
Designed by Glasgow-based architects ThreeSixty, the building’s unique shape and size were driven by the limited site availability. Inside, visitors can explore the distillation process, including whisky stills, and enjoy drinks in the top-floor mezzanine bar boasting panoramic 360-degree views of the city and the sea.
The Port of Leith distillery is set to open to guests on 11 October 2023. As well as distillery tours, visitors can savour a tasting menu at the bar. Stirling and Fletcher’s vision is to bring innovation and excitement to Scotch whisky, offering a unique whisky experience to enthusiasts from around the world. The distillery is also a great example of a whisky-maker challenging the sector’s heritage, as revealed in Five Brands Rejuvenating Whisky.
As our offices become more social, intimate and personal, our homes are becoming more collaborative, corporate, commercial and hybrid.
But our living spaces are also becoming the real battleground for brands – with consumers demanding new kinds of intimacy, service and regenerative practices, and brands delivering these through transformative experience and superlative service.
Our Home States Futures macrotrend will highlight a new approach to viewing the home as an active and concentrated retail and lifestyle eco-system. It will become a hub that brands must target, woo and win over in precise and interconnected ways. To conquer this home-centric market, brands may appoint chief household officers and businesses will need to coordinate conversations, find synergies and create clear cross-selling strategies.
Join our in-house team, invited experts and global panellists at our Home States Futures online event on 19 October 2023 from 4:30pm to 5:30pm BST as we examine the future home – in terms of how we broker time, maximise wellbeing, re-assess usage, reduce waste, embrace data and develop new ways to side-hustle revenues from our sitting rooms.
Ketut Subiyanto
