For many people, vacation planning starts much earlier than their departure from home. Comparing flights between tabs, planning an itinerary through mobile applications, storing restaurant names through social media and answering the last working message just before getting on board – this can be a description of what people are doing before travelling.
This way, modern travelling is faced with the contradiction that there are many more instruments to make our trips smoother, but many people come to vacation carrying something that they wish to get rid of during this period – mental overload.
In this connection, Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index provides a perfect example of the contemporary workday. The productivity statistics showed that, on average, every two minutes, people got interrupted by meetings, emails or notifications. More than half of the respondents noted that their workday was chaotic and disorganised.
Workday does not end after people leave their offices; it moves to evening, morning and even to vacation. It is thus easy to understand why the concept of "a good vacation" has changed.
When doing less becomes the point
For quite some time now, travelling has meant optimising experiences: more sites to see, more places to eat at, more things to do, more photographs to take. The fuller the schedule was, the more successful the vacation was considered to be. Today, however, there is a movement in the opposite direction.
According to Agoda’s 2026 Travel Outlook, relaxation was the primary travel motivation for 67 per cent of Indian respondents. Expedia Group’s Unpack ’25 research identified a related trend it called “JOMO travel”, or the “joy of missing out”. In its survey of 25,000 travellers, 62 per cent said such trips reduced stress and anxiety, while 47 per cent said they enhanced quality time with loved ones.
It seems that today more and more people use travelling as a way of correcting their usual routine. If the usual routine is loud, then the vacation has to be quiet. If the usual routine is planned down to the last minute, then the vacation should not be planned at all.
Attention is becoming a luxury
Among the most notable changes in hospitality is that customers do not always need more activities. Rather, they require permission to have fewer.
Taking time to eat breakfast slowly, spending an afternoon reading, going for a walk with no clear aim or sitting outside can turn out to be the highlight of your stay. While these seem quite simple activities, we live in a fast-paced world and thus finding some uninterrupted time has become quite rare.
According to Hilton’s 2026 Trends Report, based on research involving more than 14,000 travellers across 14 countries, the desire for quieter and more restorative travel is becoming increasingly visible. Nearly 48 per cent of travellers said they were making space for solo time by adding extra days before or after family holidays, reflecting a broader preference for travel that allows more room to slow down, recharge and step away from the demands of everyday life.
Digital detox does not mean going offline
However, digital detox doesn’t mean that people must disconnect themselves. Travellers still require maps, tickets, payments and photographs. It seems like it’s no longer the use of technology but the desire for its control which is changing.
The idea is that when people photograph the sunsets, they don’t have to think about sharing them on their social media accounts. Similarly, checking email can become a conscious choice rather than a reflex. The shift, therefore, is not about rejecting technology altogether, but about using it more deliberately and on one’s own terms.
It is maybe the true change that has been taking place from the rejection of technology to its control.
Travelling for how we want to feel
Among the most important changes in modern travel today is that people choose their vacation destinations not just based on what they wish to see, but how they want to feel after they return.
For hospitality, this makes the brief different. Creating memorable experiences is no longer about just doing more things; it sometimes involves creating the circumstances where very little needs to happen at all: quiet places, thoughtful landscaping, exposure to nature, restful sleep, and enough freedom to rediscover a relaxed pace.
The most effective digital detox might not be a holiday where someone takes away your phone when you check in. Instead, it could be a holiday where you find that you haven’t checked your phone for hours after spending time between a leisurely breakfast, a walk through some woods and an afternoon with nothing else to do.
The author is the managing director of Aratt Developers and founder of Ayatana Hospitalities.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.
