Bright Spots from 2024
Many good things happened in 2024, and we’re excited for what’s to come in 2025—including the launch of Innvision’s newly updated website! To close out the year, we’d like to highlight a few of our favorites from Innvision, the hospitality industry, and across the solar system:
1. Innvision celebrated our 20th anniversary!
2. Inflation in the U.S. dropped significantly, allowing the Fed to lower interest rates three times in the second half.
3. The travel and tourism industry continued its recovery from the pandemic, with business travel, meetings, and events all up in 2024.
4. The economy avoided a recession this year with higher-than-expected growth in GDP.
5. The total U.S. hotel project pipeline was up 9% by projects and 7% by rooms year-over-year. This marks a new all-time high for projects in the U.S. (Lodging Econometrics)
6. Innvision grew our team of field-based design and procurement consultants to broaden our geographic reach, increase our capacity, and improve our ability to serve clients effectively.
7. Hotels are shifting their focus to achieving net positive environmental outcomes by sourcing food locally, cutting waste, and implementing eco-friendly construction.
8. Artificial intelligence enjoyed almost weekly breakthroughs this year, such as OpenAI’s o1 model. With many similarities to human problem-solving and the ability to outperform expert humans on PhD level science questions, o1 recently scored 120 on an IQ test. This is likely the first time an AI surpassed average human intelligence.
9. AI and automation are transforming the hospitality industry in a positive way with digital keys, customized room settings, and more to enhance the overall guest experience. With many well-funded humanoid robot companies starting up over the last two years, robots that will play an important role on a hotel’s housekeeping staff may not be far off.
10. In October, the Super Heavy booster from the most powerful rocket ever built, SpaceX’s 400-foot tall Starship, returned to earth after launch and was caught by the launch tower in a well-choreographed effort. This is a giant step towards making rockets reusable and refuellable, which would dramatically lower the cost of spaceflight.
11. On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse moved across North America. This rare event created much excitement and enjoyment while increasing hotel occupancy in hospitality markets across parts of Mexico, the United States, and Canada that were within the path of the eclipse.
12. Neuralink’s Blindsight implant received “breakthrough device” designation from the FDA, as it aims to restore vision through direct visual cortex stimulation and potentially benefit those who have lost sight or were born blind.
13. Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has been a boon for hospitality markets across the world as fans have flocked to shows. Remarkably, Swift became the world’s first musician to become a billionaire solely from songs and concerts with her tour expected to gross nearly $2 billion by its final show.
14. The XPRIZE Foundation has unleashed a $101M Healthspan XPRIZE to “reverse the ravages of aging by a minimum of 10 years, with a goal of 20 years.” Over 500 teams from more than 50 countries have registered to compete to develop therapeutics that can restore muscle, cognitive, and immune function in adults aged 50-80.
15. The Global Wellness institute projects that after a strong year, wellness tourism will hit $1.3 trillion in 2025. More hotels are offering wellness features than ever before to suit every kind of traveler, making wellness travel more appealing and accessible.
Innvision looks forward to more breakthroughs and progress in 2025, along with helping hoteliers with their design and procurement needs. If you are renovating or building a hotel and seeking the assistance of a trusted authority, Innvision is ready to help (contact us here).
