The “Digital Detox”- The rise of tech-free holidays

Technologies combined with travel, are a great match. Technologies have enhanced the tourism industry. They have, for instance, improved channels of communication but also enabled new channels of distribution to reach more customers. Hotels have also increasingly integrated technologies in their facilities, to satisfy their guest.

However, does the hotel guest really want to be surrounded by all this technology?

In the past, the boundary between the time at the office and the time at home was clear. It is not the case anymore because of the huge progress in technologies, transforming, for instance, big devices to smaller ones, and more convenient to carry. The progress in technology has also made it relatively inexpensive to stay connected 24/7, either at home, at work or even while traveling. To follow this trend, most of the hotels allows their guests to reach the hotel free Wifi. However, it cannot be denied that another increasing part of travelers are feeling overwhelmed when they turn their device during leisure holidays, feeling stress and anxiety that prevent them to fully enjoy the present moment. These go against all the principles of a successful holiday experience.

The hospitality industry has started to respond to this new need of guest to “unplug” during holidays by redesign their hotel experience value proposition. Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo challenges guests to leave their smartphone at the front desk and in exchange of it, they receive a list of 24 tech-free things to do at the destination. As reward to have accepted to leave their devices, they can retrieve their smartphone 24h later with a new custom cover of one of the resort’s scenic view (Levine, 2015).  

This is not the only example of resorts encouraging to unplug and unwind from technologies: JW Marriott Cancun Resort and Spa has created a “tech-free zone” near the pool where the guest can enjoy a good book or conversation without being annoyed by phone calls. Even some resorts such as Nayara Springs in Costa Rica or some islands from St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) ban technologies, upon request, from bedrooms.

SVG even created a video to promote the digital detox in their islands and the main benefits:

source: YouTube: Digital Detox in SVG

Even more than hotelier complex, some destinations advocate the digital detox concept. To illustrate this idea, we can take the striking example of Scotland and its very bad mobile receptions in vast areas. Indeed, the Scotland Tourism Board (VisitScotland) is actually turning this inconvenience in a virtue: it starts marketing itself as a “digital detox” destination in an effort to appeal tourists tired of being always switched on to the virtual world (Brown, 2014). This lack of connectivity could be a powerful marketing tool for off-grid locations and some providers have identified a niche market for those who want to escape digital life, according to Visit Scotland.

The increase of “wellness” holidays that also feature a digital detox extends beyond Scotland. Indeed, the trend was identified in 2012 by the travel writer Pico Iyer in a New York Times article entitled “The Joy of Quiet”, which identified a growing backlash against the information age (Brown, 2014).

However, the prospect of promoting destinations or hotelier complex as an area of digital detox is also criticized. Marc Crothall, head of Scottish Tourism, said: “For 25 per cent of the country not to have proper mobile phone access is just not good enough for the modern day”. He also insists on the fact that they really “need to have full coverage across the whole country as soon as possible” (Brown, 2014).

Nevertheless, VisitScotland’s most recent survey showed that just 66 per cent of visitors were happy with mobile phone access during their trip. And the availability of Wi-fi and broadband scored even lower, with only 54 per cent of visitors expressing satisfaction with the level of access. Besides, health and wellbeing tourism has excelled in recent years (Ferguson, 2014).

We can here suppose that the Digital Detox will be successful in the next few years. However, in our ultra-connected world, we may wonder if this new concept of digital detox is only a marketing principle or a real motivation from hotel to make their guests happier in their life, and maybe a real travellers’ need to become less connected (and stressed) during their holidays?

Louise and Clothilde


Sources:

Brown, J. (2014) 'Digital detox' destinations: Scottish tourist board makes virtue of the country’s lack of Wi-Fi connectivity. The independent. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/digital-detox-destinations-scottish-tourist-board-makes-virtue-of-the-countrys-lack-of-wifi-connectivity-9208892.html

Ferguson, B. (2014) Digital detox Scot tourism plan criticised. The Scotsman. Retrieved from: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/travel/digital-detox-scots-tourism-plan-criticised-1-3341988

Levin, I. S. (2015) Digital Detox: 8 places to unplug and undwind. Nextavenue. Retrieved from: http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2015-04/digital-detox-8-places-unplug-and-unwind