How recent social trends might seep into travel habits in 2020: The increased importance of concerns about the environment and a desire for luxury, socializing, and high-tech experiences in our daily lives have made these some of the factors that travelers consider when booking their trips. Bloomberg outlines eight trends that will reshape travel in 2020 with these considerations in mind and how the players in the travel industry are adjusting to match. For example, hotels are catering to a hunger for luxury by offering top-notch services and delivering a “pre-arrival experience.” And there are those who create elite communities for people willing to pay for them, with travel and hotel clubs making a comeback with elite cult-like membership that offer extravagant settings, destinations, and exclusive outings under a subscription basis.

Environment is playing into how people travel and where they go: Cruises and airlines are making sure to keep track of their carbon emissions and develop new ways to lower them and travel booking companies are creating zero-emission trip itineraries. Many travel companies are aiming to be carbon neutral, while others are even attempting to be carbon negative such as Intrepid Travel.

How Egypt measures up on these new trends: Egypt is seeing the potential in staying environmentally friendly, with “green tourism” being proposed as part of the Tourism Reform Program. Meanwhile, tourist destinations such as Hurghada and Dahab are doing their part to create zero-plastic environments, but we still have a long way to go until we can think of being carbon negative. As for our bustling capital, Cairo, electric cars and buses are a high priority initiative from the government going forward as they attempt to create a greener Egypt. On the tech and luxury side, developers are creating smart homes and new hotels to offer to visitors.