2019 saw its fair share of innovation, but let's broaden the scope and take a look at the top travel trends of the decade.
Smartphones and Apps
Mobile technology is influencing travel decisions more than ever. In recent years innovations in tech have allowed consumers to do pretty much everything on their smartphone from finding inspiration on Instagram to selecting airline seats, checking into hotels or using a GPS. Gone are the days of heading to a travel agent, using a paper map, and struggling with a language barrier. Advances in technology over the last 10 years have made traveling decisions more convenient and less daunting.
Ridehailing and Ridesharing
This decade was defined by a rise in popularity of both Uber and Lyft. Since Uber's founding in 2009 and Lyft's launch in 2012, ridehailing has changed the way we commute and even our need to purchase a car. These platforms have gone from basically startups to market dominators. This year even saw Uber and Lyft take their companies public. While the two companies have continued to grow on the road, they have looked for new opportunities like expanding to micromobility options like scooters and bikes and, even in Uber's case, helicopters and food delivery through Uber Eats. The rise of these new forms of mobility has both pros and cons, although positives like accessibility can be outweighed by cons like a rise in congestion. Whether you're for or against ridesharing, Uber and Lyft have given people more options when it comes to getting around and it seems like the companies will continue their paths towards street dominance for the foreseeable future.
New Way to Stay
In the last 10 years travel accommodations have become more personal and the rise of Airbnb has revolutionized the travel industry. Want to stay in a castle? How about a villa? Now, it seems almost any dream accommodation is possible. Airbnb has made traveling more affordable especially in urban, crowded spaces and often gives travelers more bang for their buck, providing an entire house or apartment rather than a typical hotel room. The company has inspired travel to unique locations with listings in over 220 countries and regions. The site boasts over 150 million users.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
