Trends

 Wellness Travel

Wellness travel is for people to take a break away from all social media, big cities, and everyday stress, this type of holiday is perfect for meditation, relaxing from all society and working on your mental health and body health away from everyday life back home, Everyone's different, and everybody has their own preferences for some it's perfect to go and do water activities. In contrast, it might be good to walk around nature for others. Scotland is a precepts place to reset, recharge and enjoy the wellness holiday. There are many retreats where people can go and relax, and some withdrawals have no phone policy, which means there are no mobile phones or any type of technology allowed, which makes people come in for face-to-face interaction. There are also retreats that focus mainly on your body or mental health, including relaxation, adventures, different exercises, and many other things at the retreat. There are many retreats in Scotland, such as Dumfries and Galloway. At the retreats, there are gift shops, courses for meditation, mindfulness and many more activities.

 

After 2020 many people become conscious about their health since covid-19 started people needed to restart and work on their health and mental health, and some people are still fighting it to this day. 

Around 32% of Britons see Scotland as a destination to head to, recharge their batteries, and take a break from their day-to-day life. Of the percentage rose to 47% who have been on a wellness holiday; as VisitScotland pointed research was carried out by YouGov.

Reference:

VisitScotland (2021) Wellness & Breaks: Wellness Breaks in Scotland. 

Available at: Wellness & Breaks: Wellness Breaks in Scotland  (https://www.visitscotland.com/) (Accessed 01/12/2022)

Digital experiences 

 

Hotels are using contactless payments while the customers are checking in to the hotel as it makes it faster to pay with contactless while checking, and it's getting more popular at hotels where customers are paying contactless while checking in. For example, Leonardo Royal Edinburgh Heymarket hotel gives the option to pay contactless which is useful as it's quicker and easier to do. In 2022 one of the biggest trends is Contactless payments as 8 out of 10 people are using the contactless methods while shopping, the contactless payment was used in one over four charges in the United Kingdom which now it's the first time the threshold was passed in the uk, The covid pandemic made the trend of contactless payments rise quickly to the top as a lot of people wanted to minimise the contact with the card machines and coins and it was also promoted by the government that it's better to use contact free ways to pay for your stuff to keep everyone safe, Before the covid pandemic £30 was the limit that you were able to pay contactless before you having to put your pin in but after the pandemic started the boundary went up to £45 and then it went even higher up to £100 to make the contactless easier and so you can do you more extensive shopping and still use the contactless option, this option it's also simple and quick to use because while buying you just need to tap your phone or the bank card to the machine without touching any buttons on the device and it ministers the queues to the cash points.

Reference:

The impact of Covid-19 on UK card payments in 2020 | Insights 

Available at: https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/news-and-insight/blogs/impact-covid-19-uk-card-payments-2020

(Accessed 02/12/2022)

One in seven new cars sold in Scotland is now fully electric

(2021) 

Available at: https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/one-seven-new-cars-sold-25863994.amp

(Accessed 08/12/22)

Electric vehicles 

 

The electric vehicles trend is growing as more people want to fight climate change and is switching from petrol-run vehicles to electric ones as it's more environmentally friendly; electric vehicles also produce less noise pollution and are cheaper to run than petrol vehicles, that's why we see more eclectic vehicles like electric cars, electric buses, trains and many others.

In December 2021, there were 8,282 electric cars sold all around Scotland, and 11,7 per cent of all the vehicles were sold along in Edinburgh; even the Lothian buses are implementing electric busses around the city, which makes the air politicos smaller and making their busses more eco friendly.

 

Reference:

Benefits of electric cars on the environment (no date) 

Available at: https://www.edfenergy.com/for-home/energywise/electric-cars-and-environment#:~:text=Research%20has%20shown%20that%20electric,generation%20to%20keep%20them%20running.

(Accessed 02/12/2022)

Cycling 

 

There's is a rising trend of bikes, especially electric bicycles, which are making cycle trips more accessible and more enjoyable; the bike makes energy from you pedalling; the more you pedal, the more energy you make, which then you can use to help go up the hills or mountains, and it's also eco friendly, so you don't damage the environment while riding the bike.

 

In the UK, sales of e-bikes have increased by 60% since March 2020; the statistics show that 1 in 20 people in the UK owns an e-bike, and nearly 40% of people in the UK say that they would cycle if they would hold an e-bike. The cyclist's numbers increase month by month; Edinburgh saw a 52% increase in cyclist numbers in the month of march 2021 over the month a year before, and the numbers keep growing.

Reference: 

Google trends data for the search term "Electric Bike" UK sales increasing by 60% since March 2020 (June 23 2021) 

Available at: https://www.tredz.co.uk/ (https://www.tredz.co.uk/)

(Accessed 04/12/2022)

 

The Main Advantages and Disadvantages of Electric Bikes (08/10/2020) 

Available at: https://www.velospeed.co.uk/ (https://www.velospeed.co.uk/)

(Accessed 04/12/2022)

 

Data proves cycling increased in the last year: (April 6, 2021) 

Available at: http://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/

(Accessed 08/12/22)