The Week in Leisure
A Leisure Economy Moving from Passive Consumption Towards Restorative, Place-Aware, and Sometimes Terrifying Experience Design—Indigenous-led Alaska Bear Tours, Tourism Equity, and AI-Powered Guest Engagement
One of this week’s stories shares research on how terrifying experiences can be rewarding, especially when they bring people closer together. It reminded me of some things I’ve read from the Psychologist, Paul Bloom on “The Pleasures of Suffering.” It’s one of the great ironies of human life that we seem to sometimes enjoy pain. This is why we go to scary movies, we listen to sad songs, we eat spicy foods, etc.
Paul Bloom tells the joke about a man who was always banging his head against the wall. When people would ask him, “why do you do that,” he would reply, “because it feels good when I stop.” This is one reason we enjoy seemingly negative experiences. But I also think we just feel more alive when we are experiencing intense sensations. We relish those opportunities to experience things that feel intense but leave no lasting damage. A hot and sour Thai soup. A wasabi-infused sushi roll. A painfully deep massage. An exquisitely sad movie. Or a terrifying roller coaster.
It is not only positive experiences that we find fulfilling. This is something the architects of leisure should try to remember.
Enjoy this week’s Roundup,
Jeremy
🦉 Philosophy & Culture
Six Forces Shaping Consumer Behaviour in 2026
As we move through 2026, consumer decisions are defined by an increasingly contradictory mindset. Trend reporter Kate Hardcastle shares that consumers “want certainty from technology and comfort frum humanity; they crave personalised routes to ease, yet they recoil when systems feel opaque, intrusive or overly engineered." They want their wellness “rewired,” their authenticity “unfiltered,” and their confidence “verified.” (Forbes)
“The ‘experience economy’ has evolved away from surface spectacle towards meaningful memory creation. People still want moments, but they want moments that truly matter, and memories that last past the social media post.”
How to be an Intentional Traveler
Travel Noire brings the ethics of movement into sharper focus, showing how responsible travel depends on research, local spending, cultural humility, and respect for a destination’s daily rhythms. For travelers and operators alike, the piece turns “authenticity” from a marketing promise into a practical responsibility to protect the communities that make places worth visiting. (Travel Noire)
🔬 Science & Psychology
Fear Factor: Why People Pay to be Terrified
New psychology coverage from PsyPost spotlights research in Emotion suggesting that recreational fear, such as visiting a haunted attraction, can make people feel more connected when the experience is processed socially afterward. The finding adds useful nuance for leisure designers: intensity may create the spark, but reflection, conversation, and shared meaning complete the emotional arc. (PsyPost)
Travel Dreams 2026: Travelers Seeking Mental Health Reset
Hotel Dive reports that Amadeus’ Travel Dreams 2026 research found travelers increasingly using trips as a reset for the nervous system, with many also seeking digital detox experiences. The implication is clear: the next premium in hospitality may be less stimulation and more emotional safety, frictionless control, and restorative calm. (Hotel Dive)
📈 Business & Strategy
The Vanishing Passport: What to do When Travelers Stop Coming
HospitalityNet’s strategy piece argues that hotels facing softer international demand can grow by leaning into youth sports, construction crews, workations, wellness packages, and targeted value-add offers. It is a pragmatic playbook for a more resilient demand stack, where leisure-adjacent segments become strategic shock absorbers rather than side bets. (HospitalityNet)
“Guests are looking for personalized encounters that address their physical and/or mental well-being or give them a chance to let off some steam. Often these trips involve some type of nature experience, but can also include concerts, festivals, yoga, sound baths, meditation, massage, facials, and many other wellness activities.”
. . . But Let’s be Optimistic!
Business Travel News reports that March U.S. hotel performance strengthened year over year across RevPAR, ADR, and occupancy, with San Francisco and Las Vegas among the standout markets. The numbers suggest leisure, events, and market-specific demand are still capable of creating localized momentum even in a cautious operating environment. (Business Travel News)
✨ Innovation & Design
The AI Enabled Hotels are Coming Fast
BLLA reports that hospitality technology provider RBS has acquired Zeko, an AI-powered guest engagement platform spanning pre-arrival communication, upselling, WhatsApp automation, digital check-in, and real-time concierge features. The move reinforces a larger design shift in hospitality technology, from back-office efficiency toward continuous, personalized guest orchestration. (BLLA)
🌍 Destinations & Communities
Sustainable Tourism Should be Based on Equity
Much Better Adventures asks a necessary question of the booming tourism economy: who actually benefits when visitors arrive? Drawing on Travel Forward’s work, the article makes the case for measuring tourism through local value retained, community consent, cultural integrity, resource limits, and social benefit rather than volume alone. (Much Better Adventures)
"You can be sure if we all start measuring economic impact, the improvement across the industry would be rapid and significant."
Tours that Connect
On Alaska’s Chichagof Island, Tlingit guides John and Marilyn Hillman are reframing wildlife viewing as a cultural exchange rooted in ecological literacy, respectful behavior, and generations of local knowledge. The story is a compelling reminder that the most meaningful leisure experiences are interpreted through the people and places that steward them. (Yahoo Travel)
Can you think of a meaningful leisure experience that you have had that was based more on fear than pleasure? Would you do it again?
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