There’s revolution in the air, and everywhere else in the travelsphere. We’re flying aboard new and better aircraft with improved entertainment systems and inflight Wi-Fi – and if you’re flying at the pointy end, you’ve never really had it so excellent. Cruise lines are bigger and a lot more filled with diversions, and today it’s often the ship itself this is the experience rather than the destination. On the other end of the scale, small expeditionary vessels are opening new worlds. There are hotels with robots on the reception desk, resort rooms that unlock with a smartphone, and these pocket wonders have been the great disruptors. Smartphones give us access to apps which may have transformed the travel experience, a new dawn in a fast-changing world.
1. BIOMETRIC PASSPORTS
Also called an ePassport or digital passport, a biometric passport contains a chip imprinted with the same information as on the passport’s data page. In addition, it contains home elevators physical characteristics that are unique to you, that will be fingerprints, retinal scans or a digital image. Most countries now issue biometric passports since they feature more stringent proof identification than a graphic of the dog owner alone. These passports can be scanned at immigration terminals which streamlines processing, as demonstrated by the Smartgate technology used to scan the passports of outgoing passengers at Australia’s airfields.
2. LUXURY EXPEDITIONARY CRUISING VESSELS
Expeditionary cruisers – those small and hardy ships that take us through the fiords of Patagonia, the Raja Ampat Islands of Indonesia and over the Amazon and other hard-to-get-to places – are taking on a silk touch. Now you can have National Geographic-style encounters with wildlife and calving glaciers, dance with painted warriors then go below decks for a spa treatment accompanied by a drink in the cocktail lounge and dinner served by a bow-tied waiter. Silversea has several expeditionary cruisers but one cruise operator that has made this their specialty is French-based Ponant, that may launch four such vessels over another two years with refinements that add a glass-walled lounge below the waterline. Visit: https://southfloridareporter.com/how-inventhelp-can-assist-with-new-invention-ideas/
3. HOME DINING
Websites such as Feastly, Travelling Spoon, Eat with Locals and Cookening take that you where in fact the real gastro stars operate – the house. These websites usher you into the kitchens and dining rooms where passionate home cooks are dishing it out with their families, sourcing their ingredients from local markets using locavore ingredients prior to the term was ever invented and cooking to recipes that might have been passed on through generations. For anyone looking for authenticity off their travels, eating family-style is a revelation, a cultural and a culinary immersion and a window on domestic life that tourists rarely reach see.
4. TRAVEL APPS FOR SMARTPHONES
They’re handy for making calls and sending messages, but it’s your smartphone’s software which may have transformed the travel experience. Google Maps and other GPS mapping apps make it no problem finding your way, whether you’re when driving in Bosnia or looking for an address in San Francisco. Google Translate comes to your aid when the menu is all in Greek, you can examine the exchange rate, change your flight, book a hotel room, get a weather update in case you have a security camera that uses Wi-Fi, see what the family dog is up to, all while sitting in a cafe eating grilled figs with mascarpone.
5. RFID BAGGAGE TAGGING
Radio Frequency Identification is coming to baggage tracking, replacing barcode scanning which has been the industry standard because the early 1990s, and it promises a revolution. RFID chips embedded in bag tags can be used to accurately track passengers’ bags instantly across all the main element points in their journey. This will drastically reduce the incidence of mishandled bags having the ability to locate bags immediately. Delta Airlines adopted RFID baggage tags this past year and from mid-2018, the International Air Transport Association is which makes it compulsory for member airlines to track every item of luggage from receipt to delivery, and RFID is the apparent choice.
6. TECHNICAL TRAVEL CLOTHING
Adventure-travel clothing manufacturers are incorporating concepts produced from clothing developed for the great outdoors to their selection of travel clothing. The effect is stylish body-hugging garments that not only work hard to keep you warm and dry, but also appear and feel great. The number from Canada’s Arc’teryx comes with a high design quotient, this means you’ll look exceedingly sharp for the image whether you’re riding a trishaw on the streets of Hanoi or summiting Chukhung Ri. Kathmandu’s Yatra jacket is the traveller’s cool climate friend, offering snug, wind and weather-proof performance in a fashion-conscious package.
7. NEW GENERATION AIRCRAFT
Exemplified by Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner and Airbus’s A350 XWB, these twin-aisle aircraft are constructed extensively from carbon fibre reinforced polymer. CFRP doesn’t corrode or suffer from fatigue to the same extent as a normal aluminium fuselage and that allows the cabin to tolerate higher pressure. In place, passengers are at the mercy of pressure equal to around 2000 metres, about 600 metres less than in a traditional aluminium fuselage, this means more oxygen in the lungs, more moisture in the air and a far more comfortable flight. Other refinements in both aircraft include LED cabin lighting systems that are gentler to the eyes, larger windows and quieter engines, and therefore quieter cabins.