The Awakening of Sleep Tourism

If you've ever heard yourself utter the phrase, you're a bit out of step with the latest trends. Getting a good 8 to 10 hours is a priority for Gen Z and other generations too.

So of course, the travel industry is taking notice of sleep tourism. Skift Editor-in-Chief Sarah Kopit is on the case with her latest feature, The Science of Sleep: How the Travel Industry Is Cashing In on Tourism's Latest Obsession. Sarah and Head of Research Seth Borko delve into her reporting on this week's Skift Travel Podcast.

Listen Now What's the Growing Fascination With Sleep Amongst Gen Z?

Sarah Kopit: It's kind of interesting because the sleep or the hotel and hospitality industry, to a certain extent, have always been about sleep, right? I mean, it's what you do when you go to a hotel. But the most recent kind of emphasis is really on the scientific backing that we now know coming from the medical community, coming a lot from the wellness community. Also about how to actually help weary travelers and road warriors really get that precious shut-eye.

There are two distinct wings to this movement. The first is around jet lag. So people who are flying across time zones. It's like the granddaddy of all travel-related sleep woes is when you're crossing time zones and you have a big meeting on Wednesday. You've left your house — I don't know — Sunday.

You're somewhere in time and space getting to your destination. And you get off the plane and you're just all upside down and miserable and nauseous and tired. And then you can't even get to sleep when you try, right?

Borko: Awake on the plane for 10 hours. You finally make it a hotel room. And then you're wide awake as soon as you hit the floor, right?

Kopit: Exactly. And for me personally, I'm not one of those people. I have a really good friend who, like Taylor Swift is like, jet lag is a choice. I wish that was me. That is not me. It's kind of devastating to my body. And of course, it just gets worse like everything else as you get older.

So jet lag is a big problem in my life. We work for a travel publication. We're constantly flying all over the place, which is great, but you want to be coherent to enjoy all of it. So there's that. And there's tons of emerging science about circadian rhythms and how important they are and how to kind of trick them, so to speak, to prepare you for your trip.

So that's one wing of this kind of