Wouldn’t it be nice if you

could tour foreign cities and

landmarks without leaving

your home? Believe it or not,

“virtual travel” is already here,

and it’s likely to become more

refined in the coming years.

Marriott, one of the world’s

largest hotel chains, has been

experimenting with “VRoom

Service,” where lodgers can

use virtual reality technology

to explore Chile, Beijing, or

another select locale.1

Increasingly, getting

from Point A to Point B

can be managed

without having to

interface with human

beings. For example,

many hotels allow

lodgers to carry out

various tasks and

requests (e.g., room

service requests) with

smartphone apps.

Airports are also

getting in on the act,

enabling travelers to

bypass human agents

with the use of these

kinds of apps.

We’ll probably see notable improvements in Wi-Fi

technology in planes over the next year, particularly

faster speeds.

Wi-Fi has been a fantastic resource for travelers who

need to connect their electronic devices to the Internet

while on the road. To meet this demand, many hotels

and airports offer Wi-Fi.

Search engine giant Google

has already substantially

remodeled the travel

experience with tools such

as Google Maps. The

company is developing

another innovation for

today’s busy traveler:

Project Fi.

Currently invite-only,

Google’s Project Fi is a

mobile virtual network that

provides various data and

voice services. It is

expected to be available to

consumers at a basic rate

of $20/month.2

There was a time when most travelers had to

make do with cheap cameras if they wanted to

take pictures of the sights they encountered on

their trips. The advent of drone photography is

changing that tradition, however. Drones allow

users to take photos from hundreds of feet in the

air, giving them access to angles that are

otherwise impossible.

Drone photography is projected to increase in

popularity over the next few years.

While we’re on the subject of

drones, this technology is

rapidly evolving to the point

where it will soon be possible

to transport people in the air.

In January 2016, the Chinese

company Ehang debuted a

human-carrying drone at the

Consumers Electronics Show

(CES). This drone can travel

more than 10,000 feet into

the air, and can be folded up

into a five-foot area.3

The days of having to lug a

beat-up passport

everywhere may soon be

over. U.S. Customs and

Border Protection is

currently experimenting

with its Mobile Passport

Control (MPC) app, which

will streamline the entry

process into America.

The app was launched on

a trial run at Hartsfield-

Jackson Atlanta

International Airport in

August 2014.4

Founded in 1967, Scenic Airlines is

renowned across the globe for its aerial

sightseeing tours of the Grand Canyon.

The company escorts around 300,000

passengers each year around this famous

site. Please visit www.scenic.com for

more information.

1. http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/28/vroom-service-marriott-hotel/

2. https://fi.google.com/about/

3. http://money.cnn.com/gallery/technology/2016/01/08/ces-2016-hits-flops/

4. http://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-contro