OUT OF THE BAG
Thanks to the sharing economy, travel’s future could be luggage-free
The luggage-free future of travel
FIRST came couch-surfing, Airbnb and lift-sharing. Now the sharing economy is unzipping on a new angle: wardrobe rentals that allow travellers to go bag-free — or at least to pack extra lightly.
The Global Travel Trends 2016 report, released this month by market research group Euromonitor, highlights several trends in the industry, including the rise of co-living communities and the use of digital innovations, such as Virtual Reality, by booking agents to offer more immersive travel-booking experiences.
But the rise in wardrobe rental is a huge departure from the common practice of lugging your own stuff around the world.
The researchers point to a range of shoe and clothing rental services that have been launched in recent years.
One such example is unPack, a concept that was pitched on the US version of the entrepreneurial TV show Shark Tank.
The premise is simple: the customer fills out an online form that includes their clothing size, preferred brands and travel destination; unPack then sends a suitcase filled with clothes and toiletries to their hotel, ready for pick-up on arrival.
At the end of the stay, the customer simply leaves the suitcase at the front desk.
For business or leisure travellers flying from one climate to another — from summer to winter, for example — unPack has a suitcase with a down jacket, winter hat, scarves, gloves and umbrella, eliminating the need to pack winter gear.
Some hoteliers have also been venturing into retail rentals.
Starwood’s Westin brand, for instance, rents out running clothes and running shoes to guests for $5, allowing them to save space in their suitcase for other things.
And the retailer Pimkie installed “Mini Fashion Bars” at hotel rooms in Antwerp, Brussels, Milan and Paris last year.
Much like a mini-bar service, the fashion bar allows guests to buy clothes and accessories — specifically chosen to match the city’s weather and location — from the comfort of their hotel room.
Virgin Hotel Chicago allows guests to purchase clothes from Gap and have them delivered to their room.
A related concept is the fashion concierge. The Dream Downtown hotel in New York, for example, employs a stylist to fill a wardrobe of clothes for guests to purchase if they wish.
Other New York hotels have a sneaker concierge, who will find any rare footwear for guests to buy, and a bikini concierge tasked with advising on flattering styles.
While these types of services are available to any hotel guest, the report says millennials tend to be the most enthusiastic.
A survey by Westfield Shopping in the UK and the US found that almost half of 25- to 34-year-olds would be interested in a monthly rental scheme for clothes.
The perks for travellers, of course, include avoiding long queues to check bags, and pick them up, and having to deal with the trouble of having stuff rifled through — or not arriving when you do.
The renting option also provides the possibility of accessing luxury fashion brands that would be out of the price range for purchasing by consumers.
It is likely that rental options could be more suited to mid-priced budgets, whereas purchasing designer items is more suited to luxury hotel guests.
Those who are keen on going bag-free but still want their own things when they get there have the option of sending their own bags on ahead — and not with the airline.
A company called Luggage Free (luggagefree.com) will ship your stuff to your destination for you, anywhere in the world.
Their pricing is rather prohibitive though: a search for shipping rates from South Africa to the UK revealed that to have your bags arrive within five business days you’d pay R458.42 per kilogram; R9 981.96 for a golf bag, and R17 052.52 to ship a bike.
We say rent — or go back to that wellworn piece of travel advice: pack light.
More specialised rentals are expected to follow, with Candlewood Suites, which offers extended-stay rentals, having slow cookers, blenders and grills for rent too.