Traveling abroad is inherently thrilling — but then there’s that interminable, soul-sucking trek to get there. In the future, things might be very different.
Imagine an eight-hour flight that’s actually enjoyable, with ergonomically designed seats and an in-flight entertainment system that syncs to your personal devices. You could get through security faster with biometric scanning. Land in a foreign airport that’s more like a museum, replete with robots and holograms. Then hop on a comfy super-fast maglev train to your robot-staffed hotel with your pocket-sized translator in hand.
Sound far-fetched? It’s not, really. Because there’s more of us traveling than ever. According to a 2014 study conducted by Oxford Economics, the global travel industry is set to increase 5.4% each year for the next 10 years, outpacing global GDP growth. The UN World Tourism Organization said over a billion humans traveled internationally in 2014, and it’s a number expected to go up by nearly 5% this year. Details