Travel destinations the world over are struggling with a new kind of traveler: a younger millennial or Gen Z tourist, hungry for experiences rather than cookie-cutter hotels.
Today’s tourists are “looking for a point of view,” interior designer André Fu explained at the Fortune Brainstorm Design conference in Macau on Tuesday. In other words, they are looking for a specific atmosphere or design ethos in choosing where to stay or eat.
And, Fu explained, this even extends to the luxury hotel space. “Luxury is not about the fabrics. It’s not about the marble. It’s about feeling. It’s about connection. It’s about the emotion that you get when you’re in a space,” he said.
“When you have that feeling that this is a space that’s designed around you, rather than you being just a particle in that environment—that sense of resonance is so invaluable,” Fu said. “And I guess that level of connection … is what designers are thriving for these days.”
Swire Hotels deputy chairman Toby Smith agreed that travel patterns were changing. “We’re finding that people are extending their trip. They’ve got a business trip, and they might extend the trip by a day or so to really explore the city or the location they happen to be in,” he said. That opens up an opportunity for personalized service, such as hotel staff personally escorting someone staying at Upper House Shanghai through the city’s historic French Concession district.
Fu’s first hotel project was Upper House Hong Kong, a small luxury hotel developed by Swire Hotels, which is under the umbrella of conglomerate Swire Pacific. The property developer is now planning to expand its luxury hotel brand, Upper House, to several cities in mainland China and East Asia.
The impetus behind Upper House and its tagline, “Houses not hotels,” Smith explained, was that younger tourists “were looking for something a little bit more youthful, perhaps a little more dynamic, less stuffy, less formal.”
Upper House hotels are also small, with the Hong Kong property offering just over 100 rooms. “It’s very hard to deliver true personalization and luxury for a property that has much more than 100 keys,” Smith said.
In mid-October, Swire Hotels rebranded its upscale House Collective brand as “Upper House,” and pledged to open several more properties across the region. The next hotel, Upper House Shenzhen, will open in 2027, and features designs from German architecture firm Büro Ole Scheeren.
Swire will follow Shenzhen with new projects in Xi’an, Tokyo, and Bangkok—which will be the brand’s first branded residences in a project designed by Foster + Partners.
Hotels and hospitality are “increasingly competitive,” Smith explained. “Construction costs are incredibly high, so I think the only way to get value is to build luxury and charge more for it.”
Swire Hotels generated 441 million Hong Kong dollars ($56 million) in revenue for the first six months of 2025, a slight decrease year on year. The company cited a slower-than-expected recovery in Hong Kong’s hotel market and mixed performance in mainland China. Overall, Swire Properties generated 8.7 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.1 billion) for the first half of the year. Swire Properties’ shares are up just over 35% for the year so far.
Still, Asian tourism—which has long relied on visitors from mainland China, Europe, and the U.S.—is starting to diversify. On Tuesday, Smith pointed to the Middle East and India as increasing sources of luxury tourists.
“We are very confident about our brand,” Smith said. “If we stick to our principles … then we will continue to grow at the pace that we want to grow.”