For the longest time, hospitality was built around a fairly predictable proposition: a great room, good food, a swimming pool and perhaps a spa. But the modern traveller increasingly expects something more. They don’t simply want a place to stay; they want something to do, discover and eventually talk about.
That shift is creating what I believe could be the next evolution of the staycation – the playcation.
The idea is simple. Instead of treating recreation as an ancillary amenity, hotels can make active experiences part of the reason guests choose to visit in the first place.
The Traveller Has Changed
Travel today is increasingly experience-led. A weekend away is no longer necessarily about switching off completely; for many consumers, particularly millennials and Gen Z, it is about doing something different from their everyday routine.
Wellness has evolved in much the same way. It is moving beyond gyms, spas and traditional fitness programmes towards activities that combine movement, recreation and social interaction.
This creates an interesting opportunity for hospitality.
A yoga class might occupy a guest for an hour. A recreational sport can create an entire ecosystem around the stay – morning games, coaching sessions, friendly competitions, family activities and even evening social events.
The hotel moves from being the backdrop to the experience to becoming part of the experience itself.
Why Recreational Sport Fits Hospitality
Not every guest wants an intense workout while travelling. That’s precisely why accessible recreational sports can work so well.
Pickleball is a good example. It has a relatively low learning curve, can be enjoyed across age groups and works equally well as a competitive sport or a casual social activity. Parents can play with children, couples can participate together and groups of friends can build an entire weekend around the game.
Importantly for hotels, these activities also create interaction between guests.
Hospitality has traditionally invested heavily in spaces designed for socialisation – restaurants, bars, lounges and pools. Sport can become another such space, except it combines community with physical activity.
From Amenity to Revenue Generator
The bigger opportunity is to stop viewing sporting infrastructure purely as a cost centre.
A well-programmed recreational facility can generate multiple revenue streams through coaching, equipment rentals, tournaments, memberships, corporate retreats and curated weekend packages.
Imagine booking a two-night resort stay that includes coaching on Friday evening, a social mixer afterwards, a friendly tournament on Saturday and recovery or wellness experiences the following morning.
Suddenly, the hotel isn’t selling only a room. It is selling a participative lifestyle experience.
It can also create incremental consumption across F&B, wellness and extended stays while giving properties something increasingly difficult to achieve in hospitality: genuine differentiation.
Unused Spaces Can Become Experiences
The opportunity isn’t limited to resorts with acres of land.
Hotels often have underutilised terraces, lawns or recreational areas that can be reimagined around active experiences. Depending on the property and available footprint, sports infrastructure can become another way to make real estate work harder.
At Picklebay, as we work across the pickleball ecosystem, we’re increasingly seeing interest in the sport extend beyond conventional sports venues. Hospitality and real estate players are beginning to recognise that recreational sport can create both community and commercial value.
The important distinction, however, is that simply constructing a court isn’t enough. Programming, coaching, events and community are what turn infrastructure into an experience.
The Next Hospitality Differentiator
The experience economy has fundamentally changed what consumers value. People increasingly spend not simply on possessions or accommodation, but on experiences worth remembering and sharing.
Hotels that understand this have an opportunity to evolve from places where people temporarily live into places where they actively participate.
The next great hospitality amenity may therefore not be another infinity pool or larger gym.
It could simply be a reason for guests to pick up a paddle, step onto a court and play.
And that is where the staycation starts becoming a playcation.
By Siddhant Jatia, Founder & CEO, Picklebay