One of the most overused words in the travel and hospitality industry today is ‘unforgettable’. Every experience is marketed as something you’ll remember a lifetime: an unforgettable meal, an unforgettable stay, an unforgettable experience. Is it ever an accurate description or has it become just another meaningless buzzword?
To make travel truly memorable, we have to move past the itinerary and look at how the brain encodes memories. So how are our brains wired to remember?
Sensory triggers create moments that linger
Rushing is an antithesis to memory formation. When we rush, our cortisol or stress levels are increase, which impairs the ability to form lasting memories. When we’re asked to think back on a particularly busy month or year, it’s often described as “a blur” for that very reason.
Slowing down and engaging the senses involves more parts of the brain, specifically the sensory cortex, which significantly impacts memory. When memory becomes multi-dimensional, it’s harder to lose.
Our senses are aroused naturally when travelling: the inviting fragrance of spices and incense in a Middle Eastern marketplace; the frantic sound of traffic at a busy intersection in a metropolitan city; the humbling sight of endless undulating mountain peaks at the top of the Alps.
Travel writer and media broadcaster Mark Stratton has embarked on over a dozen expedition vessel cruises to Antarctica and the Subantarctic regions. On a panel discussion hosted by HX Expeditions at the Adventure Travel Show 2026 in London, he relays how all the senses are called to attention when disembarking the cruise ship on South Georgia island in the South Atlantic Ocean.
“The pungent smell of the penguins hits you first, and then the cacophonous sound of thousands of them waddling about. It’s truly magical,” he reminisces. Ambience creates a sense of place and it’s moments like this that are hard to forget. A certain smell or sound that follows has the power to transport you back to when that memory was formed.
Stirring up emotions
Humans memories are inextricably tied to emotions. As well as the smell and sounds in South Georgia, Stratton recalls how a big, burly owner of a strip club who had come on the cruise was brought to tears by the experience of the landscape, penguins and other wildlife. An overwhelming sense of awe and wonder like this is one of the most powerful sensations in the human experience. And it’s this time of emotional highlight that the brain stores.
At Forbes Travel Guide (FTG) Summit 2026, Dr Aradhana Khowala, CEO at Aptamind Partners shares how experiencing awe and wonder causes a perspective reset where the mind is forced to recalibrate. Speaking to an audience of hoteliers, she says, “you’re in the business of neuroscience, not hospitality. We sell products, but it’s time to start selling feelings”.
When everything is amazing, nothing truly amazes
Khowala claims that luxury as we know it is dead. The new luxury, is one that moves you: “moments that bring you to tears and make you forget to reach for your phone,” she explains.
Perhaps this is why the word ‘unforgettable’ has become the go-to buzzword. Today’s businesses are constantly trying to evoke a sense of overwhelm and excitement. However, we’re living in an age of over-stimulation.
Everything is designed to grab our attention, to wow, shock or excite us. The result? Hardly anything moves or amazes us anymore. During a press briefing at FTG Summit 2026, Tina Edmundson, President of Luxury at Marriott International hit the nail on the head, saying, “it’s never been easier to move people physically but harder to move people emotionally”.
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