Over the course of four days and three nights, Globetrender hosted 12 travel industry insiders for its inaugural corporate retreat – an immersive experience designed to ignite forward-thinking ideas and foster meaningful connections, all set against the striking backdrop of Norway’s Valldal fjord region.

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The conditions for Globetrender’s inaugural retreat were auspicious: fresh herbs sprouting underfoot, an iconic design hotel shielded from civilisation by snow-bleached mountains and scored by gushing glacier waters.

Twelve cross-sector industry insiders attended, spanning private aviation to psychedelic wellness, with brands such as Victor, Kayak, Nemo Travel, Private Luxury Events, Global Hotel Alliance, Queer Edge and Beckley Retreats among them.

Jenny Southan, Globetrender editor, founder and CEO, says: “At Globetrender, we believe that the future of travel belongs to those who can anticipate and shape it. This retreat wasn’t just about predicting trends – it was about helping leaders develop the foresight and strategies they need to thrive in a fast-changing world.” Charged with crisp mountain air, together we navigated the industry’s most pressing challenges and charted a course towards tomorrow’s Brave New World. Our setting was the iconic Juvet Landscape Hotel; a pioneer of low-impact design from the pre-Instagram age, consisting of glass-fronted cabins and lodges that float on stilts in untamed forest.

Beyond its striking aesthetic (an ongoing inspiration for the world’s leading architects and cinematographers), it offers a masterclass in future-forward hospitality. The hotel’s head chef Christopher Schönefeld was an early champion of the slow food movement, while a refreshingly hands-off approach to service led by a familial team of staff invites guests to feel as though the property and its land are their own.

"Juvet was designed as a place for reflection, inspiration and deep connection with the natural world – making it the perfect setting for reimagining the future of travel,” says Kristina Slinning, owner of the Juvet Landscape Hotel. “This retreat was a chance for industry leaders to think beyond the present, embrace new possibilities and return home with fresh perspectives that will shape the next era of exploration."In this spirit of exploration, we designed an itinerary that carefully balanced dynamic Globetrender-led workshops with inspiring sessions from carefully selected brand partners and revitalising activities in the hotel’s epic surroundings.

The first workshop, designed by strategy lead Robbie Hodges, expanded upon three mega-trends in Globetrender’s internal trend framework: Youthquake, Home Stretch and the Transformation Economy. Subjects ranged from Gen Z’s "anti-algo" rebellions in a data-driven world, to building local relevance or "authenticity" in a world fragmented by trade wars, to the impacts of commercial space tourism on earth-bound travellers and its impact on the Transformation Economy.Transformation remained central to the first external speaker session – a fireside chat with philanthropist and entrepreneur Britnie Turner. She shared a powerful account of her journey from waitress to real estate mogul to changemaker, before introducing the Aerial, BVI: a private island resort and social enterprise in the British Virgin Islands, where guests attend summits designed to spark radical personal growth.
Turner described how the Aerial, BVI is not just a luxury destination, but the heart of her philanthropic mission. Revenue supports Aerial Recovery, a nonprofit that trains and deploys Humanitarian Special Operators to respond to natural and man-made disasters and fight sex trafficking.
On the following day, Globetrender CEO Jenny Southan hosted a strategic foresight workshop created in affiliation with the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

Presented with speculative visions of the future, guests were tasked with mapping their brands’ responses: “What if the internet collapsed due to a quantum hack or solar flare?” being just one of many provocations that fuelled conversation during the trip’s outdoor excursions. These jaunts were nothing less than "micro-adventures" – brief but invigorating, on-foot explorations of the Norwegian landscape that took guests from waterside pine forests to mountain-top blizzards and even culminated in an observational drawing session led by Globetrender’s art director Ben Southan.
Each excursion provided an opportunity to digest and reflect on the learnings so far, with one final snow-blasted adventure arranged by Up Norway and led by local tour provider, Uteguiden.

On the last evening of the retreat, Torunn Tronsvang, CEO of Up Norway, delivered an interactive presentation that spoke to Norway’s culture of "quiet innovation", setting the scene for return visits with countless examples of how the country is spearheading a more mindful, responsible approach to tourism. In Tronsvang’s own words: "At Up Norway, we believe that travel is a transformative force – one that can inspire innovation, fuel creativity, and redefine leadership. By curating this extraordinary retreat with Globetrender, we provided travel industry pioneers with a rare opportunity to step away from the noise, immerse themselves in nature, and gain the foresight needed to shape the future of travel.”Now that the pickled herring and shrouded mountaintops are lingering memories, the hard work begins. The Globetrender team is filtering through our workshop notes, extracting insights from our transcripts and distilling the retreat’s key insights to be published as a report in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the prospect of a second retreat lingers on the horizon. To be the first to hear about our next adventure, register here.