Hotels already use scents and sounds to relax patrons – but one German academic speaking at the ITB Berlin says they should also add touch to the mix.

“You can prompt sensory experiences with touch,” said Monica Imschloss from the University of Cologne. “You can remind people to feel the sand under their feet or the ocean on their skin while they are staying in your hotels – so they will associate these feelings with your property.”

Imschloss said her research revealed that “people want to have a luxury experience in the middle of nowhere.”

But satisfying that urge, she said, can be as simple as suggesting that guests in remote luxury properties remove their shoes because “people develop much more sensory memory when they walk barefoot.”

She also recommended considering every aspect of the tactile experience: from the thickness of water glasses (thicker is more luxurious, she found) to the flooring and ceiling materials.

“Hoteliers should ask themselves if they want the sensory experience to be part of the brand,” Imschloss said. “If you want to influence a certain kind of behavior, you need to create a holistic concept.”