MILAN — Stargazing like beduins in the Al Wadi Desert, wielding a real sword like a samurai in Kyoto and cleansing your energy with a purification ritual inspired by the Native American Chumash people in Santa Barbara, Calif., are just a few of the rare experiences offered by Ritz-Carlton’s new cultural-driven platform.
On Tuesday, The Ritz-Carlton said it launched The Ritz-Carlton Immersions, a roster of global experiences. Available at properties worldwide, the new lineup visible on The Ritz-Carlton website offers curated local experiences across culinary, wellness, adventure, culture, family and community, connecting guests with local communities in a more meaningful way.
A sign of the times, the hotel company is tuning into a new evolution marked by a generation of luxury travelers in search of a local connection, life-changing, authentic experiences and lasting memories.
In 2025, Tina Edmundson, Marriott International’s president of luxury, told WWD that The Ritz-Carlton Bangkok, which debuted in December 2024, was one of the first properties to set the tone for the new venture. At the time, the Bangkok property embraced the concept of “Meeting of Two Civilizations” — honoring Thailand’s tradition of blending local heritage with international influences. Today that same location is offering a perfume experience in which guests interact with local artists for a tour into the delicate art of lotus folding and the cultural symbolism of local flora. The experience unfolds into a bespoke perfume-making session inspired by Thai botanical traditions.
A family culinary experience at The Ritz-Carlton Penha Longa Resort in Portugal.
Courtesy of The Ritz Carlton
“Customers have evolved,” Edmundson explained in 2025. “There was this formality to luxury 15 or 20 years ago, which just doesn’t exist today. With the internet and the younger consumer being so much less formal, service now is not about the ostentatious, it’s not about white gloves or white tablecloth. It’s really about authenticity, about being connected to the locale, feeling a sense of cultural immersion that is more important.”
Outside the realm of natural exploration and artisan craft, immersions include family-friendly ventures like a bread making class in Berlin, as well as wellness experiences focused on holistic care.
At The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, for example, guests are privy to sunrise yoga, mindful beachfront movement, a camel ride and traditional camel-milk wellness treatments that honor the region’s connection between land and sea.
Around the world, hotel operators are invested in wellness programs that help travelers feel not just rested, but renewed. Last year, Auberge Collection unveiled its wellness and cultural concept curation that helps its guests attain life’s rarest luxuries: joy.
At Auberge Collection’s The Lodge at Blue Sky in Utah, for example, the principle of connect came to life with the Gracie’s Farm Dinner Series, an activation that invites guests gather under open skies to share seasonal meals with local farmers and chefs. At Wildflower Farms, Auberge Collection in Hudson Valley, N.Y., excel is embodied in their quarterly high impact movement retreats — high-intensity programs, designed to build strength, energy and resilience. In Costa Rica, Hacienda AltaGracia, Auberge Collection offers the River Bath — an aura cleansing ritual that involves a detoxifying scrub and a warm herbal soak to a soundtrack of birdsong and flowing water.
A floral exploration in the Ubud Markets, Ubud, Bali, organized by The Ritz-Carlton, Bali.
Petrina Tinslay