It's been a busy week at the Tourism Futures conference this week, but there aren't too many concepts to come out of the event that are more interesting and eye-catching than the 'Aircruise', a hydrogen gas-filled hotel standing 265m high, and capable of transporting 100 guests from London to New York in 37 hours.

Design director Nick Talbot worked with London-based design and innovation company Seymourpowell, to go against the current trend of fastest is best."It kind of intuitively felt like a bit of a shame that the act of travelling seemed to be becoming devalued. It was all about just getting there," Mr Talbot said.

The floating hotel, which is run on solar power and a hydrogen drive emitting virtually no carbon, is all about enjoying the journey rather than focussing solely on the destination. "None of us know how to stop, but there is a slow move - hundreds of millions of people just want to slow down a bit and actually enjoy life," Mr Talbot said.

"There is a three-level cocktail bar at the bottom of the ship, with a thing that we call a Moon Pool - effectively it's a transparent floor - so on sunset you can sit there with your chums, sip a cocktail and look at the earth passing by underneath you, like [you're] a goddess," Mr Talbot said.

Tourism Futures conference convenor Tony Charters said the Aircruise concept could work well in Australia but admitted cost would be an inhibiting factor. "We're in an era where it is crucial is to make us think about what the future options might be for accommodation and transport," Mr Charters said.

Editors Comments: This is the perfect confirmation of the old saying, 'There's no such thing as a new idea, just an old idea done better".  Herr Von Zeppelin will be delighted to know his 1874 invention hasn't been relegated to the irretrievable depths of history.  I pleased to see they've improved the fuel side of things !