Luxury Travel Trends as we head into the New Year

WINELuxury Travel Trends as We Head into a New Year By Paloma Villaverde de RicoMemorable, extraordinary, unique. Those are the words Sam McCully, sr. v.p. of marketing for Avoya Travel, uses to describe the type of travel today’s affluent clients are looking for. In this post-pandemic world, luxury travel, he says, “has been elevated. Not just in the type of itinerary travelers enjoy, but in every aspect of the experience—from planning, to booking, to traveling, to experiencing while being delighted and surprised. Curating and delivering the most memorable, extraordinary and unique experiences—this is the new definition and standard of luxury travel.” His words echo what we heard during the most recent Virtuoso Travel Week, where a panel of travel advisors noted that the “romance of travel has come back, where people want to travel to those authentic places.” In fact, in Virtuoso’s own data gathering, trends point to the fact that “tailor-made travel is in even higher demand,” with the high net worth/ultra-high net worth clientele who responded to Virtuoso’s survey noting that “creating a travel experience that best fits my expectations is more important than price.” Avoya, too, is seeing this same trend among its client base, with McCully telling Recommend exclusively that luxury travelers are seeking out “more curated and personalized experiences, excursions and amenities.” And those personalized experiences come in the form of private aviation and yachting, among other things. According to Virtuoso data, yachting is increasing in demand in the Caribbean, Croatia, Greece and St. Tropez, and Virtuoso’s yacht bookings are up 79 percent this year over 2019.RIVER RAFT Another trend that is picking up even more momentum as we step foot in 2024 is active expedition vacations, with McCully saying that “there has been a significant uptick in the active expedition luxury space in both cruising and land tours, and the interest does not seem to be waning.” Virtuoso’s travel advisor panelists note, too, that expedition cruising to Arctic and Antarctica “has become very popular.” Those are trips that take affluent clients to far-off places, but that’s exactly the reason they might be gaining interest, because not only do travelers in this income level have the means to take these trips, they also have the time, so, no surprise that Avoya is noticing an uptick in bookings for longer trips, World Cruises and Grand Voyages as well. Traveling for wellness, too, shows no signs of slowing down among the luxury set with Virtuoso’s data showing that clients are willing to spend up to $25,000 per trip, with top destinations being Mexico, the U.S. and Europe, and Thailand, Bali, Fiji and Iceland ranking among the most popular of emerging wellness destinations. Look to solo travelers for this sort of vacation, because, according to Virtuoso data, 59 percent of travelers are going sans partner.LADY ON DECKTravel Modes are ChangingOne of the biggest topics in the industry, given the summer travel season we’ve just had where tourists descended onto the world’s most popular tourist destinations en masse and heat waves were the norm, is recommending clients seek out destinations where foot traffic is a bit lighter and the heat not as unbearable. Says McCully, “We continue to see a strong trendline and increasing demand for luxury travelers seeking out new, emerging and more exotic destinations.” Adding to that, the Virtuoso travel advisor panelists, when asked if climate change equals travel change, noted that they’ve seen a large increase in summer bookings to Norway and Copenhagen, which, says one of the panelists, Rebecca Masri, founder of Little Emperors, a private travel club, “wouldn’t normally be destinations we would book for summer. I think Europe being hot, people are looking for cooler destinations and it’s giving a really good opportunity for the Nordic countries to come forward as summer destinations.” Concurring with Masri during the panel discussion, Jamsheed Pocha, co-founder of The Pelican Club, a members club specializing in bespoke, luxury travel planning, noted that “we’ve been sending Canadians and Americans to Switzerland, Austria and Germany, which traditionally haven’t been as popular as Italy, Greece [or] France during the summer months. And then moving that summer demand of those European destinations to the shoulder months, with September getting more and more popular and October getting a little bit of attention, where you wouldn’t expect to be swimming in the Mediterranean in those months.” Added Masri, “The Alps, too, are becoming more popular during the summer, where traditionally we would’ve booked it for skiing or for Christmas.” Hotels in Southern Italy, meanwhile, saw soft bookings in August, said Paul Tumpowsky, founder and CEO of the SKYLARK travel agency, during the discussion, with booking numbers for September and October showing low availability, “so I think there’s a lot of potential for people moving that summer [travel] to halfway through October. And some hotels that close in early October are now closing in mid- and late-October.” In fact, adds Avoya’s McCully, “Europe had previously been the most sought-after itinerary for luxury clients, but due to heat waves and overcrowding, we’re seeing a shift to South America and Asia itineraries.” SEAPLANESell Yourself—You’re the ExpertAccording to McCully, to “win the hearts (and wallets) of today’s luxury traveler, one must truly understand and guide these lucrative clients to the best possible vacation options, including air, land, sea, itinerary and more. Luxury travelers, rightfully so, have the highest level of expectations that every aspect of their vacation will be thought out carefully and planned to a tee. And who better to do that than a travel advisor?” With that much responsibility, it’s no wonder the topic of travel advisor fees constantly comes up among luxury travel advisors. In fact, it was one of the most important points of discussion during the Virtuoso travel advisor panel discussion, with Tumpowsky noting, with a chuckle, that “fees are a very serious matter.” Sharyn Kitchener, managing director at Mosman Travel, added that one of the advantages that came from COVID is it showed how important it is to charge fees. “We are very transparent with our clients, had a lot of conversations with them. I can think of one lady who said, ‘I don’t agree with that and I’ll find an agent who won’t charge me any fee.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s fine, but that agency won’t be around for very long if they aren’t going to charge fees.’ The majority of our clients took it on and all the new clients that came to us, they accepted it very well.” Pocha concurred that it’s important to charge fees, but by the same token noted that “it’s important we add value. There’s the question mark that comes in for the clients—is there enough added value to pay for this service? Travelers can go for $100 on tablet.com, become a member and get perks at a hotel, but can [clients] get the knowledge and insight we have, can they be treated like a VIP when they arrive at their destination, can they get all the little aspects that we handle for them travel-wise, whether it’s cars, spa treatments or experiences…thinking beyond just making reservations. They should be paying for a service that takes that on for them.”
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