Unlocking luxury: Trends in the world of high-end travel
Caroline Bremner, Senior Head of Travel Research at Euromonitor, spoke to ITB Berlin News about the major trends in luxury travel ahead of her conference at the show tomorrow.
At your conference tomorrow you’ll be addressing how luxury travel is leading transformation in the tourism sector. Could you share some insights on the key factors driving this shift towards luxury travel?
The luxury travel sector is more immune to the global macroeconomic headwinds created by the cost-of-living crisis. Luxury Seekers have the means to spend despite higher prices for air travel and lodging, driving the global travel recovery where luxury hotels have already returned to their peak levels. Affluent consumers prioritise travel and see it is an important part of their lifestyle, sharing unique experiences with loved ones.
With luxury travellers willing to pay more for sustainable features, how should brands approach this opportunity to balance luxury and sustainability?
All travel is a privilege, and luxury travel comes with even greater responsibility due to its higher carbon footprint. Luxury brands should therefore adopt sustainability practices whole-heartedly, by declaring a climate emergency and working with accreditation partners.
Luxury consumers are more attracted to purpose-driven brands that prioritise people and planet as well as profit. Sustainable features should also be central to the traveller experience, weaving in local to ensure a truly authentic immersion in a place and its culture.
Helping their customers make the right choice requires a holistic approach to sustainability, from back-end operations, mitigating negative environmental impacts and adopting strong social criteria to boost diversity, inclusion, and equality.
Given the diversity among luxury travellers, particularly with younger generations and those from emerging markets, how can luxury travel brands ensure inclusivity and resonate with these varied audiences?
There is a higher proportion of luxury seekers in Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa, particularly India, China, the UAE and Saudi Arabia than mature source markets like the US and Europe requiring luxury travel brands to adopt a more inclusive approach to their service offer.
The face of luxury is becoming ever younger including more Millennials and Gen Z than older generations, which requires a total transformation in how luxury travel brands engage with potential demand. For example, the use of AR/VR is much more engrained in younger generations, looking to visualise their hotel room or destination before they travel. Equally there is higher adoption of next generation web 3.0 practices such as NFTs (non-fungible tokens) from these younger luxury cohorts that can be integrated into marketing and loyalty campaigns.
How are luxury travel brands incorporating biohacking and personalised wellness into their offerings to meet the expectations of luxury travellers?
Wellness is one of the key pillars that we have identified in the luxury travel space, where luxury seekers look to their trusted brands to help them be the best version of themselves, physically, mentally and spiritually where self-optimisation is key. Brands such as Six Senses and Lanserfhof are delivering personalised wellness by adopting the latest cutting-edge medical and holistic wellness practices. Six Senses RoseBar in Ibiza specialises in longevity programs that use a variety of different techniques to regenerate and revitalise its clients. Luxury travel brands will need to continuously review and refresh their wellness offers and expertise to keep up with the latest innovations and trends.
With a high value placed on authentic and real-life experiences, how should luxury travel brands be innovating to meet these expectations?
Luxury seekers are willing to pay for authentic, curated and exclusive experiences. To ensure that luxury brands are able to keep up, it is vital to collaborate with like-minded partner brands, so that new exclusive lifestyle services can be offered where hospitality is the new battleground for consumer loyalty. Equally, engaging in co-creation with consumers directly through brand communities will be a useful source of inspiration.
Looking ahead, what are the emerging trends or destinations do you foresee will define the future of luxury travel, especially considering the preferences of younger luxury travelers and the impact of digital innovation?
Luxury travel will continue to be disrupted by the latest technology trends, from Generative AI to spatial computing with Apple’s Vision Pro, leading to new ways to engage in an omnichannel world. With ever greater personalisation, luxury travel brands will need to deliver the optimum service that adopts the most cutting-edge technology, delivers the most authentic experience, whilst treading lightly to deliver a positive legacy that companies and consumers can both be proud of.
Luxury Travel takes the lead – driving transformation from a position of strength
Thursday 7 March
10:30a.m. – 11:30a.m.
Hall 7.1b Blue Stage
