New information on consumer travel preferences show that the definition of luxury is ever-changing. Though classically signified by marble bathrooms, Michelin-star dining and fancy souvenirs, the new frontier for luxury travel is less materialistic than ever. Authentic experience is now what travelers are seeking. As a luxury lifestyle and travel PR firm, we monitor these trends closely.
According to National Geographic Travel, these are some luxury travel trends we can expect to see in 2017.
Authentic Experience Over Lavishness
Today’s traveler is less concerned with buying fancy souvenirs, and more eager to immerse themselves in the destination, to grow from it, and share it with others. Chris Sanderson, co-founder of the Future Laboratory, says this is “good news for travel, bad news for handbags.”
Things like blending your own wine in Argentina, taking a guided hike through the Adirondacks, or staying on a farmhouse in Bavaria, are more appealing to today’s luxury travelers than gold-leaf and champagne.
Bigger Isn’t Better
Today’s traveler is interested in experiences that are intimate and authentic. They are looking to be immersed in their surroundings in a way that is a challenge for large hotels. Family-owned properties offer a particularly rare setting for those searching for the hard-to-find, indigenous style retreat.
“Luxury” Is A Dirty Word
The word “luxury” is one of the most overused words in travel marketing, but there is some backlash as people want to define what it means to them. Staying in cabins with locals in a small surfing town might not sound like luxury in the traditional sense, but it’s the novelty of having that experience that trumps the experience of staying in rooms with plush sofas and down comforters.
Luxury is more about sitting courtside than it is about having box seats, and the travel operators and hotels of today should use this to their advantage when putting together packages and experiences. Utilizing the natural and cultural surroundings a destination has to offer means that delivering the luxury experience might be less involved and less expensive for the hotel and travel entity than ever before.
Give us a call to learn more about how we can promote your company to take advantage of these changing trends.