In 2016, travel and tech entrepreneur Joan Roca founded Essentialist, a luxury, membership-based travel-planning service that provides clients with unlimited travel planning from a designated travel advisor, curated travel journalism, an annual travel consultation, access to VIP perks and a dedicated booking desk, all for the rate of $2,600 per household, per year.
Here, we sit down with Roca to learn more about the unique Virtuoso member agency, the type of member its targeting and the latest trends in luxury travel as we head into 2025.
Essentialist offers a unique take on luxury travel planning. Can you share the inspiration behind founding the company, and what sets it apart from other high-end agencies in the industry?
[I] saw a gap in the luxury travel market for providing a high-tech, high-touch travel service. What sets Essentialist apart is the combination of curation, personalization and technology to provide each member with a curated travel experience just for them. By relying on a network of travel editors and tastemakers, Essentialist is uniquely positioned to take members deeper into a destination, providing a more meaningful way to discover the world.
What kind of client is Essentialist targeting, and how do you ensure that your offerings remain relevant to them?
Essentialist members range in age and geography, but what they all have in common is the desire for a travel experience that is curated to their personal passions and interests at the high-end. By really getting to know each and every member, and the goals of their trips, we’re able to ensure they have an itinerary that is designed specifically for them, each and every time.
Joan Roca, founder and CEO of Essentialist
Credit: 2024 EssentialistWhat exactly does a membership to Essentialist include?
Essentialist has one tier of membership, which is priced at $2,600 annually, for the entire household. The benefits of membership include dedicated support from your personal “Member Experience Manager;” unlimited trip requests and access to exclusive experiences; curated insights from our portfolio of more than 500 leading travel and lifestyle tastemakers; 24/7 access to reservations for flights, hotels, transportation, experiences and events; and the ability to elevate a client’s journey with exclusive amenities and benefits at more than 4,000 hotels globally.
Essentialist members range in age and geography, but what they all have in common is the desire for a travel experience that is curated to their personal passions and interests at the high-end.
How does Essentialist incorporate technology into the travel-planning process?
Through our proprietary technology and Essentialist app, we’re able to provide our members with bespoke itineraries in a matter of minutes, rather than days. By matching our tagged member profiles with our expansive destination database, we’re able to use artificial intelligence to curate the perfect itinerary for each destination and each unique member.
You describe Essentialist editors as a critical component of the business’ approach. Who are these editors, and how do they contribute to the travel-planning services?
We work with a network of more than 200 leading travel and lifestyle editors globally who write for publications such as Conde Nast Traveler, Wall Street Journal, Vogue and more. They are based in the destinations they cover and are tapped into the local scene, which allows them to curate the most updated content for our itineraries.
The future of luxury travel is likely to be characterized by hyper-personalization, immersive experiences, sustainability, wellness and the seamless integration of technology.
Whether it’s knowing about the latest restaurant opening, a cool new designer or a unique experience, the editor recommendations are what provide our members with the most in-depth experience of a destination, beyond the typical must-see places.
Based on Essentialist’s recent bookings and interactions with clients, what trends are you seeing in the luxury travel space as we head into 2025?
We are finding a few common trends appearing or strengthening over time. Solo travel is definitely on the rise, as is remote work/travel for people who want to combine extended travel with working remotely.
Wellness is also on the rise, with many members combining trips that include both wellness experiences with other aspects. And we are starting to see members express more of an interest in sustainable choices when traveling. Whether choosing a hotel for its more local approach, to spending more time in one destination versus bouncing around to many in a short time frame.
How have you adapted or evolved your services in response to shifting travel patterns, particularly with the rise of experiential and remote travel?
Because everything we do is bespoke to each member, by nature we’re able to adapt to shifting patterns and traveler requests. It’s a combination of constantly refreshing our destination content to feature new experiences, special access and the latest benefits, and combine that with each member’s trip goals so we can always ensure their experience meets their expectations.
The future of luxury travel is likely to be characterized by hyper-personalization, immersive experiences, sustainability, wellness and the seamless integration of technology. As technology continues to advance, we can expect even more innovative and luxurious travel experiences to emerge.
