What:
According to Travel Leaders Group’s recently released Travel Trends Survey, luxury travelers are most interested in exclusive access and experiences. The top-ranking luxury experiences are VIP tours (66 percent), a private car and driver (51 percent) and custom culinary experiences (46 percent).
Why It Matters:
What’s the difference between a client booking a trip himself or with you? Hopefully it has something to do with your relationships and the amount of access, ease, personalization and local knowledge your vetted network can provide. Don’t be shy about the great, seamless experiences you’ve created for clients: Share them when you can to drive home the value and wow factor of booking with you.
Fast Facts:
- Luxury advisors say that luxury clients are also interested in private villas or homes (39 percent) and private beaches or islands (25 percent).
- The Travel Trends Survey also highlights the top international destinations for 2018. The No. 1 top destination is a European river cruise, followed by a Caribbean cruise, Italy, a Mediterranean cruise, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Australia, a Baltic cruise and France.
- More than 1,300 agency owners, managers and frontline travel agents participated in the survey.
What They’re Saying:
“Luxury travel today is all about access and experiences and our agents excel in providing clients with individually tailored once-in-a-lifetime experiences made possible through relationships they have built all over the world,” said Gail Grimmett, president of Travel Leaders Luxury Brands. “The survey results confirm that this high level of service, expertise and personalization is exactly what consumers are seeking.”
The Details:
Travel Leaders Group
www.travelleadersgroup.com
