The definition of luxury travel is shifting, with travelers increasingly valuing access, convenience and experiences over traditional markers of high-end hospitality. According to Grand View Research, the global luxury travel market is valued at over $1.6 trillion and is projected to nearly double by the early 2030s.
Travelers are planning further in advance, booking restaurants and activities and expecting the entire journey to work. Luggage, equipment, transportation and other details that once might have been considered extras are becoming part of the expected experience.
“You have to control it from the time they leave their house until they get back,” Derek Stevens, owner and CEO of Circa Resort & Casino and other Las Vegas properties, told the gathered audience at Newsweek's New Destinations conference in September.
Sascha Gill, CEO of United Waterways, joined Stevens on stage, and sees things the same way, explaining that a cruise ship is not simply a way to get from one destination to another. It’s the hotel, the setting and part of the experience itself, not simply transportation between destinations, allowing travelers to move between cities while sleeping aboard and then wake up ready to explore.
“The destination is the destination you visit,” Gill said. The vessel provides the continuity, comfort and experience of the journey, while each port offers something different. Even when river conditions disrupt an itinerary, Gill said operators work to preserve the overall experience for guests.
That puts a premium on personalization and the ship and the destination work together. Gill described using detailed knowledge of destinations to determine when guests should visit museums and how they can experience cities through activities such as cycling and kayaking. But the paradox of luxury is that the more customers spend, the harder they can be to impress.
Stevens offered a simple example. “If you have a traveler where you can surprise and delight, it could be a surprise and delight in something as simple as a beer,” he said. But for a guest paying thousands of dollars a night, expectations are considerably higher.
Social media has only raised the stakes. Travelers arrive with detailed knowledge of destinations and increasingly clear expectations of what they are supposed to experience.
Gill sees the result as a broader redefinition of luxury. “Today’s traveling is an immersive experience rather than an exclusive experience,” he said.
That may be the larger transformation underway in luxury travel. The product is no longer simply a room, a ship or a destination. It is the entire experience, and increasingly, the journey itself is part of what travelers are paying for. For the luxury travel industry, that distinction is significant. The competitive advantage is no longer simply owning the most expensive room. It is creating an experience that travelers cannot easily reproduce, or forget.
"Customization is the best experience," Edouard Schwob, senior vice president of development at Luxury Americas, Raffles and Orient Express Global, all part of the Accor family of brands.