Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Trends

The rise of medical tourism to glittering hospitals in places like Singapore and Thailand has turned coddling and elegance into marketing necessities. As mentioned in the Herald Tribune: “It’s not just competing on medical grounds and specialties, but competing for customers who can go just about anywhere.”

USA Today just reported that ‘disaster tourists’ are beginning to swarm to Costa Concordia island. Barely a week after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over just off the tiny Italian island of Giglio, ferries from the mainland are jammed with day-trippers trying to get a ringside view. More than 1,000 visitors arrived on Giglio from Tuscany’s Porto Santo Stefano Saturday, almost 10 times the normal number for a weekend in the off season. So close in the wake of the disaster, Giglio tourism officials are naturally aghast at the unwanted notoriety.

Just back from ONE Travel Conference in Orlando, which was geared to cultural, heritage and shopping tourism. Kudos to conference producers, Rosemary McCormick and Sheila Armstrong, for a fun, well run and informative conference. We tweeted some intelligence, interesting facts and figures, and social media tips, but in case you missed it, here’s a roundup:

While the vacation rental industry isn’t new, it’s segmenting more by price point (Airbnb on the budget end, and Quintessentially Villas on the high end), by destination, destinations within a destination, and by special interest (the obvious ones being golf, photography, and mainstream outdoor activities such as skiing). We’ll see even more differentiation by alternative interests such as paddle boarding, geocaching, quilting, triathlon training, writing/studying, species specific nature watching to name a few. Its also segmenting by level of exclusivity….starting at $3000, you can rent a mountain for one weekday of personal use, giving you private access to trails, rental shops and on-site dining through Liftopia.com’s new full-mountain rentals.

Look for growth in mini-indulgent services. Spa “tapas” are being offered at some of the top spas around the globe, allowing guests to pick and choose from a variety of abbreviated treatments. Want a first class travel experience without the full fare? Munich Airport just opened a VIP wing. London’s Heathrow by Invitation provides clients with personalized VIP airports services.

Social media: is this a function of PR? Ecommerce? Advertising? Management? Its part of all the above. And as digital marketing and e-commerce are converging, Facebook can be both a marketing AND a distribution channel with “f-commerce” capabilities on fan pages.

The essence of content strategy is that instead of pitching products or services, you deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, making them more intelligent. You also engage, reward and entertain them with the overall business goals of customer conversion and customer loyalty/retention, thus creating passionate subscribers.

Hotels will need to ratchet up offerings that entertain, educate and transform for special interest groups. Some of the more original offerings include The Dorchester’s Niemierko Wedding Academy for those aspiring to a career in wedding planning. Because the décor by famed designer Dorothy Draper is so much a part of The Greenbrier’s identity, those keen on interior design can enroll in its new Dorothy Draper School of Decorating. We’ve created a Mommy Bloggers Camp at Mexican client Velas Vallarta, a mini-conference/ getaway for professional and aspiring parent bloggers to learn and get professional blogging tips and advice from expert speakers.

But take care. The tide will change by year’s end as certain buzzwords become adopted by the mass market. When Domino’s introduces “artisan pizzas” and Burger King rolls out burgers on “artisan buns” you know it’s the end.

Miami is the latest destination to get a scent: At Scent World Expo, the Scent Marketing Institute unveiled a new fragrance “Miami.” A great way to express what Miami as a destination is all about – it has that sensuality, it’s the sun, sea, the spirit of Miami. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau will be using the scent to promote the city at events, in promotional items and as a personal fragrance.