Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Trends

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.

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.

Kids have become a significant new revenue stream that’s growing with a vengeance. It seems that kids (as with pets) are recession proof and parents are forking out the big bucks on everything from designer clothing and six figure playhouses, to private jet travel to summer camp.

To meet the ever-changing travel desires of consumers with new experiences, we’re seeing ever-fracturing niches in travel So far we’ve seen the likes of religious tourism, beekeeping tourism, graffiti tourism, danger tourism, and grief tourism.

AP foodie, JM Hirsch suggests what to get our culinary lovers for Christmas. From smaller indulgences, like hand crafted collection of intensely rich sweet treats from Dufflet Rosenberg, a Toronto pastry chef who has been earning accolades for more than 30 years; to some of Norman Love’s artistic chocolates or jars of Jamie Oliver’s artisanal Marvellous Mayo or jams.

New York City and Miami tourism officials announced a new partnership (“Rivals, Not in this Arena”) to boost travel between the two destinations, 1088 miles apart. Launching in 2011, this novel approach involves joint advertising, sales on American Airlines airfares between the two cities, and promoting special events and deals in both destinations to boost tourism during their respective slower seasons.

Impulse buying of extravagant commodities is out. Softer selling is now in. We’re seeing the use of more sophisticated, layered approaches. The best, strategic approaches combine sound reasoning with emotional lures to motivate indulging in “guilty” pleasures.
 
Looking through you: The intelligent consumer. We are now living in the age of what might be termed the “intelligent consumer.” He or she shops around while trying to learn more about a product’s value. “Both booking and dollar volume indicate that consumers are willing to spend money, just as long as they feel they’re spending it responsibly,” Jeff Anderson, a marketing manager for America’s Vacation Center/Avoya Travel, told Travel Weekly. Consumers – luxury or otherwise – are demanding value and fairness before cracking open their thinner wallets.

Successfully selling luxury in today’s tough environment requires communication. Consumers need answers to such key questions as, “What am I really buying? Why is it so expensive? What is it made of? What are the service specifics?”  Educate your consumer on your product’s material, attributes, its limited quantity, its inherent value. After they buy, they want to believe they’ve made an intelligent choice.

Apple Corp. demonstrates this formula daily in its retail and online storefronts, all designed to seem more about consumer education than hard selling. Simple, almost austere, they feature minimal signage and clear messaging. The atmosphere looks benign: Go on, try this gizmo out. Questions? Ask a nerdy clerk. No one, it seems, is there to sell you anything.

Shoppers, affluent or otherwise, are willing to search relentlessly for price. With corporate travel rebounding a bit, Orbitz for Business data shows business people are booking smarter these days. Some 70% say they feel personally obligated to save their company money on travel bookings. Even though their personal pocketbooks are unaffected, this penny-pinching mindset may be permanent after the past two years of cutbacks.

(….an excerpt from our recent Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Trends newsletter: “Tapping the Senses to Sell Luxury Travel“)

Effective crisis management can help to limit the damage caused by intense, negative media coverage. To be prepared, an organization must create a detailed crisis communication plan with a crisis communication team assigned to execute the plan that spells out the official spokesperson, key audiences, and internal and external communication chains of command. Practice crisis scenarios and recommended action, and have prepared fact sheets, statements and news release templates on hand. Sometimes, the best course of action might be to “wait and see” rather than risk fanning the fire.

Be proactive with positive news. There is always something positive to say, even in a time of crisis. New tourism appointments, new flight service, new attractions, increased cruise ship arrivals, festivals, events, hotel packages and hotel developments generate positive news that helps rebuild an image in the eyes of overseas visitors, namely, potential tourists. Social media is a ripe avenue to share your positive news with a large audience, and it’s recommended to set up a news feed on your website to ease browsers search for updates.

Apple has already revolutionized how we use technology in our daily lives. And there is no doubt that Apple’s iPad has the same potential to revolutionize the dining and hospitality industry. Here’s a list of ten that are laying the foundation for a new generation of hotels and restaurants outfitting their traditional services with the iPad. These early-adopter pioneers can potentially get a valuable lead in the industry’s competitive landscape.