Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Trends

The Pink Dollar, an expression used to signify the above-average earnings of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has long been the object of attention for luxury marketers. Travel operators trying to shrug off hard times are waking up to the vast potential of gay and lesbian tourism, including the new and burgeoning market for same-sex weddings and honeymoons as more states/countries allow gay marriage.

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.

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.

Restaurant and food pop-ups are flourishing in every shape and size. Intimacy and hipness is the attraction: the ‘I-know-something-or-somebody-you-don’t-know’ feeling. We’ve seen numerous examples of pop-up restaurants in recent years, including those with strictly three-month seasonal menus. Others use guerrilla gourmet dining clubs: strictly word-of-mouth, unlicensed, underground restaurants in unmarked buildings, blind alleys and urban caverns.

Sure, having Wifi on hand is convenient, but what’s the point of a vacation if it’s constantly being interrupted by email? To provide the most relaxing experience, expect to see more hotels and resorts that force (or allow) guests to unplug whilst they unwind, stowing away all electronics upon check in.

Relaxing and luxurious babymoon vacations for parents-to-be have been around for sometime. And so has medical tourism, for those looking to travel overseas for a medical procedure. As far as we know, the Marmara Hotel has created the first babymoon/medical tourism hybrid, a niche they’ve coined “birth tourism.”

A new wave of cool, movable accommodations are appearing and morphing every few months while tying into compatible events. Not always pricey, pop-ups give consumers something they can perceive as an exclusive discovery, to be grabbed “while it lasts.”

Speaking to the New York Times, “Standing apart on an attraction other than price is important,” said Leonard M. Lodish, vice dean of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “If competitors continually undercut each other’s prices, it’s a race to the bottom,” he said.

The key card could become a thing of the past after a hotel chain announced it would allow guests to access their rooms using their smartphones. Instead of a key card, guests could download an application to their mobile device that would enable them to open their door simply by holding their phone to a sensor. If successful, this would mean that guests could choose to avoid the hassle of checking in at the front desk.

I was recently involved in a LinkedIn group discussion on what constitutes “new” luxury. Here’s my “sound bite” on the subject – and feel free to chime in if you agree or disagree: