Luxury Travel & Lifestyle Trends

Over the last couple years, ART has become a central focus for hoteliers due to its appeal to affluent consumers (i.e. art is a part of an affluent lifestyle), its ability to add personality to any room, and the value it adds to the guest experience. An added benefit - it can be a very good investment over time. As a result, we’re seeing more and more hotels creating distinctive interiors by keeping up with some of the hottest trends affecting the art market.

Although USA Today recently publicized that Medical Tourism was one of the top trends for 2010, we’ve had our eye on this tourism trends for sometime. Back in 2007, we noted that ‘wellness and looking good continue were moving up in consumers financial priorities.’ Lifestyle trends such as this fueled the spa and medical tourism boom in 2007. We saw the advent of medical real estate, where master-planned communities such as Cooper Life at Craig Ranch in Texas, were built around wellness and medicine. Monthly fees provide luxuries and services, including annual physical examinations and doctor house calls.

Do-it-yourself retailing - personalization to the max - is coming into its own. Following in the footsteps of companies we’ve already written about that lets consumers customize their own products (dresses, handbags, lingerie and duvets, Maps, LEGOs, even original shoe art) Sydney-based online shoe retailer Shoes of Prey is leading the design-your-own trend towards stylish, custom-made women’s shoes.

No one knows for sure what 2010 will bring. Most economists say the global recession has probably peaked, but what will the recovery look like? In some sectors, consumer spending is on the rise, and we’re spotting more and more post-recession flowers blooming. Whether their pocketbooks were squeezed or not, many affluents are now transformed. They want value, quality, and products with a “moral conscience.”

Voluntourism has become the holiday of choice for those keen to give something back. From charities and tour companies, to luxury hotels and cruise ships, there’s no shortage of for profit and not for profit companies willing to organize a volunteer trip for philanthropic travelers. For good reason: Nearly 1 in 20 U.S. travelers has taken a trip to help the less fortunate or support a humanitarian cause, according to research firm Y Partnership’s 2009 National Leisure Travel Monitor.

The term “mobile” reflects consumers growing demand for immediacy in their interactions. Sparked by Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed, immediacy is compelling, engaging, highly addictive. Our recent favorite: the Twitter tool that shows who else is at the airport.

With 300 million tourists annually, religious tourism is the fastest growing tourism niche worldwide, according to the World Tourism Organization.

It has been widely reported that the recession has dampened the popularity of splurging on high ticket items (or at least openly boasting about such purchases) and many affluents believe that the best way to weather the global recession is to indulge in life’s little luxuries (see our earlier blog item about mini-indulgences). And so it appears that the affluent are still spending…but on what?

In other times, a luxury product offering discounts risked tarnishing its image and cachet, traditionally a big no-no. But as the economies around the world continue to deteriorate, luxury retail and travel industries (cruise ships, tour operators, hotels, attractions, etc.) have resorted to slashing prices to merely stay afloat while continuing to market aggressively to build market share so that when the economy turns around, they’ll be in a stronger position than ever before.

Camping, the most ancient form of holiday accommodation, has seen a resurgence. In tandem with the heady fortunes of 2007, last year we saw the height of glamping (glamorous camping), which featured four-poster beds, lavish bed linens and fluffly towels, as well as tents for lounging, gaming and reading. Guests could dine on regional high-end food and wines, then commune in the fresh air while enjoying reflexology, massage and other top spa treatments. The next iteration…