The growth of luxury travel
Travel Experts, Inc., a host agency for independent luxury travel agents, recently released the results of its 2017 luxury travel trends survey, predicting that luxury travel will continue to grow throughout 2017.
Travel Experts, Inc., a host agency for independent luxury travel agents, recently released the results of its 2017 luxury travel trends survey, predicting that luxury travel will continue to grow throughout 2017.
Travel Experts said that following a record-breaking 32-per-cent growth in revenue in 2016, 58 per cent of its luxury travel agents report an increase in sales year-to-date. Contributing factors cited included economic growth and a strong dollar, but an increased awareness of the value of using a luxury travel agent was believed to be the biggest contributing factor (55 per cent cited this).
“Very sophisticated, experienced travellers, fully capable of booking their own hotels online, are turning to travel advisors to do the work for them,” said Lynn Juliano, an independent affiliate of Travel Experts. “Their time is valuable and they trust our ability to leverage our contacts to get the best rates, special upgrades and VIP treatment upon their arrival.”
Travel Experts found that river cruising is the largest growth segment in luxury travel, while family and adventure travel are strong contenders for second place. The agency said that while these kinds of trips are predominantly enjoyed by Baby Boomers, an increasing number of ‘Gen X-ers’ are expressing an interest in getting involved with this new trend.
Further findings were that adventure travel is the number one vacation choice of millennials, that Gen X-ers continue to dominate the luxury family travel market, and that multi-generational and bucket list travel are high priorities for Baby Boomers.
Europe was found to be the number one requested destination for luxury travellers (72 per cent), followed by North America, while Iceland was touted as a ‘hot’ destination trend for 2017 and beyond.