Air Canada Media Offers an Insider’s Look at the Luxury Market
August 31, 2017 | By: DCI
Recently in Toronto, Air Canada Media and Bookmark Content, a global content and communications company, provided an insider’s look at luxury travel trends. The glimpse was the first in a series of seminars to educate influencers, destination marketing professionals and public relations leaders about the evolution of the consumer travel market.
Here are the top three take-aways from that session:
If it didn’t happen on Instagram, it didn’t happen at all.
Luxury travelers desire experiences that are memorable not only to themselves, but also to their social media audience. They want to be a part of camera-friendly excursions. Destinations have gone to great lengths to create these unique moments by realizing that most luxury travelers would rather spend their disposable income on a travel experience instead of buy a souvenir of their travels. In fact, in the United States, more than 67 percent of luxury travelers purchase an additional travel experience rather than collect material objects while on their vacation.
High-tech mindfulness matters.
In 2016, 43 percent of employed Americans spent some time working remotely while vacationing. Luxury travelers want access to wellness experiences while working remotely, if necessary. Destinations that approach their marketing with an appreciation for consumers’ need to unwind while still being plugged in — a benefit called high-tech mindfulness — will experience a warm reception from luxury travelers.
Luxury travelers want to experience the resident lifestyle.
Finally, traveling like a “local” is top of mind for luxury travelers. Staying in residential neighborhoods, shopping for treats at the local farmers’ market, dining at restaurants frequented by locals, engaging with bartenders who are local celebrities and attending local festivals alongside actual residents is inspiring. Destinations that can tell their “local” story and find ways to make visitors a part of it will reap the rewards.
Luxury travelers’ preferences are not dissimilar to other market segments; they just spend more money making the magic happen.
Want to know more about the preferences of luxury travelers? Tweet us your questions at @aboutdci