As of 2008, it’s Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, which attracts approximately 35 million visitors yearly--- Fresh from Wikipedia via My Tourism ROI Alert, Aug. 20.
And here’s a small bonus from www.tourismroi.com. Montenegro had 610,000 tourists during the first 7 months of 2008, an increase of 5% over same period last year. Estimated income? 227 million euros — not exactly small change. Expectations for the year? Even better. HS
The poshest room in the hotel -- the so-called presidential suite -- is getting its own upgrade. Many hotels have long promoted their largest, most glamorous suite as the place to house moguls, celebrities and even actual presidents in the utmost comfort. Now, with competition in the U.S. hotel industry escalating as room supply continues to grow and demand slows, hotels are putting more glitz into their top suites. They hope to use the suites to woo not only those rich enough to afford their eye-popping prices -- $30,000 a night in some cases -- but also to generate buzz around their entire properties. The promise is that presidential-suite glamour may just rub off on those booking regular rooms. By Sarah Nassauer, Wall Street Journal May 27, 2008
(We always enjoy Pam Danziger´s snappy story leads in her Unity Marketing luxury trend reports. Here´s another from her June 6 newsletter—and behind it, solid research, once again.)
– The typical 'green' consumer is no longer certain to be a fashion-challenged, granola-crunching wearer of Birkenstocks. Today, the consumer looking to go green is increasingly likely to be an affluent professional woman dressed in an eco-friendly and animal-free Stella McCartney power suit with satin pumps. And if you want the affluent green-conscious customer's dollars and loyalty, you need to pay attention to the priorities she finds important when making her selection of luxury goods and services.
Good news for 24th Century Tourists, after engineers said efforts to stabilize the leaning tower of Pisa would keep the monument at its current angle for at least 300 years.
When my business travel writer hero sent his short burst on the ‘bust’
at EOS in late April, we decided to dig more deeply into the outlook
for small upscale carriers moving forward. In coming weeks we will be
talking to those still standing, and those still planning.
But quickly, I asked the bearer of bad tidings, “ What about all that press hype, Joe?” His same day answer:
“As for the hype these carriers have had, -- well, to some degree it has
been justified. This was a new concept (at least across the Atlantic)
and worth discussing. However, I have always resented people not
attaching the history to it. So,…”
I'll tell you three things I have been thinking about today:
This theory that the luxury market is immune to market downturns is clearly baloney.
Luxury is expensive. None of the five all business class carriers
(Mima, Maxjet, EOS that are down, Silverjet that might tank before
summer, and L'Avion, which no one knows anything about because they
are, after all, French...) were well-enough capitalized. The reason why
JetBlue made it was it had $150 million in the bank to start back in
2000. I would think Eos should have had that much to start.
Luxury in airlines is also a function of schedule. That was actually
Eos' problems. It had to fly AT LEAST four times a day to match BA's
eight in the JFK market. That was almost 200 first-class seats. With
BA's eight daily flights, it only has 112 in first. So see point 2. You
better have A LOT of cash if you wanna fly in the luxury air market...
Ipsos Mendelsohn and American Express Publishing-Harrison Group OfferFreshInsight on Consumer Behavior in 2010
According to new studies from two blue-chip research sources, Ipsos Mendelsohn and American Express Publishing - the affluent are not only ready to travel -- they are frequently going to spend more on it. While the Ipsos study focused on intent and American Express Publishing on mindset, they both point to a surge in affluents taking to the road (Amex sees an increase of 6 to 8% in spending on all luxury categories).Interestingly, both studies agree on a positive attitude despite lingering concerns about the economy. Here's a look at the highlights of both 2010 studies.
LuxuryTravel 360 has long looked to the affluent as a burgeoning market in business and leisure travel, fueling growth in more affordable, common sense luxury - less glitz and glamour, but ready to pay extra for memorable family experiences and genuine local culture.
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