“Mingling with the masses” was all part of the fun of cruising until VIP zones and tiered levels came along in the last few years. At an accelerating rate cruise marketers offer selective luxury on board—a high end cafeteria plan where we pay for class, not mass. Credit NY Times Practical Traveler, by Michelle Huggins, November 11, 2007
A year that began with warnings about "the end of luxury" is ending
with headlines about "surge in demand for luxury" (Smith Travel
Research) and "Luxury Makes a Comeback" (Fortune Magazine).
Looking forward, we are focused on lessons learned during the Great
Recession by smart luxury travel marketers and experts who shared their
experiences –and their counsel—in LT360 columns and stories during
these challenging times.
Senior Editor Harvey Chipkin and I have used boldface black—a
hopeful color for the coming year—to highlight smart marketer themes,
actions, and adaptations below that will pay large dividends going
forward.
In today's commentary we share thoughts
from a recent conversation with Mary Gostelow, editor of KIWI's online WOW
Report. They don't say "Affluent", but they sure point to a more
sensible, and comfortable travel culture to come:
Everybody was using
luxury for everything. We've been living in a time of growing excess which
was not really necessary. Why should bedrooms get bigger and bigger? Why
should the thread count of sheets get higher and higher? Who cares? Does
anybody even know what thread count means? Why should one hotel's terry
bath towels get thicker and more sumptuous than anybody else's? You know,
it was as though everybody was going for the Guinness Book of Records the
whole time.
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