Special Report-ILTM Cannes-Vegas Lux Expo Highlights
Last week we covered two major conferences held simultaneously, but worlds apart in many ways---Cannes “By Invitation Only” and Vegas “come one, come all” approach for travel agent attendees.
On Monday our Cannes brieflet highlighted the Ecotourism program sponsored by Departures, with excerpts from an insightful presentation by By Costas Christ, Global Travel Editor, National Geographic Adventure Magazine. www.luxurytravel360.com).
Today we continue our Two Continent Coverage with:
The Mighty Math of Luxury Travel—an exciting data report from Cannes ILTM
Excerpts from BECOMING GREEN + STAYING LUXURIOUS, a Challenge Presentation by Richard Story,……
Editor at Large Harvey Chipkin’s Nifty Nugget Report from the Exhibit Hall floor at Vegas Expo
And Now! The Mighty Math of Luxury Travel—ILTM Survey Cannes
The global luxury travel business now comprises an estimated 25 million annual arrivals (3% of total international arrivals) accounting for 25% of international tourism spend – at least US$180 billion. On average, spend per trip is estimated at between US$10,000 - 20,000.
The luxury travel boom is being fuelled by the increase in High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) - those with at least US$1million in net financial assets - and also by the growth in their individual wealth. The number of HNWI grew by 8.3 % in 2006 and their individual wealth grew by 11.4%.* * World Wealth Report (Merrill Lynch and Capgemini)
Wealth is concentrating to an even greater extent amongst Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (Ultra HNWI) – those with financial assets worth at least US $30 million – whose number increased by 11.3 per cent in 2006 with their assets growing by 16.8 per cent
(Brad Monaghan, Marketing Manager at ILTM): "This first luxury travel industry report was commissioned to give our industry a global overview and insight into the size, growth, trends and issues affecting our business. The research is based on ILTM Buyers survey plus individual interviews conducted with key industry figures around the world. "
Becoming Green + Staying Victorious
Richard Story, Editor Departures –Personal Wish List on 10 Ways to Help Save the World of Travel Luxury- Here are excerpts from two that particularly grabbed our interest.
Get used to fewer vacations, longer time frames. Borrow from the European month-off in August rather than five quick hits a year? At the top of the industry there is a growing move away quick getaway weekends. DEPARTURES Luxury Advisory Travel Board Survey found that readers took 1 million fewer trips over the past 12 months. But trips were A) LONGER and B) MORE EXPENSIVE.
Go Local. Yes, local is what the luxury traveler wants….” It’s the holy grail of luxury travel, don’t you think? ….Local has never looked so good/had such grace/tasted so delicious…Never has what’s right outside our own hotel window or tented camp seemed so very much a part of the future for the ( luxury marketers) in this room.”
Nifty Nuggets from Vegas Luxury Expo: Harvey Chipkin Roams the Halls
Lalia Rach , NYU,
Social networking will be huge for the affluent. Note www.smallworld.com
Agents will have to blog… and soon, or lose lots of money.
WOM Rules! And social networking is “virtual WOM.”
Re customer-“If you don’t know their dreams, who does?”
*Kristi Jones , President Virtuoso- ( see earlier coverage www.luxurytravels360.com -- PLUS – “I know an agent who gets together with customers to do a ten-year travel plan”—where they’d like to go, etc
Horst Schulze- Keynote Speaker for the Luxury Institute,-Chairman, Capella Hotels, formerly, of Ritz Carlton fame—Harvey says: “Passionate and funny.”
“I will be giving you the facts. If you have a different opinion, you are wrong.”
“The luxury market will be growing for the next 20 years.”
“The son of the old luxury traveler is a totally different customer... They want you to think they’re humble, but their jeans cost $5,000. They don’t want to wait for anything. They want hot coffee right now—then they don’t drink it for 10 minutes.”
We began our recent report on ‘Family Travel Rising’ with the following:
“All the evidence -- whether you are looking at the Amex-Harrison Group study we reviewed in our last issue, or the Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluence Report completed in September, -- shows Family First when it comes to disposable dollars.
We believe family focus is going to be front of mind for a long time to come, long after the punishing economic climate has subsided. Provider brands will be hard pressed to provide much more than kiddie or junior, or young adult activities. Smart travel agents will have to rise to higher levels of creativity and performance on the family front to sustain customer loyalty and earn the benefits of word of mouth in the neighborhood.”
And last week we caught our favorite global traveler-editor-writer-commentator during a quiet moment at home in England, the home of The Gostelow Report. She shared these thoughts:
• The hotel industry has been very slow to realize that this big expansion in family travel was going to happen. We’ve had “connecting rooms and you can put the kids next door”. They moved on to two swimming pools rather than one. One was kid friendly and one was not. But we really haven’t had anything more than that.
• We are seeing more and more bigger family groups. Operators are having a real challenge coping with such groups because it’s not a group per se, but they form their own groups. They want to be private. They want their own thing. .They tend to do their own excursions. They suddenly want a bus to take them all out. So it’s a real, real challenge. And so far the hotel industry has not realized this is happening. Now, it’s not only families. We’re also seeing more and more groups of friends traveling. And the hotel industry is not incentivizing enough – say a pair of DINKs come- Double-Income-No-Kids. There’s no incentive to them at the moment to bring along two other friends or even four other friends. And there’s big potential on the marketing side there.
Everybody knows her, but her bio is worth repeating.
Mary Gostelow, president of Gostelow Travel: Hottest Hospitality News Worldwide, is an inveterate traveler on the road more than 300 days a year. She owns and publishes the definitive Gostelow Reports, monthly market intelligence briefings to the top levels of the hospitality industry. She is the editor of KIWI's online Wow! Magazine, and also sends out a monthly update to top travel professionals worldwide.
At the same time, she is contributing editor to such publications as Elite Traveler, enRoute, Hotels and Le Magazine.
But Lux 360 Found a Brighter -and we think, Sensible Side-
From Harvey Chipkin’s report in the British online Hotel Report-a paid service from William Reed Business Media- http://www.wr-bi.co.uk/ - Reproduced here with publisher permission
At the first industry wide meeting following the fall financial meltdown and the recent presidential election, the consensus seemed to be that, yes, the industry faces a historically challenging situation that will last for awhile. But there was also a feeling that lodging is in a better position than other industries – and, happily, a few silver linings were perceived as well.
We’ve all heard the bad news over and over: global liquidity drought, drops in rate and occupancy, a dismal outlook for employment, and a possibly extended recession. But some leaders managed to find ways to take – if not a positive view -- at least a more nuanced one. Following are a few comments about why weeping and gnashing may not be the only appropriate attitudes.
Steve Joyce, who recently became CEO of Choice Hotels International, said he has been “the only optimistic person in the room at a number of events over the last few weeks.” I strongly believe,” said Joyce, “that there is a paralysis factor and that you can’t base projections on two weeks of hysteria.”
“Forecasts in this environment,” he continued, “are entertaining but not much use.”
Other ‘smart marketer’ insights from Joyce, Mark Lomanno of Smith Travel Research; Peter Yesawich, CEO of The Y Partnership; Michael Kaufman, Chairman of National Restaurant Association; Patrick Ford, CEO of Lodging Econometrics; and Roger Thomas, Steve Wynn’s design guru for many years.
Nat Ives, in Ad Age Online Sept 6, cites new data from Ipsos MMR which assures that well-off readers read print publications just as much now as they did 5 years ago.
Also, survey respondents making more than $100,000 annually said their average hours online had grown to 22.1 each week from 10.7, while the time they said they spent watching TV sunk to 18.6 hours from 23.7 in the 2003 survey. Read the full Ives story at http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=130685. Lux 360 attended the client briefing this week and will provide additional perspective in our Sept. 30 issue, interviewing Ipsos MMR President Bob Shullman.
Issues & Insights 
