Reaching—and keeping—high net worth customers is all about developing personal relationships–among you, them, the people with whom they are traveling and the luxury travel suppliers with whom you all interact.
That theme was repeated over and over again by the tony Manhattan crowd at Travel + Leisure’s “The World’s Best Summit” in Manhattan last week. Among the speakers from luxury travel companies like Hyatt and Six Senses and Hurtigruten, my favorite was Embark Beyond founder Jack Ezon, representing the luxury travel advisor community. Ezon said selling luxury is about offering customers access in the most creative of ways, bonding your clients and their guests over shared experiences that will last a lifetime.
More than ever, Ezon said, luxury brands are looking for partners who share their values and have a connection with their core target client—and in general, the more niche, the more successful. “Luxury is not democratic; it is still about scarcity, and distribution in a very selective manner. We have seen people make travel decisions based on aspirations and not destinations—going to Paris not to see the Eifel Tower but rather to explore a passion or pleasure, like food or shopping or art. Similarly, many people are flocking to art festivals and major sporting events like F1, not because they like cars, but because they love the scene that comes with it. They love the ambiance, the parties, the cool people they can meet.”
Take, for example, the time he hired four Michelin-starred chefs to captain a Chopped contest with teammates from the 10 couples traveling together to Italy—or an Amazing Race through the Med that forced guests to find clues by speed boat, helicopter to an island off the coast of Cannes, hop on horses to snag a treasure, and end up in a spectacular private castle adorned with over 10,000 candles. You can shut down the top of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triumph for his and hers separate welcome parties; rent a private island in the Caribbean and bring in a headliner DJ to recreate a French Riveira beach club; take over a full city square for an all-night street fair party with headliner entertainers like Elton John, Diana Ross or Justin Bieber.
In the end, though, “despite all the fanfare and crazy things we get to do in the luxury space, the important thing to remember is that at the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing. They want to feel special, and they want to build a deeper connection to the people they are with. Ultimately that is what it’s all about. That million-dollar Amazing Race? Think about the memories those guests share forever with each other. That’s why our mission statement at Embark has nothing to do with travel; it’s Leverage Relationships to Build Connections.”
Keeping It Personal
Indeed, almost every speaker at the T&L conference mentioned the importance of personal relationships in selling luxury travel.
Temple St Clair, creative director of Temple St Clair Fine Jewelry, noted that she recently has gotten into the travel business at the request—or even, the demand—of clients of her high-end jewelry, who over the years have become collectors and want to know everything about her and her art. They have visited artist studios in Florence together and now are interested in following her to Kenya, where she is involved in a conservation project. “I’m very passionate about what I do, and I get into these deep relationships and people,” she says.
Luxury travelers are looking for “spaces, places and faces,” said Explora Journeys’ North America president Chris Austin—but the thing they want most is an itinerary that goes more slowly and is more immersive, so they feel “exhilarated and not exhausted.”
And many, suddenly, are looking at “The New Grand Tour,” sailing away for extended trips of three months or more. There have always been travelers doing Grand Tours, Austin said. “But the pandemic allowed for this big mental shift – and now it’s a new segment. The 7-night cruise has become 10 or 11 or 14, and the 14-night is pushing to 29, said Explora’s Chris Austin. There’s a whole subset of people spending three months living or working at sea. They have their work and they have their social time—and they are looking for wellness, interior and exterior fitness areas, healthy culinary, and sustainability to create a true home at sea.”
And don’t overlook the newest segments of luxury travelers, the Gen Z’ers who are spending 30% of their income on travel; the 35% of luxury travelers who are actually aspirational travelers, celebrating a milestone birthday or anniversary; and the solo travelers. “Our largest suite is most frequently booked by a single female, with an aide in the connecting suite,” Austin noted. “She wants accessibility but she wants privacy as well. It’s a big opportunity.”
In the end, he said, “People just want to get out and see the world, to collect these experiences. Life is about collecting memories and we should all add another trip to our lives.”
Elevating the Airport Experience
Even the airports are looking to build better relationships, says Derek Utter, chief development officer at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which for the past 10 years has been on a journey to move JFK and LaGuardia from “The Worst Airports” list to The Best. “We think about every step of the journey, about the ground transportation, the road frontage (the Van Wyck Expressway is under major construction to widen it), then at the airport some new terminals have gigantic play areas for the kids, a lending library, spaces for mothers and a new area for people with limited mobility or special needs, like quiet areas for people on the autism spectrum,” he said.
Passengers expect light, airy space, but beyond that the airports are looking to offer “local concessions so you really feel like you are in New York, and see brands that are local and bespoke, and we’re putting a huge effort into local and world-class art,” Utter said. The growing list of private lounges, including the new Chase and Delta One lounges, also are helping with the airport experience. “Premium spaces pull people out of the hold room and so are a benefit to everyone.”
Siobhan Barry, director and principal at Gensler Design, said that in designing the Delta One lounge at JFK, “we tried to aggregate the customer archetypes we are desigining for,” to think about who is coming through the lounge and why. So they started to think about programming, and how to engage travelers on their own terms. “The concept is to offer something for everyone but not in a mishmash way, understanding that some will need to sleep and want an enclosed room and ginger kombucha, or you might be starting your honeymoon with champagne,” she said. There’s a calm spot, an active spot, a sleepy spot, a wellness spot, a business lounge, a playground.
Among luxury travelers, she said, “there’s an expectation of a high-level experience along this travel ribbon and we don’t want the airport to be a dip. ‘Wait’ is a four-letter word, and the idea is that you are going to have extra time at the airport generally—so you convert that waiting to engaging, being in control of your own time and managing anxieties before a flight, through the human touch, the people who make you feel welcome; then the design, capturing your imagination; and then the digital, the everyday flight information. And what’s now getting attention, the new services: a spa or a facial, or having your suit cleaned while you take a shower, piquing their curiosity with moments of delight and discovery.”
Some Travel Tips from the Panelists:
Paul Tumpowsky, founder & CEO at New Yonder: “The big hack for me is I have recognized that for international airports you have a choice of lounge; I really like Cathay’s lounges even if I am flying on a partner airline.”
Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers: When traveling with kids, build in more time to play. When having dinner in Paris with a six-year-old, bring art supplies.
Heather Greenwood Davis: Don’t do a skip-generation trip with an 80-year-old grandparent.
David Prior, founder of travel company PRIOR: Consider tying travel to cultural events at your destination. Big events “try to find that moment that is endemic to a culture and exaggerate it, putting a spotlight on it and lifting it up.” So linking a group trip to Paris with the celebration of Bastille Day, for example, offers “a doorway into understanding a particular place and culture at their moment of peak ripeness.”
Cheryl’s 40-year career in journalism is bookended by roles in the travel industry, including Executive Editor of Business Travel News in the 1990s, and recently, Editor in Chief of Travel Market Report and admin of Cheryl Rosen’s Group for Travel Professionals, a news and support group on Facebook. As an independent contractor since retiring from the 9-to-5 to travel more, she has written regular articles about the life and business of travel agents for Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent, and Insider Travel Report. She also writes and edits for professional publications in the financial services, business, and technology sectors.
