TRAVEL: Check out how luxuriously the 1% vacation.
The rich really are different from you and me — at least when it comes to travel. For ordinary travelers, the Presidential Suite might sound like the ultimate luxury. For the traveler with the 25,000-squarefoot home or office, though, it’s not much of a wow.
“It’s going to look like a closet,” said travel adviser Bobby Zur, owner of Travel Artistry in Franklin Lakes, N.J. His agency is part of Virtuoso, a worldwide network of luxury travel advisers, whose membership is by invitation only. Zur’s clientele includes rock stars, billionaires, CEOs and pro sports icons.
Luxury travel isn’t about the biggest and the most lavish anymore. The rich have been there, bought that. Today, they’re spending their money — investing it, actually — in experiences rather than material possessions. “It’s really about intangible things,” Zur says. “It’s about how they’re made to feel.”
Small is big today in luxury travel: boutique hotels; private airline terminals; special-access tours; and those little touches that have always been part of the “VIP treatment.”
And more Americans are in that VIP category than at any point in U.S. history: There were an estimated 10.8 million millionaires by the end of 2016, up 400,000 from just the year before. The wealthy travel more and spend more; the luxury market is growing almost a third faster than the industry as a whole.
The established brands in the luxury market — from accommodations such as Aman Resorts or Four Seasons to cruise lines such as Silversea, Crystal and Uniworld, and tour operators such as Butterfield & Robinson, Abercrombie & Kent, Lindblad Expeditions and Micato Safaris — are adapting to the new luxury traveler in ways big and small.
High-end hotels are emphasizing more personalized service, providing training in how to anticipate guests’ needs, solve their problems, manage crises. At the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver, VIPs get monogrammed bathrobes, pillowcases, or both, and toiletries with the guest’s name printed on the label.
Wellness has become a major focus for luxury travelers, so hotels are ramping up their spa services. Hotels are meeting the demand for unique experiences by arranging anything from an after-hours museum tour with the curator to a cooking lesson with a local chef. Marriott teamed up with hotelier Ian Schrager for its Edition brand, where the staff includes a cultural director.
CRUISING FOR LUXURY
Cruise lines are making the biggest waves in the luxury arena.
One emerging trend, according to Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of Cruise Critic, is the “luxurification” of expedition cruising. “It used to be — and sometimes still is — that an expedition cruise was considered luxury because of the hard-to-get-to destinations it visited — places like the Galapagos and Antarctica,” she says. Originally, the accommodations were basic. “Now, lines such as Crystal, Ponant and Scenic have created ships that carry cruisers to adventure in a luxurious ambiance,” offering personalized service.
Dining also is being revamped. Silversea’s Silver Muse, which made its debut recently, has eight restaurants and no main dining room. Today’s luxury travelers don’t want to be told what to do.
There’s long been a yacht-style of cruising but Crystal’s Esprit and Scenic’s upcoming Eclipse both are courting the type of traveler who might otherwise charter his or her own vessel.
Cruise ships also are creating exclusive areas for their luxury clientele. The Haven on Norwegian Cruise Line top deck features the “most luxurious” suites (a three-bedroom villa among them), private inner courtyard with pool, butlers and restaurants.
Crystal arguably is taking the deepest dive into luxury: Along with the ultra-luxury yacht Esprit, it launched Crystal Luxury Air, a private jet charter service, in April. Crystal AirCruises debuts in August, offering roundthe-world journeys via private jet.
PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCES
Some critics say that the new luxury options may be creating resentment and animosity between the classes. On the other hand, the proliferation of luxury options gives the average traveler an chance to splurge.
“The one-percent want blowme-away experiences,” says travel adviser Catherine Heald, CEO of Remote Lands, part of Virtuoso, whose clientele skews affluent. “They want to do things and go places that no one else has gone, to earn bragging rights for dinner party conversation,” she says.
They use travel advisers because “they want smooth, seamless, white glove service. Flawless logistics. If they are taking a route that has no commercial air service, such as from Chiang Rai (in Thailand) to Siem Reap (in Cambodia), they will charter a small jet rather than take a connecting flight in order to save half a day, which is precious to them.”
“True luxury is getting exactly what you want, in the precise way you want it,” says Terrie Hansen, senior vice president of marketing for Virtuoso. “If you want to impress someone who has everything, make sure they get what they want before they have a chance to ask for it.”