How Has Luxury Changed in the Hotel Resort Market?

The definition of luxury travel has changed dramatically.

The world’s Grand Hotels originated at the turn of the century Europe, after Karl Benz had invented the automobile and mobility fueled the desire and ability for the affluent to travel and explore new luxurious hotels and resorts. Subsequently, international growth came from a rather homogeneous class of middle-aged male connoisseurs. At the turn of the century luxury consumers were more alike than they were different. Today the landscape for luxury has expanded worldwide, and with expansion comes fundamental changes.

The new luxury traveler” is younger, more likely to be female - and most often the female being the travel decision maker - and often is responsible for his or her own wealth creation. Today's luxury traveler is expecting authentic experiences. No longer are gilded exuberant European style interiors worldwide synonymous with luxury.

80% of women make the travel decisions

The luxury travel industry is vast

If you search online for luxury travel options, your search results will not be limited to luxury hotels, private jets, and luxury tour providers. The industry reaches further than that, to fashion (what to wear on your next luxury holiday), to watches (how do you know whether you are late for your Michelin Star dinner), and so much more.

Amangiri, Utah: A great example of authentic understated hotel resort design

The biggest problem with luxury today is that in every city in the world you will find exactly the same luxury items. It used to be that if I went to Milan I would find things unique to Milan. If you go to Paris, it could be Hermes or Chanel.  Now every city in the world has exactly the same brands, and when we talk about luxury, that does not sound so luxurious; it is losing the sensation of uniqueness, novelty and specialty.

Jumeirah Dhevanafushi, Maldives. Designed by Blink Design Group

Hotels are at the heart of the luxury travel industry

There are plenty of luxury hotel brands, or million dollar villa rentals, all over the world. However, if you ask someone in the industry to name the true luxury hotel brands, they are limited to a handful. These hotels have consistently delivered outstanding service and excellence, but until recently the brands offered a very similar hotel design product in every city of the world. The luxury sector is full of codes and signals that are transmitted through brand behavior, and brand standards. Fortunately brand recognition standards are becoming more open to incorporating authentic experiences, local materials, local interpretations of culture and architecture and a great number of new luxury brands have entered the market, celebrating their unique approach to design.

How do you distinguish your hotel / resort in this market?

How do you make your hotel experience special, authentic and memorable?

Create unique travel experiences and memories

·        You have to have a vision and do thorough research into the uniqueness of site and culture. Which unique possibilities can this hotel offer the traveler?

·       You have to market yourself in a way that is both unique, special and different from what everyone else is doing.

·       Your product must bring value, and has to be something that people want, or think they want.

·       Then you need to communicate with them to get their attention, through social media, magazines, videos or commercials.

Per Calvin Klein: “Luxury to me is the ultimate in quality, in terms of product. Having the best quality of perfection which you can have is true luxury. Everything is possible. You can do whatever you want and you just have to decide what you want to do and follow that passion”

To me, luxury travel means much more than just staying at the luxury hotel chains. The hotels need to offer unique design and travel experiences, which I can only find in this particular location. We are still all comfort creatures, and of course hotels need to pay attention to details, offer fantastic service and food made with local produce, and offer sensational pampering experiences.

The question is: How do you create an element of surprise and uniqueness? Today’s luxury hotel guests are in their late 20s, mid 30s and they are very sophisticated.  They have seen it, they have been there, they have done it, they have eaten it, and they have drunk it.

A luxury vacation or even a business trip today has to be somewhat life changing, and be memorable. Life is too short to wake up in cities around the world without realizing where you are. A hotel must appeal to the innate sense of explorers in us. We travel to discover something that nobody had discovered before. Most people like to come back feeling that they have explored something new, learned something new, and to an extent they have. People come back and say, “Wow, I actually did this”. "This place was truly amazing, because....." It takes more than a great mattress to make it memorable.

Create an authentic hotel resort arrival experience

Written by Zia Hansen. Photos courtesy Pinterest.