Affluent Traveler Collection shares keys to luxury sector: Travel Weekly

MIAMI — Travel topics at the Affluent Traveler Collection Symposium, held at the Kimpton Epic Miami, included how luxury travel is evolving, how to attract and woo today’s luxury travelers, and what kind of trips luxury travelers try to make.

“The number of affluent consumers is growing, and travel is a priority for them,” said Nicole Mazza, director of marketing for Affluent Traveler Collection. “We have brought in partners to help our advisors fulfill travelers’ desire for boutique hotels, villas and residences, unique itineraries and personalized experiences.”

Based on the symposium sessions as well as interviews and discussions around the event, here’s what advisors need to know about luxury travelers in 2024 and beyond.

Young travelers are entering the luxury market…

Millennials are a generation defined by prioritizing great experiences over owning material goods, and are part of the biggest drivers behind the recent growth of the luxury industry. A report from management consulting firm Bain & Co. found that millennials and Gen Z consumers will account for all of the global luxury industry growth in 2022.

During the symposium’s general session, Mazza explained to the advisors that millennials approach luxury travel a little differently than older people. She said millennial travelers want access to planning and booking technology, and many want to book their own travel experiences, but have access to a travel agent for advice along the way.

The Affluent Traveler Collection is also appealing to younger travelers by offering the option for advisors to be able to accept cryptocurrency as payment through TripXpress, their proprietary booking platform.

…but boomers still lead the way

Baby boomers still lead the luxury travel market and have the highest net worth of any US generation.

“Many of our affluent travelers are baby boomers and are sophisticated, educated and curious about new cultures,” said Joe Leon, Silversea Cruises vice president of sales for the Americas. “According to the 2019 U.S. Census, there are approximately 71.6 million baby boomers in the U.S. About 68% of disposable income in the U.S. is controlled by boomers.”

When it comes to working with travel advisors, Mazza said, most boomers like their advisors to have a more hands-on approach to booking their trips and want agents to work with them at every stage of the booking process and travel planning.

Immersion is the key…

Luxury travel no longer just means booking hotels, restaurants or luxury cruises. Christen Perry, founder and owner of Classic Travel Connection and advisor to Affluent Traveler Collection, said today’s luxury travelers want personalized cultural experiences that deepen their understanding of a place.

“People want to do things that are personalized to them, that respond to who they are and what their goals are,” he said. “People don’t want a cookie-cutter holiday.”

Luxury travelers are also looking for community engagement and rare experiences, which can be an Italian cooking class in a private home or a temporary safari camp built in remote locations.

…but so is social media

For advisors looking to court millennials and younger travelers, highly visual social media platforms like Instagram are a valuable tool.

“Travelers are looking for the next Instagrammable moment,” Perry said. “Which is sometimes a challenge, because the photos are not always a reality. One of our major roles as travel advisors is to manage expectations. But it is often where they see their next bucket-list destination “.

Although word of mouth is still king, social media provides an income for new customers looking for a different type of travel. For advisors, posting their travels on social media can be real in their next client.

“When I went to Antarctica in February, people told me that the trip looked fascinating and that they wanted to go because it looked so different from anything they had ever seen before,” Perry said. “There were these huge floating icebergs and leopard seals that were found. It was intriguing to people, and at the end of the day, luxury travelers are looking for travel experiences that are both unique and authentic.”

Expectations are always rising…

“More people are leveling up their vacation quality,” Perry said. “Travelers are trying to do things they’ve never done before.

“They want to go somewhere unique that not everyone gets to go, which means a more luxurious kind of vacation.”

…so advisors have to follow

In addition to partnering with suppliers to provide more options for luxury customers, the Affluent Traveler Collection is positioning itself to help luxury travel advisors succeed in this growing sector in a few other ways.

The company next year said it would increase the number of trips through its Experiences program, which provides educational trips to advisors.

It also continues Kore, the in-depth training program that debuted in 2021 for those new to the travel industry; Kore includes mentoring from an agency owner or manager and a placement service after graduation.