Luxury Consumers and Their Luxury Travel Plans 2012

Affluents Plan to Open Their Wallets for More Luxurious Travel Experiences in the New Year New Unity Marketing study finds that many affluents plan to spend more on travel in the next year, but the features they seek may not be what you expect Stevens, PA December 28, 2011 --For affluents consumers, personal satisfaction and happiness is found not in what they own, but in what they do. Over half of all luxury consumers report that the source of their greatest personal satisfaction and happiness comes from experiences, as opposed to luxury goods. This is great news for the travel industry, which is built upon providing memorable luxurious experiences to guests. These important findings come from Luxury Consumers and Their Luxury Travel Plans 2012, a new trend report by Unity Marketing, based upon a recent survey among 1,498 luxury consumers (average income $279,100. Over 40 percent of the affluents surveyed expect to spend more on luxury travel than they did last year. >> Even more good news: Some 12 percent of affluents expect to spend significantly more in 2012 than they did in 2011. "Clearly, the affluent consumer is poised to spend more in the coming year, and this spending will be directed at those experiences that will give them the most pleasure," says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Putting the Luxe Back in Luxury (Paramount Market Publishing, 2011). "However, it is not enough for marketers in the luxury travel space to simply target the affluent. They need to understand who is most likely to travel in the coming year, when these consumers make their travel plans, where they want to travel, and the features they crave." New Report Highlights Desires of the Affluent Traveler In this most recent report, Unity focused on: Demographics of the luxury traveler, including which demographic segments are going to travel more in 2012. Where luxury consumers plan to travel. How far in advance of a trip they make their travel plans, so that marketers can identify the ideal time to promote luxury travel experiences to wealthy clientele. The type of luxury experiences included in their travel plans, such as cruises, inclusive and non-inclusive resort stays, adventure travel, private jet travel, and so on. Type of experiences luxury consumer seek out as most important when planning a travel experience, including relaxation, sightseeing, family-connecting experiences, fine dining, historical, romantic experiences and others. These insights helps marketers position their travel experiences to the specific needs and desires of wealthy travelers. What influences the wealthy traveler in making their plans; for example, how important it is for luxury travelers to select a destination that is new to them and the importance of being offered discounts and special rewards. These insights help marketers put together travel offers that hit wealthy travelers 'hot buttons' and encourage them to buy. Luxury travelers were asked about their use of travel agents to plan their trip and use of reward points or airline miles for their travels, to help marketers understand the role these play in the wealthy travelers' plans. Finally the results of the 2011 luxury tracking study's travel questions are reported. These include luxury consumers' favorite hotel brands, total travel spending through third quarter 2011, and luxury consumers' attitudes about travel. Results of affluent consumers planning to travel in the New Year are compared to data from those who traveled in the past to see how planned behavior differs from actual travel plans and how affluent travel behavior is changing over time. "Our newest report introduces luxury travel marketers to their best customer and describes what they desire and what marketing messages will resonate most," Danziger says. "This is the intelligence that marketers need to make travel in 2012 a memorable experience for all."

Additional Information

Study Objectives

In each wave of Unity Marketing’s Luxury Tracking study is fielded, special topics of interest to luxury marketers are researched in more depth and published in a separate trend report. This third quarter 2011 luxury consumers and their luxury travels and adventures were studied.

In the latest luxury tracking survey, luxury consumers were asked about their plans for upcoming travel experiences (n=747). For those who have no firm plans for upcoming travel experiences (n=751), another series of questions about their most recent travel experiences were asked. This gives us the ability to compare and contrast how luxury consumers travel plans differ from their actual travel experiences. Further it points to trends and shifts in how luxury consumers may travel in the future, as compared with the past.

Questions included in this special investigation focused on:

• Where luxury consumers travel.
• How far in advance of a trip they make their travel plans, so that marketers can identify the ideal time to promote luxury travel experiences to wealthy clientele.
• The type of luxury experiences included in their travel plans, such as cruises, inclusive and non-inclusive resort stays, adventure travel, private jet travel, and so on.
• Type of experiences luxury consumer seek out as most important when planning a travel experience, including relaxation, sightseeing, family-connecting experiences, fine dining, historical, romantic experiences and others. These insights helps marketers position their travel experiences to the specific needs and desires of wealthy travelers.
• We asked about what influences the wealthy traveler in making their plans, for example how important it is for luxury travelers to select a destination that is new to them and the importance of being offered discounts and special rewards. These insights help marketers put together travel offers that hit wealthy travelers 'hot buttons' and encourage them to buy.
• Finally luxury travelers were asked about their use of travel agents to plan their trip and use of reward points or airline miles for their travels, to help marketers understand the role these play in the wealthy travelers' plans.

A similar survey on luxury consumers’ travels was conducted in third quarter 2009. This allows us to track trends in luxury travel experiences over the past two years.