I’m presently attending TBEX Europe 2023 (a convention for journey bloggers and content material creators) in Kalamata, Greece, and have simply been on the Luxurious Tourism Panel speaking about ‘Attracting the posh traveller’, an occasion chaired by Anton Diaz with fellow panellists Shouq AlShirazi and Christos Balogiannis. For reference for anybody attending (and certainly anybody who wasn’t there however is !), the next weblog publish covers a few of the matters we mentioned, and a few of the solutions I gave (and perhaps even raises some factors that I didn’t get to make in our 50-minute panel!).
How do you attain luxurious travellers?
Earlier than answering this query, we have to recognise there are a lot of various kinds of luxurious traveller and it’s not essentially a ‘one measurement suits all’ reply to the query. There are various totally different sides to luxurious journey. It’s subsequently necessary to know who your target market is, what they’re taken with, and what motivates them to journey.
However with that stated, in fact, there’s the mainstream conventional media – the nationwide press and luxurious journey print magazines: Conde Nast Traveller, Journey + Leisure, and so forth, in addition to different area of interest print publications (eg. Yachting, Golf Journal) or extra excessive finish publications that you just may not encounter a lot (eg. Elite Traveler which is typically obtainable on personal jets).
While print protection is nice, it received’t come as a shock to those who I favour on-line advertising and marketing, and most print publications these days embrace on-line media additionally. I believe you possibly can higher tailor your attain on-line, and get significantly better trackable worth. Your personal web site ought to be your first port of name with regards to reaching luxurious travellers however you possibly can solid the web wider via the assorted social media channels. I personally favour Fb and Twitter for my readers, however something that’s visible (and helps with that preliminary eye-catching ‘hook’) and reaches your goal market ought to serve you nicely should you make investments time in your viewers.
If your individual web site or social channels should not that nicely established, or if you wish to look past the attain of your individual viewers, then collaborations with area of interest influencers whose focus in on excessive finish journey (and whose viewers consists of luxurious travellers) will be useful and allow you to increase your attain to new potential clients.
Utilizing paid promoting channels, corresponding to Google AdWords, to focus on luxurious vacationers who’re looking for high-end experiences will be rewarding. The entire sale worth of a luxurious vacation is invariably excessive so it’s price experimenting on this space to seek out out what works for you.
Attending luxurious journey occasions also needs to not be neglected. There are various of them and, while they aren’t often geared in the direction of customers, they however present an excellent alternative to community throughout the trade and construct long-lasting relationships, study new issues and maintain up to the mark with adjustments within the trade.
Final however under no circumstances least, phrase of mouth – presumably essentially the most highly effective advertising and marketing instrument now we have at our disposal – shouldn’t be under-estimated. Luxurious travellers will typically depend on suggestions from family and friends, in addition to utilise on-line opinions to make journey selections, so it’s crucial within the luxurious journey trade to surpass all expectations as a way to make sure you generate the proper outcomes. Encouraging glad shoppers to share their constructive experiences and testimonials on-line is sonething you too can do, nevertheless it must be executed with sensitivity.
What kind of media content material most appeals to luxurious travellers?
I might say it relies upon at what stage of the reserving journey they’re taken with. If they’re simply searching for inspiration, then the outdated adage of ‘an image says a thousand phrases’ is one which springs to thoughts. And I’ve even heard individuals declare that if an image says a thousand phrases, then a video says a million (based mostly, I believe, on a one minute video shot at 30 frames per second which, in principle, would imply 1.8 million phrases, if one image is one thousand!). However you get the purpose… visible content material is essential to inspiring individuals. And with luxurious journey, the standard of this visible content material is absolutely, actually necessary. That little snapshot or taster that you just give individuals wants to offer an air of exclusivity if you need it to enchantment to luxurious travellers.
However while top quality images and brief movies are necessary for that preliminary ‘kerb enchantment’ to seize the eye of luxurious travellers, I might argue that longer kind content material (eg. articles, weblog posts, longer movies and so forth) is a crucial step in the direction of changing that preliminary curiosity right into a reserving.
Luxurious travellers will invariably need extra element after you have whet their urge for food for a visit. This longer kind content material will be in a storytelling kind or a extra informational model, and it ought to be borne in thoughts that what appeals will once more differ from one luxurious traveller to a different. Some could be taken with wellbeing and spas, others in tradition, others in buying, and so forth. Within the case of A Luxurious Journey Weblog, lodging (not simply inns, but additionally excessive finish unique use properties), locations and meals all characteristic very strongly.
What do luxurious travellers search for in a vacation spot?
Luxurious vacationers are searching for distinctive, unique and personalised journey experiences, however once more there will be variations from one luxurious traveller to a different. Take someplace like Marbella in Andalusia, for example – it’s a spot the place celebrities and luxurious travellers not solely search exclusivity, however additionally they prefer to be seen. It’s a type of locations the place picture is all the things and the place some – significantly celebrities – will typically wish to indulge within the glamour and extravagance of all of it, completely satisfied to be seen within the metropolis’s key places. Distinction that with close by Sotogrande which is equally unique, if no more so, however the place privateness is paramount, and folks don’t wish to be seen. These are two very unique locations which are very shut to 1 one other, that each enchantment to luxurious travellers, however every to a really totally different kind of excessive finish traveller.
Equally, the likes and dislikes of luxurious travellers will differ in different facets. While some would possibly crave a busy and vibrant metropolis expertise, others would possibly go for one thing that’s extra off the overwhelmed path, maybe a vacation spot wealthy in pure scenic magnificence that enables them to attach with nature and benefit from the outside.
Some issues that luxurious travellers search will probably be frequent to all, nevertheless – issues like luxurious lodging and facilities, excessive finish gastronomy, security and safety, and – maybe most of all – impeccable service.
What do luxurious travellers wish to keep away from?
It goes with out saying that luxurious travellers will wish to keep away from poor service and high quality. They wish to keep away from something that falls in need of their expectations, corresponding to below-par lodging, meals or service. In addition they wish to keep away from pointless inconvenience and trouble. Lengthy queues, delays and poor service should not the area of the posh traveller. Luxurious travellers will invariably be completely satisfied to pay a premium to make sure a greater general expertise.
In brief, luxurious travellers will wish to keep away from what everybody else is doing. Meaning they have an inclination to keep away from crowds and mass tourism, in favour of a extra tailor-made and personalised expertise. In addition they are likely to keep away from locations that could be thought-about unsafe, whether or not that be because of political instability, excessive crime charges or another purpose.
And while luxurious travellers typically don’t thoughts paying extra for a greater expertise, most are savvy sufficient to understand when they’re being unreasonably overcharged. The savvy luxurious traveller nonetheless needs to keep away from unreasonable prices and expects transparency and worth for his or her cash.
What has been the simplest content material you’ve got seen to draw luxurious travellers?
I believe it’s necessary to emphasize that step one in attracting luxurious travellers is to get your product proper. Whether or not you’re a luxurious resort, a luxurious tour operator, a personal jet dealer or a luxurious yacht constitution firm, crucial factor you are able to do is try to realize the very best potential requirements and ranges of service. For those who get this proper, then all the things else tends to fall into place way more simply. With the proper product, all of the arduous work is completed for you – the constructive opinions are likely to observe as long as requirements are maintained.
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I do know this from first-hand expertise – we personal a separate small enterprise that specialises in trip rental lodging the place we stay. In the intervening time, it is only one luxurious riverside condominium, however we don’t take what we provide with no consideration. We’re at all times striving to supply our company the absolute best expertise. Evaluations are necessary to us – we’re presently 5/5 on each Airbnb and Tripadvisor, and 9.8 out of 10 on Reserving (OK, in order that imperfection niggles a little bit!), however we by no means take this with no consideration. This 12 months we re-furbished the property to make sure we proceed to supply the very best requirements – I consider you possibly can by no means be complacent about your product and should at all times try for the easiest to fulfill the posh traveller.
Distinction this with a excessive finish restaurant on the Cote d’Azur that I used to be just lately requested to assessment. While it had lots of 5-star opinions, it additionally had lots of 1-star opinions and, after I delved deeper, frequent issues appeared to be one or two overly-aggressive workers, an inconsistent and poorly-communicated gown code (leading to individuals being turned away on the door) and diners not being given adequate time to get pleasure from their meals, with the restaurant hurrying company up as a way to attempt to squeeze in a further sitting. While some facets of the product on this occasion are clearly glorious, it was evident that there are nonetheless a number of areas that require enchancment.
With the product proper, the duty actually turns into one in every of consciousness constructing. I don’t assume it is advisable to go for the ‘arduous promote’ method with regards to luxurious journey. Smooth promoting, via slowly constructing and producing consciousness, is all that’s required in case your product is a strong one which stands up for itself. Casting the web additional and gaining extra publicity to a wider viewers, with none arduous promote techniques, will probably be rewarded with extra gross sales, significantly as soon as on-line opinions and word-of-mouth gathers tempo.
An outdated however nice instance of efficient content material that labored nicely when it comes to interesting to luxurious travellers was Tourism Queenland’s ‘The Finest Job within the World’ marketing campaign. Extremely, it was stated to generate 46,000 mainstream media tales, 230,000 mentions in blogs and vlogs, and even resulted in a BBC documentary, all of the whereas inspiring thousands and thousands of individuals to fall in love with Hamilton Island, a vacation spot which has since attracted A-listers corresponding to Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift and Leonardo DiCaprio.
What do you do in another way to draw luxurious travellers?
One of many issues that we do on A Luxurious Journey Weblog that could be a little totally different is that we permit particular person luxurious journey companies to have their very own house on the positioning, which they will use to share editorial content material as a method of producing consciousness for their very own providers. They don’t these accounts to instantly promote, however reasonably to encourage would-be travellers and acquire a following within the course of.
An incredible instance of that is the account for Calvin Cottar, the Proprietor of Cottar’s Twenties Safaris; Calvin makes use of A Luxurious Journey Weblog as a automobile to commonly share content material about safaris in Africa, significantly Kenya the place he has his personal camp. He has written items on taking youngsters on a household safari to Kenya, packing suggestions on your first African safari and the place and when to witness the Nice Wildebeest Migration, to offer only a few examples.
One other instance is the account for Sandra Roig, Advertising Supervisor for AB House Barcelona, a rental company providing greater than a thousand properties throughout the town, some very luxurious. Slightly that simply writing about rental properties (not so thrilling), Sandra supplies genuinely helpful content material for guests to the town, masking all the things from the most effective locations to have brunch, the place to hire luxurious vehicles, and the most effective Michelin-starred eating places in Barcelona. She has written a couple of hundred articles about Barcelona for A Luxurious Journey Weblog, and little doubt loved the success of many bookings just by offering intensive and helpful journey recommendation.
