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 put up covers among the matters we mentioned, and among 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 various various kinds of luxurious traveller and it’s not essentially a ‘one dimension matches all’ reply to the query. There are numerous totally different aspects to luxurious journey. It’s subsequently vital to know who your audience is, what they’re all in favour of, 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 simply may not encounter a lot (eg. Elite Traveler which is typically out there on non-public jets).
While print protection is nice, it gained’t come as a shock to people who I favour on-line advertising, and most print publications these days embrace on-line media additionally. I believe you’ll be able to higher tailor your attain on-line, and get significantly better trackable worth. Your individual web site needs to be your first port of name on the subject of reaching luxurious travellers however you’ll be able to forged the online wider by 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 properly if you happen to make investments time in your viewers.
If your personal web site or social channels should not that properly established, or if you wish to look past the attain of your personal viewers, then collaborations with area of interest influencers whose focus in on excessive finish journey (and whose viewers consists of luxurious travellers) may be helpful and allow you to increase your attain to new potential prospects.
Utilizing paid promoting channels, comparable to Google AdWords, to focus on luxurious vacationers who’re trying to find high-end experiences may be rewarding. The full sale worth of a luxurious vacation is invariably excessive so it’s price experimenting on this space to search out out what works for you.
Attending luxury travel events also needs to not be neglected. There are numerous of them and, while they don’t seem to be often geared in the direction of shoppers, they nonetheless present a fantastic 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 not at all least, phrase of mouth – presumably probably the most highly effective advertising device we have now 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 evaluations to make journey choices, so it’s crucial within the luxurious journey trade to surpass all expectations in an effort to make sure you generate the proper outcomes. Encouraging glad shoppers to share their optimistic experiences and testimonials on-line is sonething it’s also possible to do, nevertheless it must be achieved 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 all in favour of. If they’re simply in search of inspiration, then the previous 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 (primarily based, I believe, on a one minute video shot at 30 frames per second which, in concept, would imply 1.8 million phrases, if one image is one thousand!). However you get the purpose… visible content material is vital to inspiring individuals. And with luxurious journey, the standard of this visible content material is de facto, actually vital. That little snapshot or taster that you simply give individuals wants to provide an air of exclusivity if you would like it to enchantment to luxurious travellers.
However while top quality photographs and quick movies are vital 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 getting whet their urge for food for a visit. This longer kind content material may be in a storytelling kind or a extra informational type, and it needs to be borne in thoughts that what appeals will once more range from one luxurious traveller to a different. Some may be all in favour of wellbeing and spas, others in tradition, others in buying, and so forth. Within the case of A Luxury Travel Blog, lodging (not simply resorts, but in addition 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 in search of distinctive, unique and personalised journey experiences, however once more there may be variations from one luxurious traveller to a different. Take someplace like Marbella in Andalusia, as an 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 kind of locations the place picture is every part and the place some – significantly celebrities – will typically need to indulge within the glamour and extravagance of all of it, joyful 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 other people don’t need to be seen. These are two very unique locations which are very shut to at least one 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 range in different elements. While some may crave a busy and vibrant metropolis expertise, others may go for one thing that’s extra off the crushed path, maybe a vacation spot wealthy in pure scenic magnificence that permits them to attach with nature and benefit from the open air.
Some issues that luxurious travellers search shall 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 need to keep away from?
It goes with out saying that luxurious travellers will need to keep away from poor service and high quality. They need to keep away from something that falls wanting their expectations, comparable to below-par lodging, meals or service. Additionally they need 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 joyful to pay a premium to make sure a greater total expertise.
Briefly, luxurious travellers will need to keep away from what everybody else is doing. Which means they have an inclination to keep away from crowds and mass tourism, in favour of a extra tailor-made and personalised expertise. Additionally they are likely to keep away from locations that may be thought of unsafe, whether or not that be because of political instability, excessive crime charges or another motive.
And while luxurious travellers usually don’t thoughts paying extra for a greater expertise, most are savvy sufficient to grasp when they’re being unreasonably overcharged. The savvy luxurious traveller nonetheless desires to keep away from unreasonable prices and expects transparency and worth for his or her cash.
What has been the best content material you’ve gotten seen to draw luxurious travellers?
I believe it’s vital to emphasize that step one in attracting luxurious travellers is to get your product proper. Whether or not you’re a luxury hotel, a luxurious tour operator, a private jet dealer or a luxury yacht charter firm, a very powerful factor you are able to do is attempt to realize the best attainable requirements and ranges of service. In the event you get this proper, then every part else tends to fall into place far more simply. With the proper product, all of the arduous work is completed for you – the optimistic evaluations are likely to observe as long as requirements are maintained.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
In case you are studying this text wherever apart from on A Luxurious Journey Weblog, then the probabilities are that this content material has been stolen with out permission.
Please make a remark of the net tackle above and contact A Luxury Travel Blog to advise them of this concern.
Thanks on your assist in combatting content material theft.
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 mean time, it is only one luxury riverside apartment, however we don’t take what we provide without any consideration. We’re at all times striving to supply our friends the absolute best expertise. Opinions are vital 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 without any consideration. This 12 months we re-furbished the property to make sure we proceed to supply the best requirements – I imagine you’ll be able to by no means be complacent about your product and should at all times attempt 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 a whole lot of 5-star evaluations, it additionally had a whole lot of 1-star evaluations and, once I delved deeper, frequent issues gave the impression to be one or two overly-aggressive workers, an inconsistent and poorly-communicated costume code (leading to individuals being turned away on the door) and diners not being given ample time to take pleasure in their meals, with the restaurant hurrying friends up in an effort to attempt to squeeze in an extra sitting. While some elements 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 considered one of consciousness constructing. I don’t suppose you have to go for the ‘arduous promote’ strategy on the subject of luxurious journey. Delicate promoting, by slowly constructing and producing consciousness, is all that’s required in case your product is a sturdy one which stands up for itself. Casting the online additional and gaining extra publicity to a wider viewers, with none arduous promote techniques, shall be rewarded with extra gross sales, significantly as soon as on-line evaluations and word-of-mouth gathers tempo.
An previous however nice instance of efficient content material that labored properly 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 comparable to Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift and Leonardo DiCaprio.
What do you do otherwise 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 way of producing consciousness for their very own companies. They don’t these accounts to instantly promote, however moderately to encourage would-be travellers and achieve a following within the course of.
An ideal instance of that is the account for Calvin Cottar, the Proprietor of Cottar’s Nineteen Twenties Safaris; Calvin makes use of A Luxurious Journey Weblog as a car to commonly share content material about safaris in Africa, significantly Kenya the place he has his personal camp. He has written items on taking children on a family safari to Kenya, packing tips for your first African safari and where and when to witness the Great Wildebeest Migration, to provide just some examples.
One other instance is the account for Sandra Roig, Advertising Supervisor for AB Residence Barcelona, a rental company providing greater than a thousand properties throughout the town, some very luxurious. Fairly that simply writing about rental properties (not so thrilling), Sandra gives genuinely helpful content material for guests to the town, overlaying every part from the best places to have brunch, where to rent luxury cars, and the best Michelin-starred restaurants in Barcelona. She has written a couple of hundred articles about Barcelona for A Luxurious Journey Weblog, and little question loved the success of many bookings just by offering intensive and helpful journey recommendation.
