Outline
- Introduction
- What Other People Say About Luxury Travel?
- Characteristics of Luxury Travel
- The Defining Model of Luxury Travel
- Summary
- Conclusion
Introduction
Luxury travel is fast becoming popular among all classes of people more than it was several years ago. This is a well-researched attempt and presentation of a defining model of luxury travel as a timeless guide to luxury travellers and lovers alike.
With billions of people engaging in various travel activities across the world throughout the year, what exactly characterizes luxury travel and what makes this travel style different from the others?
In this post, I presented a model which attempted to define luxury travel based on five (5) core characteristics of genuine and authentic luxury travel.
But before I get into it, let’s briefly review what other people have said about luxury travel.
What Other People Say About Luxury Travel?
Since luxury, luxury travel or experiences are practical realities, only a few authors give candid attention to theoretical examination or background review of the topic.
Most notable among the several attempts to define luxury travel are that of EHL Hospitality Insights and Carmen Caballero of Exotic Traveller.
EHL Insights in its post The 5 C’s: A new definition of luxury travel defines luxury travel in terms of Culture, Cuisine, Community, Content and Customization.
And Carmen Caballero focuses her definition of ‘luxury travel’ and ‘luxury travellers’ mainly on personalization and exclusivity. [Source]
Other interesting resources aiming to propound a definition of luxury travel include that of Katrina Holden (Luxury Travel Mag – Simply the best: the new definition of luxury travel); Vedran Trsic (LinkedIn Pulse – Luxury Travel Definition); and Julie of thisisluxurytravel.com (How would you define luxury travel?).
Julie attempted to define luxury travel as involving pampered travel, privacy and exclusivity, and adventure and remoteness. [Source]
Characteristics of Luxury Travel
There is no one-size-fits-all definition for luxury travel as this class of travel lifestyle varies from person to person and from place to place.
After a careful review of a good number of materials on this topic, I realised that there is no singular holistic definition of luxury travel.
However, there is a common theme to every luxury travel and the interests of luxury travellers are similar though not exactly the same.
Perfect luxury travel is characterised majorly by five (5) principal and intrinsic variables.
These characteristic variables cumulated in what I called the “defining model of luxury travel”. And, they include;
- Culture
- Nature
- Hospitality
- Elegance, Exclusivity, Class, and
- Quality and Authenticity
Culture
Every luxury traveller wants to experience a destination with a distinct identifiable human culture.
This gives genuine human substance to their experience irrespective of how much they are paying or the extent of luxury services received.
A luxury destination must be relatable from a human cultural perspective.
For example, Dubai is one of the poshest destinations on Earth today. However, a luxury traveller does not just want to revel in Dubai based on only its physical attractions and access to the grandest and most exclusive facilities.
A genuine luxury traveller to a city like Dubai must also be able to relate to and experience the human cultural aspect of Dubai e.g. taste some authentic Arab foods and cuisines, experience a camel race, visit the Dubai desert, shop for local souvenirs or gold in one of the city’s souks and even try out some Arabic (Emirati) traditional wears.
The cultural aspect of luxury travel essentially connects you to the human essence of the destination.
Nature
Since most luxury travel is centred around comfort, convenience and optimum satisfaction, a luxury traveller always wants to be in a unique, conducive and safe natural environment.
No matter how rich you are or how adventurous you may be, you definitely don’t want to go to a war zone or a destination experiencing a natural disaster, prone to crimes and violence or generally unsafe in the name of “luxury”. That’s really insanity!
Clean, pristine and exclusive beaches, lush forests, perfect weather, scenic landscapes, exotic faunas, tranquil waters, peaceful and relatively quiet environment are some of the integral natural factors that makes-up a perfect luxury escape.
Hospitality
Hospitality is perhaps one of the most extrinsic aspects of luxury travel.
From the foods (restaurants) to accommodation (hotels and resorts), recreation and entertainment, a luxury traveller wants to experience the best of hospitality available in any particular destination.
And, the quality of the hospitality of a destination is essentially one of the critical factors that determine the state of luxury of such a destination.
Generally, most world-class luxury destinations are composed of 5-star hotels/resorts as well as Michelin Star restaurants or Chefs. And in cases where rated hospitality facilities are not available, most luxury travel destinations of such provides the highest-quality hospitality services possible.
Elegance, Exclusivity and Class
Why would anyone want to buy their own private jet or yacht instead of flying/sailing with a commercial airline or cruise line? Or why do you want to go to a private island, shop at an ultra-expensive mall, or commute intra-city on a chopper?
The answer to this is that most luxury travellers want to have the best experience that is exclusive to them and that portrays class or elegance.
It is this elegance, exclusivity and class characteristic of luxury travel that largely separates it from mainstream travel endeavours.
All luxury travellers always want to feel special in a graceful manner and exclusively attended to, to the thinnest detail without any infringement on their privacy.
I will say: “If it’s not exclusive, classy or elegant then it’s not likely called ‘luxury’!”
Quality and Authenticity
An ideal and perfect luxury travel, escape or experience is achieved when the quality of products/services and satisfaction derived matches the price. This is my all-time formula for separating a true and authentic luxury experience from mere prodigality.
A true luxury traveller wants to have the highest possible quality of services from food to accommodation (hotels and resorts), transportation, recreation and entertainment, shopping, tours (most preferred exclusive personalized tours) and other miscellaneous services (e.g. a consigliere).
And related to the quality of products and services is originality, genuineness or authenticity of the travel experience.
If you pay a premium for a phoney travel experience that is essentially a “fraud”! However, if you pay a premium for an authentic natural travel experience then, that is luxury!!
Quality and authenticity usually go hand-in-hand.
As a very basic and simplified example, if you are being served an Italian wine, then it must be a wine from Italy. And if you are shopping for French clothing, then your shopping cart must be filled with products from France. No genuine luxury traveller would want to eat an Indonesian noodle made in India or wear a Rolex that is not from Switzerland.
Quality speaks of the material of products or components of the services while authenticity has to do with original source (origin) of products or services.
The Defining Model of Luxury Travel
A perfect luxury travel should involve a holistic travel experience that features at least three (3) of the five (5) characteristics of luxury travel discussed above at any particular time and, without sacrificing Quality and Authenticity for any of the other variables.
The apex of luxury travel is to explore a destination and achieve an overall experience that includes ALL the five (5) variables irrespective of price.
Therefore, a diagrammatic representation of the five (5) characteristics of luxury travel resulted in what I have called “The Defining Model of Luxury Travel”.
This model is shown below:
Summary
In this post, I presented a (defining) model of luxury travel. The model is developed from five (5) primary characteristics of luxury travel which are:
1. Culture
2. Nature
3. Hospitality
4. Elegance, Exclusivity, Class, and
5. Quality and Authenticity
An experiential combination of these characteristics is what makes a luxury travel or experience luxurious.
Conclusion
The actual definition of luxury travel or luxury experience varies from person to person and from place to place.
However, from my review of several resources on the topic, I came up with the five (5) primary characteristics of luxury travel hence the defining model.
As a luxury traveller, you definitely want to be where human culture exists and even if you desire an opulent vacation on a private island, you will still want to ensure that you are not more than a few minutes away from inhabited territories.
True luxury travel is not an act of seclusion from people but a desire to be in an all-around comfortable destination without disturbances or distractions.
From appreciating the cultural essence of a destination to experiencing the best of hospitality and an elegant, exclusive, classy lifestyle in a perfectly safe and lush natural environment without any compromise of quality and authenticity; this post presents core characteristics and a model that defines the hallmark of luxury travel.
Quote:
Luxury travel is more than just an experience, it is essentially a lifestyle.
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