Five key insights into the modern luxury travel consumer, according to a new survey by Small Luxury Hotels of the World ™, completed by over 13,000 clients.
CONSUMERS
What Travelers Want From Small Luxury Hotels
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Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
Five key insights into the modern luxury travel consumer, according to a new survey by Small Luxury Hotels of the World ™, completed by over 13,000 clients.
Baros, Maldives
What does the modern luxury traveller want? They want iPhone charging stations in their rooms, which they will stay in with their pets. And they are happy to make their own coffee – as long as it’s Nespresso.
A new survey by Small Luxury Hotels of the World ™ (SLH) completed by over 13,000 SLH customers worldwide reveals new trends within the luxury market. Italy has been identified as the most luxurious holiday destination, Chanel as the most popular luxury brand and free Wi-Fi was favoured over free breakfast in the majority of core markets.
“Today’s in-room Nespresso machine will possibly be tomorrow’s trouser press,” believes Paul Kerr, CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World “t Luxury demands are always changing and we are in a perfect position to respond to the demands of our customers worldwide. This annual survey offers valuable insight into the varying demands in markets across the world.”
“ They are happy to make their own coffee – as long as it’s Nespresso ”
Favoured Destinations
When asked to specify their favourite luxury holiday destination, Italy and destinations within Italy reigned overall chosen by 13% of all respondents. France and destinations within France followed, representing 11.1%, with the Maldives taking third place, selected by 8%.
Australia, Latin America and the USA all opted for Paris as their favourite luxury holiday destination making it the stand-out ‘luxury’ city whereas China, Germany and the UK preferred the Maldives as their number one holiday destination.
Nespresso Machine at Internacional Design Hotel,Lisbon
In-Room Necessities
When picking their favourite in-room accessory, the majority of respondents (58%) opted for a Nespresso/ coffee machine, followed by an I-pod docking system (22.8%). In the minibar, the favourite brand overall was Coca-Cola which featured heavily across most core markets with the exception of the UK, Russia and Australia.
UK respondents opted for Bombay Sapphire as their favourite mini bar brand, Russian respondents for Evian whilst the Australians opted for Moët & Chandon.
Looking at the consumption of mini bar products, wine, beer and champagne were the top choice across all markets (33.5%) with the exception of Germany. The largest percentage of German respondents (38.7%) opted for soft drinks over spirits, snacks, and wine, beer and champagne.
“ Most markets opted for a Michelin star restaurant over a roof top bar ”
Service Desires
When picking one hotel attribute over another, most markets opted for a Michelin star restaurant over a roof top bar (51.5% vs 48.5%) with the exception of Germany and Russia (with 66.9% and 60% respectively opting for a roof top bar).
Across all markets, a knowledgeable hotel guide (or concierge) was selected over in-room destination guides (71.3% vs 28.7%) and adult-only hotels were preferred over child friendly hotels (77.4% vs 22.6%).
When booking a hotel, the majority of respondents preferred free Wi-fi access over complimentary breakfast (53.1% vs 46.9%) with the exception of the UK and German respondents who preferred free breakfast over free Wi-fi (55.4% and 58.4% respectively).
When picking a luxury hotel, the most important characteristic was ‘character/charm’ selected by 59.6% of all respondents, followed by ‘five star facilities’ (28%). Respondents from Mainland China and Hong Kong however opted for ‘personal experiences’ as their second most important attribute whilst Russian and German respondents chose ‘privacy/intimacy.
Michelin-star chef Jordi Cruz
Feline Friends
Finally when looking at luxury travel with pets, 7.3% of those surveyed said that they would travel with their pet whenever possible. 15.1 % said that they would be willing to pay extra for their pets to be pampered, with the top pet pampering items identified by respondents included luxury bedding and food (14.1% vs 11.2%) and pet grooming (7.9%).
When asked what luxuries their pet might enjoy at a luxury hotel, the responses were varied with one Chinese dog lover suggesting ‘pata negra ham and caviar’.
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) is a brand of luxury, independent hotels offering an infinite variety of memorable experiences. Carefully selected for their style and sophistication, Small Luxury Hotels of the World™ has more than 520 hotels in over 70 countries.
Creative Strategist, Digital
Sophie Doran is currently Senior Creative Strategist, Digital at Karla Otto. Prior to this role, she was the Paris-based editor-in-chief of Luxury Society. Prior to joining Luxury Society, Sophie completed her MBA in Melbourne, Australia, with a focus on luxury brand dynamics and leadership, whilst simultaneously working in management roles for several luxury retailers.
