Cathy Feliciano-Chon is the Founder & Managing Director of Hong Kong’s award-winning brand & marketing agency, CatchOn. No one is more in tune with the Asian luxury traveller, so we asked her, just who is driving luxury travel growth in the region?   

There’s never been a better time to grow old in Asia. With the combined factors of longer life expectancy and having the means to pursue wellness at a younger age, Asians who are approaching mid-life are recontextualizing aging as aspirational.

They’re not postponing living well after retirement, but are embracing a life-well-lived mindset in their ‘40s because they can afford it.

These Affluent New Agers are younger and changing the notion of age from a chronological construct to biological and mental mindset – “65 is the new 45.” They want to achieve and maintain quality of not only life but also lifestyle.

Instagram or WeChat addicts, pursuing wellness for self-care and health improvement, these New Agers are travel experts that live very differently from previous generations and consider ‘middle age’ as the prime of their lives. It’s the period when they have the resources and time to take on new adventures and explore the world. They’re willing to spend on travel and wellness with the goal of indulging in bucket-list activities while they can. That’s not to say that they are not value conscious. When pursuing luxury travel, these Affluent New Agers are more demanding in ensuring they get the very best for their money, from accommodations to exclusivity of experiences.

Several luxury tour operators agree. At Lightfoot Travel, New Agers are spending upwards of US$200,000 per trip and there’s been an increase year on year of 20% in these bucket list activities. A typical itinerary? Hop on a helicopter and fly around Everest before enjoying breakfast at 14,000 ft. Walk up an appetite by hiking to see gorillas in Rwanda. Affluent New Agers’ idea of wellness isn’t just spa treatments but physical activity such as hiking and trekking. So much so, that Scott Dunn have designed a number of ‘Gourmet Hiking” tours to destinations such as Slovenia, the Spanish Pyrenees, Provence and the Kumano Kodo Trail in Japan.

“We see a lot of enquiries where the emphasis of ‘adventure’ is on the destination itself, such as Central Asia, Bhutan or Israel,” says Theng Hwee Chang, CEO of Scott Dunn Asia, where 70% of their Asian market comprises silver set travellers.

LGBTQ+ Affluent New Agers are also an area of enormous potential. Acceptance for LGBTQ+ travellers have been growing in Asia with recent changes in legislation in India, Australia, Thailand and Taiwan. Affluent New Agers are less likely to have children and therefore have a higher disposable income to pursue luxury travel. The Tourism Authority of Thailand launched #GoThaiBeFree in Jan 2019 to target these travellers. Why? Tourism revenue from the LGBTQ+ community contributes 1.15% to Thailand’s economy, the highest in the countries or regions surveyed by LGBT Capital, followed closely by Hong Kong at 1.11%.

Want to know more? Discover the top 10 “bucket list” destinations for these New Agers (and more!) by downloading Asia: The Future of  Global Wellness Tourism.

We spent 2018 filling our therapeutic colouring books, counting calories with the ketogenic diet and wearing our Fitbits around the world, but what are the key wellness trends for the year ahead and which hospitality brands are on top form?

When the Romans marched through the town of Spa in Belgium they named it Aquae Spadanae and the art of “balneotherapy” – the method of benefiting the body through bathing – was soon exported across the ancient empire. They certainly weren’t the first to enjoy hot springs but did a fine job in monetising a spa concept that still exists centuries later. Yet so much has changed. The global wellness industry is reportedly worth around US$4.2 trillion, according to The Global Wellness Institute, with tourism contributing to approximately $639 billion of that total.

1. Making sense of it

One of the leading innovators in the industry is the aptly named Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, which launched its sextuplet of Spa Sensory Suites in Downtown Dubai this summer, providing a lavish range of all-encompassing therapies within a five-star hotel. “In Six Senses, we are not just limited to personalised spa journeys for our guests,” explains Rosalin Lau, Director of Spa and Wellness at Six Senses Spa Dubai. “We provide complete spa sensory experiences after spa treatments and offer high-touch, high-tech spa and wellness therapies with each sense of the six senses, which we reflect in our six treatment suites.”

From the therapeutic healing vibroacoustic lounger in the Sound Suite to the medley of herbs, spices and essential oils in the Smell Suite, each treatment area is designed and decorated differently instead the ‘brick and mortar’ uniform set-up of a spa treatment room throughout the premises. But what is the sixth sense? The Beyond Suite is the place to set your mind at rest with guided yoga, stretching and breathing techniques. Singing bowl therapy is also offered to treat a range of ailments. “Today, affluent travellers are looking for authentic experiences, stories to tell and share their envy inducing picture images to their social circles,” she added.

2. Less is more

We’ve had the minimalism movement, the KonMari method, decluttering, and various other fads, but it all comes down to clear spaces aiding clear minds. There’s a reason that Feng Shui remains in the zeitgeist, despite dating back thousands of years. Though not many of us are likely to understand the interior design philosophy in any great detail, modern environmental psychology explains why we believe that “cleanliness is next to Godliness” and in our cluttered, consumerist culture, minimalism is heralded as a tonic for anxiety. The concept is not only ideal for spatial organization, but can minimise stress, according to Psychology Today.

3. Slumber smartly

Most of us feel inclined to perform a thorough mattress test when we stay in a five-star suite – surely the most crucial item of furniture in any hotel – but some properties go the extra mile when it comes to promoting rest. The consensus is clearer than ever that slumber is just as important to our health as what we eat and Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is at the forefront when it comes to getting a quality 40 winks, thanks to the brand’s In-Villa Slumber Guru Experience, provided at properties across the portfolio.

Taking the importance of a good night’s rest to a whole new level, the evening ritual begins with a soak in an essential oil bath surrounded by candles, easing tension with a “Deep Sleep Massage” using ylang ylang or lavender oils. Guests are then invited to unwind with a choice of tranquil music throughout the evening before plunging into fresh 1,000 thread count sheets. Other sleep therapy packages include 60-minute mindful meditation sessions, complimentary access to fitness classes & wellness facilities and more.

4. Wellness you can wear

Between the aforementioned Fitbit and smartwatch functionality, we’re already well accustomed to technology augmenting our health – and shaming us into taking the stairs. However, wearable tech is still tipped to be the top fitness trend for 2019, according to Science Daily. The return of wearables as the number one fitness trend “may be the result of manufacturers correcting some monitoring inaccuracies of the past,” according to the report’s author, Dr. Walter R. Thompson of Georgia State University, Atlanta.

The prediction is based on an annual survey of health and fitness professionals, and also notes that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) will continue to be one of the most favoured workout methods, with people handing over yet more cash to hire certified fitness professionals as personal trainers. When it comes to wearables for ladies, emerging brands like Oura and bellabeat are now producing super-high-tech items of jewellery that allow you to track sleep, body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate and more.

5. Organic interiors

We should also expect to see more emphasis on biophilic design in the coming years, patching up the disconnect between our urban lifestyles and our innate desire to connect with nature. Organic elements like large plants, wood and stone are likely to be at the fore, with room sizes decreasing to make way for larger balconies and verandas. According to a recent study, data showed that hotel guests had a 36% higher dwell rate in hotel lobbies that had biophilic elements. Taking the concept to the next level – quite literally – is the soaring Oasia Hotel Downtown in Singapore, which bucks the trend of a sealed skyscraper. The architecture allows guests to acclimate and experience the city’s tropical surroundings with internal breezeways and atria, multiple sheltered terraces, sky gardens and vertical greening – achieving an overall greenery replacement of more than 10 times the site area.

How is health and wellness going to impact your life and business this year? Find out about ILTM’s new journey for 2019.

What is your purpose in life? If you don’t quite know how to answer that question, you are not alone. But you are statistically less likely to live a happy life. Alarmed? Don’t be. The global luxury travel industry is here for you. Come closer…

As the headline speaker at the ILTM Global Forum, Dan Buettner, pointed out in Cannes, “finding your purpose” is the single most effective short cut to health and wellbeing. It therefore comes as no surprise that the quest for self-actualisation – or in other words, wellness – might just be THE mega-trend to end all mega-trends in the global luxury travel economy.

Time for a history lesson – remember a few years ago when you first heard the words “experiential travel”? Yes! We cried. That’s the word we’ve been searching for, experiential is the way! So you updated all your marketing materials and some hipsters came by the office and delivered a super cool workshop. Then, a couple of years later, you were getting a coffee at ILTM and someone started talking to you about “transformational travel”. Of course! It’s bigger than experiential, it’s transformational. Cool.

Well, guess what? As with every new idea – the iPod for example – it gradually gets streamlined until what you’re left with seems so unbelievably obvious, you simply can’t imagine how you didn’t come up with it in the first place. Welcome to wellness – the luxury travel version of the iPod.

Let me explain. For decades, we, the luxury travel industry, have been talking about the unique healing nature of travel and its other-worldly influence on the psyche, giving perspective where it had gradually worn away, and giving the ultimate luxuries of ‘time’ and ‘space’ in which to relax, reflect and refocus. Travel, we said, is the antidote to the frenetic, fast moving roller coaster of the digitised 20^th century. Travel makes us sit down and engage. It forces us to take something to a deeper level.

Fast forward and today’s travel brands exist at the very epicentre of an exciting new eco system. No other industry is better placed to capture this explosion of need. The wellness industry today is worth an estimated $4.2tn dollars, of which “wellness tourism” currently equates to $639bn. What’s more, wellness tourism is growing twice as quickly as tourism expenditure in general, that’s an annual growth of 14%!

ILTM 2018 marked the launch of ILTM’s Year of Health and Wellness, the year when yesterday’s shifts towards experiential experiences and transformative travel settle softly into a wider, more permanent focus on enhanced quality of life and optimum wellbeing. Kicking off in Cannes, ILTM launched research and gathered a community of wellness experts that all draw the same conclusion; in the future, all travel is wellness travel, every trip is expected to enhance the physical, mental and social wellbeing of the traveller, transformation is the very promise of travel, and today’s travel brands are the solution to one of the biggest problems of our age. The future travel economy is based on a lifelong, personal and emotional quest for longevity, where travel is the short cut to the end goal of wellness.

This year, through learning and experiences, we aim to provide practical advice for travel brands about how to bridge the gap between promise and delivery. To provide opportunities for travel brands to fully immerse themselves in the world our luxury consumers now inhabit, to reimagine traditional ‘spa and wellness’ offerings breaking out of venues and disjointed piecemeal treatments, and learning how to fully integrate a message of wellness into our brands. It’s time to take the first step into the future, where hotel brands not only provide a break from the pressures of modern life, but design experiences where the journey undertaken is a journey into oneself, and where travel and travel brands partner with the traveller to prevent disease, improve health, enhance quality of life and bring a person to increasingly optimum levels of wellbeing.

Join us on our journey and find your purpose in business, and more importantly, life.

It is estimated that in the UK alone, at least 4.4 billion straws are thrown away annually¹ and it has been predicted that the weight of plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish by 2050,²  if nothing is done to tackle this issue. This is just one of the reasons why many luxury hotels have committed to eliminating single-use plastics from their properties in the near future. 

EDITION Hotels have been pioneering the plastic-free movement in the hospitality industry as they’ve made it their mission to eliminate single-use plastics from all of their properties by the end of 2018.³  Leading the campaign is Vice President of Brand Experiences, Ben Pundole, who has made it his mission to find high-quality alternatives to common plastic hotel amenities. Pundole says that the plastic-free movement is no longer considered inconvenient, as it is increasingly aligned with the new definition of luxury that EDITION guests expect.⁴ 

In the second instalment of our plastic-free mini-series, we spoke to Kellee Griffith, Operations Project Specialist from EDITION Hotels, about their commitment towards the initiative.

For those unaware, what is EDITION doing to reduce the use of single-use plastics?

EDITION has banned plastic straws in all food and beverage outlets across the brand, switched from plastic water bottles to cans and glass bottles, implanted staff water fountains in the back of house and provided each employee with their own stainless steel bottle. We are looking to move to keyless entry by the end of 2018 and we are looking for a solution to bathroom amenity bottles.

Have your customers supported your commitment to reducing single-use plastics?

We are starting to see that consumers are making choices based on impact, whether it be fashion or hotels, consumers want to know that they are not creating a negative impact. The response from our guests has been incredible.

How have you ensured that quality is not compromised when sourcing single-use plastic alternatives?

The quality of our product isn’t compromised because we choose to be plastic-free. We just find creative alternatives that are just as good, if not better, and we work with the best vendors who share our passion and are committed to the campaign.

Why is reducing the amount of single-use plastics important to your brand?

The hotel and travel industry are big plastic polluters. We at EDITION are trying to do our part by removing all single-use plastics from our hotels with the aim to become an industry leader and hopefully inspire and influence other brands to do the same.

Don’t forget to look out for the rest of our plastic-free mini-series. We’ll be catching up with EDITION Hotels at ILTM Cannes this year. To meet them, join us in Cannes, 3-6 December, 2018.

Sources

1. The Death of the Plastic Straw
2. By 2050, the oceans could have more plastic than fish
3. Edition Hotels Gets Serious About Going Plastic-Free
4. A Luxury Hotel Chain is Making it Hip to Ditch Single Use Plastic

It is estimated that in the UK alone, at least 4.4 billion straws are thrown away annually¹ and it has been predicted that the weight of plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish by 2050,²  if nothing is done to tackle this issue. This is just one of the reasons why luxury hotels have committed to eliminating single-use plastics from their properties in the near future. 

In the first instalment of our plastic-free mini-series, we spoke to Megan O’Beirne, Sustainability Manager for Six Senses Laamu, about their commitment towards the initiative.

For those unaware, what are you doing to reduce your use of single-use plastics?

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas as a global company is leading the tourism industry by taking a stance against plastic: Plastic Free 2022. All properties are taking inventory of the plastics being used, sourcing alternatives, and eliminating the plastic items so that we are tackling the issue at the source, and not resting on the inadequate recycling systems currently in place worldwide. We have eliminated single-use plastic water bottles by filtering and bottling our own drinking water in reusable glass bottles.

We have banned single-use plastic bags, and switch guests’ duty free bags at the airport with paper ones. Straws are only given on request and are made from biodegradable paper. All shower amenities are provided in refillable ceramic pumps, and toothbrushes are made from bamboo instead of plastic. Cling film in the kitchens has been reduced by using stainless steel containers with lids instead. Purchase orders are made in bulk wherever possible to reduce packaging, and suppliers are requested to reduce packaging or use biodegradable paper instead of plastic.

Have your customers supported your commitment to reducing single-use plastics?

Yes, I would say 50% of guests I speak to are already aware of the Six Senses brand concept, and they booked Six Senses Laamu because they agree with our sustainability philosophy. The other 50% may have booked their stay without knowing about our ethos, but when they come to learn about why we bottle our own water, or why we ask them to take their shampoo bottles home with them, they are eager to participate and learn more about what they can do to reduce their environmental impact. A big part of the Six Senses experience is learning about how you can better your lifestyle after your stay, whether that is eating a healthier diet, getting a better night’s sleep, or adopting more environmentally-friendly habits. If a guest can see that at the resort we are trying to reduce our use of single-use plastics and understand why it is important, hopefully they will go home and analyse their own consumption and they too will eliminate single-use plastics from their own daily life.

Why is reducing the amount of single-use plastics important to your brand?

The foundations of the Six Senses brand are in sustainability and wellness. Plastic pollution is a global environmental issue, but especially in the Maldives where there are limited recycling facilities, the amount of waste that is created by single-use plastic is unsustainable and difficult to responsibly dispose of. If plastic ends up in the ocean, it never biodegrades, so just breaks down into tiny microplastics that enter the food chain and kill marine life. This relates to wellness because we don’t want to expose our guests to the toxic chemicals that build up in our seafood, or the plastic packaging with which our food comes into contact. It is important for Six Senses Laamu to reduce the use of single-use plastics as not creating the waste is a lot easier than trying to transport and recycle it from such a remote location.

How have you ensured that quality is not compromised when sourcing single-use plastic alternatives?

There are plenty of high quality and reasonable alternatives to single-use plastics, and in many ways, it is about getting back to the traditional ways of doing things. Before plastic was invented, one drank milk from glass bottles and returned them to be refilled. The concept of single-use plastic entered society with the notion of convenience and on-the-go lifestyles. The solutions to our problems of waste are often simply found in how things were done in the good ol’ days! At Six Senses Laamu, we try to source items that are either reusable and long-lasting, or if they must be short-term use, they are biodegradable. Glass water bottles with a metal clamp are both longer lasting and more elegant than plastic water bottles, so actually better achieve the luxury standard Six Senses is aiming for. Toothbrushes, however, must be disposable, so the ones provided in the villa are made of bamboo and are wrapped in corn starch packaging, which is 100% biodegradable.

Don’t forget to look out for the rest of our plastic-free mini-series. We’ll be catching up with Six Senses at ILTM Cannes this year. To meet them, join us in Cannes, 3-6 December, 2018.

Sources

1. The Death of the Plastic Straw
2. By 2050, the oceans could have more plastic than fish

Cruise travel is booming with luxury travellers increasingly choosing to spend their holiday on-board ultra-luxury cruise liners. The cruise industry has been growing y-o-y since 2007, and according to Royal Caribbean Cruises CEO Richard Fain, the ultra-luxury and expedition segments are growing at twice the rate of any other segment in the industry.¹

Growth in the cruise industry is expected to continue, with CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association, Inc.) predicting 27.2 million cruise passengers in 2018, a 5% increase from 2017.² The major drivers in the market are both seasoned cruise passengers and affluent travellers who are yet to experience an ultra-luxury cruise, however, still expect to receive the very best service. This recent increase in bookings has led to a surge in the number of ultra-luxury cruise ships being created.

Virtuoso’s 2018 Luxe Report found that seeking authentic experiences is the third highest travel motivation for luxury travellers.³ Supporting this trend, Chris Austin, SVP of Global Marketing & Sales for ultra-luxury cruise line, Seabourn, told ILTM that “today’s affluent consumer is placing an even greater emphasis on seeking truly authentic, memorable experiences whereas in years past they would spend more on luxury goods. They are seeking new, bolder places to discover that are perceived for only a few to access. They are travellers – not tourists.” Seabourn have responded to this growing demand by announcing that they will be introducing two new ultra-luxury expedition ships to their offering in 2021 and 2022; giving passengers the chance to experience a “unique combination of thrilling, immersive adventures with generous, ultra-luxury amenities.”

Seabourn’s latest additions will sail amongst some of the most remote locations, including Antarctica and Patagonia, giving travellers the chance to experience ultra-luxury in some of the farthest places on earth. Passengers will be able to experience these unique destinations by submarine, kayak and Zodiac; “just imagine cruising in a Zodiac past flocks of porpoising penguins, watching a breaching humpback whale, or paddling alongside immense blue-white icebergs,” says Chris Austin. Passengers will also have the chance to immerse themselves in unparalleled on and off-shore experiences, without compromising on any of the luxury amenities that they would expect to receive at a five star plus hotel. Including everything from Michelin-starred cuisine by Chef Thomas Keller to a hot-stone massage in Seabourn’s world-class spa; there really is something for everyone.

But what differentiates an expedition ship from a regular cruise ship? Chris tells us the first difference is its size, “since expedition ships will usually be smaller to gain greater access so guests can get up close to highly desirable scenery and wildlife in locations that just can’t be accessed by larger ships.” However, this is not to say that these ships aren’t spacious, in fact the opposite is true. As Chris notes the second most important difference is “luxury”, with Seabourn fostering “a private, club-like atmosphere that discerning luxury travellers seek, along with highly intuitive personalized service.” Personalized service is an increasingly important factor for affluent travellers, particularly within the ultra-luxury cruise market, whether this be personalized itineraries and tailor-made experiences or bespoke dining packages and personalized excursions. Seabourn offers the complete package for discerning travellers who seek ultra-luxury, unique and customised experiences.

We’ll be catching up with Seabourn and other luxury cruise lines at ILTM Cannes this year. To meet them too, join us in Cannes, 3-6 December, 2018.

Sources

1. Skift – Seabourn is building expedition ships as demand for luxury adventure grows
2. Cruise Lines International Association, Inc. – 2018 Cruise Industry Outlook
3. Virtuoso’s 2018 Luxe Report

These days, clear sustainability credentials are a must for any brand. With the definition of luxury ever-evolving and always fine-tuning, a five-star property and service is no longer enough to satisfy discerning luxury travellers. More than ever, consumers are buying from brands based on their social and environmental impact. The emergence of this consciousness has had an unprecedented impact on the luxury industry, influencing the way brands market themselves to gain consumer approval.

To understand how important this social trend is for travel brands, we reached out to a handpicked selection of emerging travel advisors. We asked them: Is there a generational difference when it comes to a traveller’s social awareness and consciousness?

For more expert views on the state of the luxury travel market, from geo-politics to generational divides, download Travel’s Bright Future: A Report from the Travel + Leisure & ILTM Rising Stars Roundtable.

The global LGBTQ+ travel market is thriving. It’s worth an estimated US$211 billion and growing each year according to PROUD Experiences. The UNWTO reported that there were over 35 million international LGBTQ+ tourist arrivals in 2016. This market offers numerous opportunities for travel brands and reaching these consumers benefits more than just the bottom line. But the industry wants more knowledge. In a PennState College study for IGLTA, the most frequently mentioned challenge for IGLTA buyers in catering to LGBTQ+ travellers is a lack of expertise and understanding.

The Value of the LGBTQ+ Traveller

LGBTQ+ travellers are valuable travellers, with research showing they out-spend and out-travel non-LGBTQ+ tourists. The UNWTO state that this segment travels with greater frequency and demonstrates higher-than-average spending patterns. Equivalently, PROUD Experiences found that:

• While only 6% of the world’s population identifies as LGBTQ+, they account for 10% of travel spending
• They take 4 – 6 trips per year, in comparison to 1 – 2 for the non-LGBTQ+ traveller
• The LGBTQ+ community spends 33% more on travel each year

The high value of this segment is attractive which explains why the travel industry is starting to focus its attention on the “pink dollar”. But the benefits aren’t just revenue focused. As YouGov report, “brands that consistently show support for the gay community have a strong public image across all consumers.” Therefore, improved brand perception, and even just practicing good ethics through more inclusive corporate behaviour, are other positive externalities.

Advice for Unlocking the Potential

The key to reaching the LGBTQ+ traveller is to not treat them differently. ACTLGBT explain that their common needs are tolerance, safety and the chance to interact with the local community, but this is the same for any traveller. Similarly, a 2015 survey by Community Marketing found that the main decision making criteria for LGBTQ+ tourists were quality, price and location, which can also be said for heterosexual travellers. In terms of higher spending habits, “the gay traveller is looking for culturally rich, exclusive and top-of-the-line experiences, just like any other luxury traveller would,” TravelPulse reported. While the needs and decision criteria of the LGBTQ+ traveller seem no different to their heterosexual counterparts, more sources of information are emerging to help with marketing to this segment.

The UNWTO offers guidelines for travel brands and destinations making their first approach to the LGBTQ+ travel market:

Encourage LGBT inclusion and diversity among all stakeholders. Internally, this includes adopting diversity and inclusion policies, and defending them when such issues are politicised. At a community level, consider working with the many groups and initiatives that support LGBT people as well as visitors. This should become part of the agenda in corporate social responsibility policies. LGBT inclusion and diversity is good for business, good for local economies and good for tourism destinations.

Carry out research and share it with your destination partners. Understand LGBT outbound markets and your destination’s attractiveness for the LGBT market. Because of the diversity in this segment, it’s important to deeply understand differences in travel motivations and behaviours between age groups, backgrounds, nationalities and more.

Recognise that authenticity is essential. Authenticity also means genuine integration and consistency. Do not just engage with the LGBT community for marketing purposes; it should be a two-way relationship, in which both can benefit. Authenticity in marketing means going beyond stereotypes and instead showing support for the diversity of real LGBT people.

LGBT consumers should not be considered in isolation. As visibility increases and people discover that colleagues, friends and family members are LGBT, the way that they are treated becomes more important to those who care, i.e. allies. These allies are also sensitive to the messages, both positive and negative, influencing their travel decisions.

Work in partnership with local businesses, associations and the LGBT community. NGOs that support LGBT people, LGBT Chambers of Commerce and other industry groups that promote knowledge exchange and partnerships in LGBT tourism have been proven to result in tangible benefits for all. The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association provide free travel resources and information, and advocate for the industry.

Further opportunities include: Direct marketing through trade show attendance, improving knowledge through conventions and seminars, dedicating proper human and financial resources, gaining exposure at major LGBT events, lending logistical/travel support, and training and certification.

As stated in the UNWTO report, participating in trade shows allows businesses to get their message across to a diverse audience in a short amount of time. The perfect platform for this is PROUD Experiences; a new LGBTQ+ travel show and the first of its kind. The international three-day event brings together travel suppliers and buyers targeting the LGBTQ+ community. The programme includes face-to-face pre-scheduled appointments, strategic educational seminars and networking, all centred around LGBTQ+ travel and experiences. PROUD Experiences will be held in London on 6 June this year. Register your enquiry to exhibit at this LGBTQ+ targeted event.

By now, you’ve probably heard of Millennials. Also known as Generation Y, born between 1980 – 2000, overly familiar with media and digital technologies – yes, that’s them. However, most research so far has been geared towards American and Asian Millennials, completely ignoring the buoyant market in the Middle East.

As one of the world’s most youthful regions, with a median age of 22 years compared to a global average of 28, Millennials account for a quarter of the region’s population.¹ According to Visa, when concerning travel-related spend, Millennials in the Middle East are the highest spenders globally, typically spending twice as much as their European counterparts.² As the Middle East’s largest consumer base, brands need to be asking themselves: ‘How do we attract and engage this market?’

Here are three key behaviours you can capitalise on:

1) Highest number of Millennial entrepreneurs

63% of business owners in the Middle East were aged 35 or under, according to a recent report by HSBC Private Bank, suggesting the region is home to the highest proportion of millennial entrepreneurs in the world. 46% of these entrepreneurs started their business whilst they were still at school or university, again the highest proportion in the world.

However, this success does not come easy as emphasised by the average workday. Working 12.5 hours a day, those in the region are working more than 2.5 hours above the global average for millennials.³ Plus, globalisation means working hours can be unpredictable and not the 9-5 working life. Their hunger for success means working significantly longer and in turn means less time for personal activities.

Hence, brands looking to attract and engage these consumers need to ensure they match the lifestyle. Advice needs to be immediate, transactions need to be seamless and services need to be 24/7.

2) Highest video consumption

According to Google, watch time on YouTube is growing 60% year-on-year in the MENA region, ranking second after the United States. Millennials are on their smartphones hungrily digesting video content, making mobile watch time rise by 90% year-on-year in the region, one of the fastest growing figures in the world.⁴

So how is this relevant? Research from Cisco revealed that 69% of consumer Internet traffic in 2017 was dedicated to video, while video-on-demand traffic will double by 2021.⁵ With Millennials all over the Middle East turning to YouTube to consume content on a daily basis, this is one of the best opportunities to capture your target audience. In fact, Tubular Insights found that 64% of consumers will make their purchase decision after watching branded social videos.⁶

Thus, brands targeting millennials in the region need to ensure that online video is their marketing weapon of choice. The rise of video consumption and content creation on the likes of YouTube highlight the need for visual marketing when promoting any brand.

3) Highest brand loyalty

We’ve all heard the growing concerns with brand loyalty and how Millennials are a fickle consumer. However, according to the Google Consumer Barometer, Millennials in the Middle East are going against the norm. Millennials in Saudi Arabia and the UAE demonstrate significantly more brand loyalty than their peers in Australia, the UK, Japan or the USA. 43% of Millennials in the UAE only consider one brand when purchasing flights in comparison to a mere 9% in Australia.

So how can you capture this brand loyalty? Psychologically speaking, customisation and personalisation are key. Finding out your customers’ interests and preferences will allow you to customise their user journey. Likewise, understanding your customers’ needs will allow you to meet them with personalised content. Both aspects will in turn increase your customers’ engagement and overall brand adoption.

Key takeaways to attract Millennials in the Middle East:

• Match your customer touchpoints with their fast-paced, busy lifestyles
• Focus on visual marketing when promoting your brand
• Use customisation and personalisation to increase brand engagement

Coming face-to-face with HNW Millennials in the Middle East can be tricky. Luckily travel brands looking to reach this consumer market have an alternative target; their travel agents and advisors. You can meet the agencies representing these HNW travellers at ILTM Arabia in Dubai.

Sources

Working in conjunction with YouGov, View from ILTM have been looking into the heart of the modern day luxury traveller. What is clear from the research is that luxury travellers are searching for brands that reflect the very best in humanity. More importantly, travellers are looking for brands that share the values they would most like to see in themselves. The State of the Affluent Mindset report identifies the four key values recognised among the affluent around the world as the most attractive personality traits to admire. They are:

1) Integrity
2) Honesty
3) Kindness
4) Intelligence

These four points become the traits brands and staff will most want to convey to their guests. The report also identifies some of the top factors influencing brand preferences, the two highest scoring influencers were brands that ‘Have a high level of integrity’ (88%), and brands that ‘Make me feel good when I am using them’ (87%).

Source: YouGov Report in partnership with ILTM, The State of the Affluent Mindset

Modern luxury travellers are significantly more inclined to buy on deeper-level factors. They are looking beyond “worth” (quality, craftsmanship and service) and are seeking details on design, passion and caring for people in a human way. They also expect a higher level offering from their travel providers in three main areas:

• Product
• Environment
• Personnel

If travel brands want to succeed in 2018, all three factors should reinforce the story of their brand promise and value proposition.

To understand the affluent traveller in more detail, download The State of the Affluent Mindset, brought to you by YouGov and ILTM.

Influencers are winning the hearts and minds of consumers all over the world, so it’s no surprise that large international brands are using influencer marketing to promote themselves. The main question from brands is no longer whether it works. The business focus has shifted to working out what the most effective ways of leveraging the channel are.

HelloSociety has found that micro-influencers (accounts with 30,000 or fewer followers) are more beneficial for marketers to work with. According to the agency, micro-influencers drive 22.2 times more weekly engagements than the average consumer does and those campaigns are 6.7 times more efficient per engagement than influencers with larger followings are.*

This got us thinking about how destinations are using influencers, so we spoke to our trusted partners at the Catalan Tourist Board (Asia Pacific office) to find out whether they have adopted influencer marketing as a strategy.

What is your strategy for working with influencers and does it work?

The Catalonia Tourism Board has been working with influencers since 2014. Each campaign differs according to the target markets. One of our earliest campaigns, commissioned by the headquarters in Barcelona, worked with 5 different bloggers filming various regions of Catalonia in a varied number of ways. You have to check it out here.

Our strategy in Asia Pacific is slightly different. Aside from regular press trips for targeted magazines and media members, our Asia Pacific office is focused on bringing a certain number of bloggers on trips so they can leverage on each other’s talents and creativity to create even more compelling content. Last year we also experimented with celebrity influencers, and brought the famous Korean TV celebrity, Mina Sohn, with KBS World to do a TV series in Catalonia. This worked really well to promote Catalonia in South Korea.

How do you measure the success of an influencer campaign?

Admittedly, it is difficult to determine the actual earning per investment for these projects because the increase in following from the use of these influencers does not materialise in immediate travel to Catalonia. We take into account an increase in tourists from our Asia Pacific regions to Barcelona/Catalonia as a mark of success for these campaigns. We like to cultivate a following through influencers from various Asian cities to act as ambassadors for our region.

How do you choose the right influencers for your brand?

We work closely with our representative offices across the world to identify popular influencers. Being in contact with various travel and blogger associations helps us to keep updated with recent activities and information about this sphere of media. Lastly, we do our own research to ensure influencers’ profiles match the requirements, personality and aesthetic of our brand.

Are there any top tips you have learnt that you can share with us?

Take a multi-pronged approach to working with any influencer. Yes, influencers play a role in cultivating brand awareness among their followers and this is especially useful for destinations which might be relatively unknown. However, there needs to be a tangible “point of sale” that is incorporated into these campaign to persuade the target audience to make a trip to Catalonia, for example.

Thinking about joining the micro-influencer revolution? Read our 5 top tips guide to choosing the right influencer for your brand.

*Source: HelloSociety Report

Last year was not an easy time for Mexico City. On September 19^th, the city suffered a severe 7.1 earthquake that took the life of 305 people and damaged close to 3,000 buildings. Strangely enough 32 years ago, on the exact same day, another deadly earthquake destroyed Mexico City, killing around 10,000 people. Other than the strange coincidence of the date, the outcomes have been very different. We learnt so much from the 1985 experience and the lives that we lost recently are significantly fewer. Even if this is good news, coming back from the earthquake has proven to be the most difficult part (and I can only speak on behalf of Mexico City, knowing that there are many communities and towns affected in Morelos, Oaxaca, Puebla, etc. that are going through a very challenging time). 

The first few days after the earthquake happened, the international community focused all their attention on Mexico City, whilst most of the Mexicans were out on streets, trying to help however way possible. However, as the days went on, the international media forgot about the situation as we tried to move on with our lives. Nevertheless, there is still so much to do in terms of reconstruction and rebuilding; still so many people are homeless and unable to be find a new place to live. The real problem is that everything is taking too long and this is not something happening exclusively in Mexico, this is something that is happening in Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean, in Houston, in Napa, and in so many other places.

In these situations, tourism plays a key role in helping the communities rebuild their lives and helps to speed up the recovery time. In the aftermath of the Mexico City earthquake, travellers cancelled their trips leaving hotels with very low occupancy rates. By the beginning of the November, and thanks to the F1, most of our hotels are busy again but we need to work to keep this going. Hotels, restaurants and shops run on the money international travellers bring in so we need them to keep the city alive.

I recently was lucky enough to meet Sylvia Earle, one of the most respected marine biologists in the world, an explorer and a strong advocate for the ocean. Sylvia came to Mexico to promote her project ‘Mission Blue’, to raise awareness about the importance of looking after the ocean. Sylvia has created a network of ‘Hope Spots’ all over the world. These ‘Hope Spots’ are protected areas in the ocean that work as under water national parks where wildlife is protected from human threats (mainly indiscriminate fishing). Sylvia has been fighting to protect the ocean for a very long time, trying to get the world to understand the inevitable co-relationship between what is happening under the sea and what is happening on the surface. For Sylvia the connection is very clear, the recent hurricanes, floods and uncontrollable fires all connect with the state of the ocean.

Since we cannot see what is happening below the surface it is difficult to understand and get our head around the real damage we are doing to the ocean. Sylvia has made it her mission in life to ensure society understands the severity of the issue and respond accordingly. Sylvia made me realise, as I really did not understand the extent of the damage we are causing until I met her.

As travellers, and as citizens, we have choices. We choose where we go, we choose what we eat, we choose how we spend our money. As an international travel community our decisions can make a huge difference. As travel agents, we should encourage tourism in an area that is recovering from a natural disaster. As journalists, we should use our pages to tell the stories of those people in the world who are making a difference. In the aftermath of a very complicated 2017, and with so many communities and cities affected by natural disasters (and sadly, many human threats), we need to be more conscious than ever on the choices we make. There is no excuse, because we are able to make the right choice. Hopefully, now, more than ever, we will be aware of the importance and the power behind each decision we make.

María Pellicer has been Editor-in-Chief of Travesías Magazine for the past seven years, travelling the world looking for stories. Travesías are regular media attendees at ILTM events; catch them first at ILTM Latin America this May!

Online booking and self-booking are steadily gaining popularity, particularly with the new generation of travellers, but luxury travel advisors can convince Gen Z travellers to book a tour or travel experience, with visual marketing, personalised recommendations, and a seamless online booking system.

This generation watches two times as many videos on mobile than other generations, and 70 per cent spend two-plus hours on YouTube per day, according to some statistics. Cisco has reported reports that streaming video will account for more than two-thirds of all consumer internet traffic this year.

More specifically, did you know that 90 per cent of travellers watch online videos? Also, 75 per cent of affluent travellers, 72 per cent of business travellers, and 45 per cent of leisure travellers book travel after viewing an online travel video. These numbers by video marketing observers, tubularinsights.com, may vary from market to market but they remain true to the potential of video marketing in wooing new audiences in luxury travel.

The only challenge with creating interesting video content for these audiences is that they take as less as eight seconds to process information, before moving on to the next piece of information.

Once you have their attention, the opportunities for real-time servicing on emerging and established platforms cannot be ignored.

Take Four Seasons Private Jet Experience, for example, that promises a journey of a lifetime on its website with: glamorous images tick, fabulous videos tick, and just to ensure they have a word with you before your attention drifts, a live Facebook Messenger chatbot with an answer for every question. The last trick will continue to serve luxury travel vendors because when it comes to customisation needs, the most questions and concerns that can be processed in real time, the better and a chatbot comes supremely handy to serve that purpose.

Not all luxury packaging is entirely digital though.

Here in Dubai, the widely touted den of luxury, Atlantis, the Palm, enlisted a spirited on-ground activation to create delicious footage that was lapped up online by their core, and better-still, wider target. All they did was turn a typical cab ride in London into a fairytale by having the driver offer a luxurious vacation to jaded passengers at the end of the ride. The conversation gets captured on candid camera and used as a promotional video to position Atlantis Dubai as a getaway for Londoners. Feel the warmth of this idea that drew new audiences to a luxury outpost.

According to digital marketing agency PMX in Luxury Study, Louis Vuitton’s top two engaging Instagram posts in 2017 revolved around the hashtag #SpiritofTravel, and featured “new luggage for the 21st Century traveller”.  This has been a watershed moment for the popular photo/video sharing platform, the number of luxury social media followers on Instagram grew 54 per cent in the past year way ahead of Facebook and Twitter.

Instagram accounted for 50 per cent of the luxury social audience – if luxury travel vendors are not wooing new audience here then they are surely missing a trick?

Core take-outs: become proactive like the Four Seasons chatbot, think unlike others as Atlantis, and be where the new audience is like Louis Vuitton.

Rashi Sen is the Editor of Travel & Tourism News Middle East and a regular attendee of ILTM in Cannes. Meet a TTN publisher and editor this year at ILTM!   

I had my lightbulb moment a couple of years ago. I was in Miami, visiting the brand-new 1 Hotel South Beach.  It was effortlessly cool: a fabulous rooftop pool, a sceney restaurant, interior design just made for Instagram. But what really struck me were the taps. Not those in the bathrooms. No, these were in the bedrooms – every room had one, piping in cold, triple-filtered drinking water. Just a simple tap, with a stylish recycled glass bottle and some tumblers. Guests had fresh water whenever they wanted it, and no need for any nasty little plastic bottles of mineral water. Such a simple idea, but such a brilliant one.

Elsewhere were little clues that the hotel was “eco” – recycled cardboard hangers in the rooms; reclaimed wood-paneled walls; recycled wooden discs for keys. But they didn’t shout about it. It was just a sexy, stylish hotel that also happened to be sustainable.

That was my lightbulb moment. That “green” and “eco” and “sustainable” needn’t be boring. It needn’t be dry. It needn’t be a bunch of hippies knitting their own clothes and living off homegrown kale. Green can be cool, and hip. In fact, green SHOULD be cool and hip.

Why should it be? Because travellers care. Millenials do, obviously – a recent study showed that nearly 30% would be more likely to book a hotel if it took measures to protect the environment. They are more widely travelled than any other generation, and want to know they’re not damaging the places they’re visiting. And they want to Instragram the heck out of it all.

But it’s not just the young and social-media-savvy. When I recently interviewed a group of luxury lodge owners and hotel group bosses, they all agreed that they’d noticed a real shift in the attitude of their wealthy (older) guests. Luke Bailes, CEO of Singta, summed it up nicely: “There’s a new breed of philanthropists genuinely worried about the state of the world – they want to help”.

So how should the industry work with that desire to help? How do properties and tour operators tell their guests about the great things they’re doing – to get them engaged in local issues, donating to local causes? How do they communicate sustainability without being preachy or…boring?

When I advise hotels on exactly this, top of the list is to make sure they don’t make their guests feel guilty. Holidays are meant to be fun, and guilt is the ultimate killjoy. Take towel reuse. We all know that hotel laundry is a huge drain on natural resources, but guests don’t want to feel bad for using an extra towel, especially if they’re paying a premium on their room rates. Nor do they want to think a hotel is asking them to reuse their towels just to save money.

So properties need to be cleverer. There’s nothing wrong with suggesting towels are reused – but do it in a smarter way. Research shows if a hotel is transparent about how much money is saved when towels and sheets are used more than once – and if that saving is then donated to a local, worthwhile cause – the rate of reuse increases. So put up one of those little annoying signs if you must, but then say where you’re putting those savings. If I’m on safari and I see it’s funnelled back into local elephant conservation, that’s something I can get excited about.

Be creative. Fogo Island Inn, an über-chic (and thoroughly sustainable) lodge in Newfoundland, has launched a version of a nutritional label, which clearly explains where the money from the rooms goes. Just like a label on a sandwich tells us what we’re eating, this says what percentage goes on wages, on charitable contributions, etc. They’ve looked at another industry and borrowed a simple way to tell their own story.

We can borrow from the NGO sector, too. I advise charity: water, a US charity which brings clean water to developing countries and has turned the sector on its head. Gone are negative, upsetting images of suffering. Instead, the messages are unfailingly positive, with optimistic stories that make you feel great about donating, and cool images that are easy to share.

Sharing is everything now, of course, and simple hashtags are powerful – like Steppes Travel’s #refusetouse campaign encouraging travellers to decline plastics. As are photo opps. Give your guests a way of showcasing and sharing their good deeds, like at Wilderness’s new Bisate Lodge in Rwanda, where every guest has the chance to plant a new tree. It’s the perfect feel-good Instagram opportunity.

Some companies go the full hog and “eco-embed” their values in their brand, making tricky decisions on behalf of their guests. Soneva, for example, carbon offsets all its guests’ flights. Bali’s Alila hotels have gone plastic-free, and the UK’s Pig Hotels only source local food. These are brands that have woven sustainability into their identity, without losing an iota of their luxurious, stylish trademark – just like 1 Hotels.

Make the decisions, or help your guests to make them. But no guilt-trips, please. It’s time to for brands to be smarter. It’s time for your lightbulb moment.

Francisca Kellett is Travel Editor at Tatler magazine, and is a freelance journalist and hotel consultant. Meet Francisca Kellett all this week at ILTM in Cannes!

I am on a small personal crusade to ensure that “transformative” does not become the new “authentic.” I gather that, at this point, “authentic” has been a buzzword for so long that we are yearning for something new to talk about. But I would argue that “transformative” isn’t quite it.

The desire for authenticity was, to my mind, a major shift in the zeitgeist that began decades ago, driven by a major boom in global travel that made our consumers, particularly at the high end of the market, better travelled than ever before. As they became more worldly, in the literal sense, they not only became savvier consumers generally, but they became more comfortable with difference, and more comfortable with stepping out of their comfort zone. Too much of luxury travel, for too long, and especially in the developing world, was about the packaging of experience and the creation of a bubble for these travellers that was meant to make them feel secure. Over time, people didn’t so much need or want the bubble. What they wanted was the opportunity to get closer to what was real: they wanted to meet the locals, and eat their food, see the good and the bad. They wanted to feel the place. They wanted to understand.

And so it was important for us all to embrace authenticity as an idea, to jettison some of the longstanding conventions of high-end travel and think about ways that we could disintermediate place and culture for travellers. As much as I hear groans every time someone says “authenticity” these days, I still think it’s the most important trend in consumer travel preferences of our time.

So is “transformative” a thing? Yes, most definitely. We live in a time when all sorts of issues—from the fragility of our planet to the crudeness of public discourse to the pressures created by intensive workplace cultures and always-on technology—have us thinking a great deal about the importance of wellbeing and deeper meaning in our lives. And people are, I think, increasingly aware of the power that travel has to feed those things. Travellers are indeed getting on planes to go places where they can practice mindfulness or learn to sleep better or quit smoking. They are walking the Camino de Santiago to find themselves. They are quitting their jobs to travel around the world for a year and reinvent their lives.

But I would suggest it is still a relatively small number of people who are consciously traveling specifically to seek some form of personal transformation. Most of what is transformative in travel, as I see it, happens by accident, in small, serendipitous moments. When you watch a sunrise with your spouse and realize you haven’t simply sat silent with each other observing a moment of beauty in a long time. Or when you and your child see a baby impala being born on safari and you can tell her eyes are opening to wonders of nature and science. Or when wading in a stream and catching a trout fills you with a sense of accomplishment much greater than you felt back in the office building that spreadsheet.

My concern with “transformative” is that it injects a kind of seriousness, of worthiness, into travel that could lead us to forget a fundamental truth: that most people travel to have fun. Whether we’re doing it alone or with friends or family or with the loves of our lives (or of right now), traveling first and foremost gives us the time and mental space to leave some of the cares of our daily lives behind. We get to live for a few days on schedules not dictated by our Outlook calendars and according to the guiding principle of satisfying our own desires. We get to go out exploring or just curl up and read a book. However we choose to define our enjoyment, the point is that’s what we are doing: enjoying ourselves.

Somewhere in there, something transformative might happen. Or it might not. I would not suggest anyone ignore this desire for deeper meaning that travellers today have. It is real, and there is a genuine opportunity to create special experiences or facilitate meaningful moments. But as we do that, my plea is that we not forget the pleasure principle. Travel in and of itself is transformational—the act of going new places opens you up and helps you to see the world with new eyes, and over time it changes you—but most of the time that’s not really the point. Fundamentally we succeed when we simply help people have the time of the lives, when they laugh out loud or gasp with astonishment or jump for joy.

Nathan Lump is Editor in Chief of Travel + Leisure and Editorial Director, Luxury & Lifestyle Group at Time Inc. Meet Nathan Lump and the T+L team all this week at ILTM in Cannes.

The world of influencer marketing, in recent times, is becoming an increasingly recognised marketing strategy, and brands are setting more budget aside solely for content creation and publishing by so-called ‘influencers’.

Still, to some, influencer marketing may feel like murky territory with unknown results. To help, Whalar have compiled this list of tips on choosing influencers so you can get the best results for your brand. Follow these 5 steps and Whalar say you are sure to see high quality content and engaged audience awareness, which can lead to brand loyalty, high web traffic and those all important sales.

1. Understand why influencer marketing is relevant – don’t just choose influencers because it’s a buzzword:

Maybe one of the biggest mistakes brands make is jumping on the influencer bandwagon because they hear it’s trendy. This often results in lazy content and frustration at lack of results. You need to understand that influencer marketing is important for long term results and brand loyalty. Influencer marketing is all about organic growth – not having an advert shoved down your throat – when understood properly, influencer marketing is subtle, welcoming, creative and thought-provoking.

2. Look at the different categories of influencers, and choose a mix for fresh and varied content:

Nowadays, there are macro and micro influencers, and even ‘real world’ celebrities who can create content for you. And then, within these subsects, there are bloggers, vloggers, Instagrammers, Snapchatters, and each and every one has their own specific niche; be it travel photography, or even something as specific as drone imagery; the world of influencer marketing is endless. The most effective content is created by choosing a relevant section of influencers to match your brief (for example, if you are a hotelier, you must choose the influencers who would be likely to stay in hotels), and then spread them across a relevant location (if your hotel is in ten countries, pick influencers from each). Plus, through sourcing a spectrum of talent, the material stays fresh and varied.

A key thing you have to remember when choosing talent is that influencers are consumers too, so you should pick someone who would be a consumer for your brand, and take into consideration that consumers only engage with strategically relevant content.

3. Choose an influencer with an aesthetic that suits your brand:

If you’re creating a full influencer campaign, you’re going to use multiple content creators. And whilst it’s important that they all put their own unique spin on the brief (you might, for example, have one pro at cinemagraphs, one at stopmotion, and one influencer known for their work with neon; the content will therefore differ), it’s equally important there is a similar aesthetic running through every piece of content to create a cohesive campaign. You might choose influencers with similar styles, colour schemes or tastes demonstrated on their social media feeds.

4. Go for quality of audience over ultra high follower numbers:

Yes, we know that numbers count, but the problem brands face when dipping their toe into influencer marketing is an obsession with numbers. Up until recently, it’s been all about how many followers someone has and how many likes they get. The relevancy, the context and the quality of the work has often taken a complete backseat. Worse still, often no consideration has been given to the relationship between the influencer, their audience and the brand. The quality of the content is so important, and something Whalar focuses on.

5. Set your objectives clearly:

The success or failure of any collaboration will often come down to the communication between the two parties. Each party must understand clearly what the objectives are, their role in the collaboration, and have confidence that they can achieve their goals in doing so.  Before choosing an influencer, you must identify the Why, What and Who of your campaign motives.

Why – Why are you doing this? What’s the core motivation? What is the desired outcome?

What – What content do you want? What type of creative? What aesthetics? What’s your message?

Who – Who are you trying to reach? Who is your consumer? Who’s perception are you trying to change?

If your influencer agrees with, and is on board, with all of the above, there should be no miscommunication, the process will run smoothly, and will result in a successful collaboration for both parties.

Whalar’s motto is ‘Liberating the Creative Voice’, arguably the most important part of any influencer marketing strategy. But for a collaboration to be successful, the main things you need to remember are to always choose influencers whose audience would be consumers of your product, focus on the quality of content, and to maintain communication throughout. Additionally, your brief can be prescriptive, but always let your influencers’ talent shine through, remember it’s why you chose them in the first place!

If discovering where the next generation of luxury travellers will find their travel inspiration is your thing, you might like to check out ILTM Bright Young Things Report