Luxury travellers are seeking custom designed holidays, not off-the-shelf experiences or packaged itineraries, says Danielle Galloway, Global Managing Director of Luxury & Independent of Flight Centre Travel Group.
Speaking on a panel at an event last night in Sydney to launch a new ‘couture’ short film and advertising campaign for FCTG’s 27-year-old luxury focused retail brand, Travel Associates, Galloway says high-end travellers are “after a true experience”.
Travel Associates’ travellers seek inspirational holiday suggestions from an experienced and worldly travel advisor, garnering ideas once the consultant has a clear understanding of the client and what makes them tick.
“It’s a little bit like designing a wedding dress or picking a fine piece of jewellery, or customised art. It takes that element of design and curation to really make sure that it has been handcrafted with the right touches that our advisors really do deliver.”
Those same traits feature in the new ‘Art of the Moment’ Travel Associates brand campaign (previewed in brief below), liking the skills of craftsman, designers and artists, to the artistry of luxury holiday planning.
“It’s all about hyper-personalisation and beating the trends,” Galloway told an audience of trade partners, influencers and media.
Galloway says confidently that Travel Associates’ clients are not trend followers.
“Our view is that trends are in the past. We see that we’re really the influencers of travel, as Travel Associates advisors, because we are well beyond social media.”
She says that Travel Associates’ long-standing partnerships with leading travel and cruise companies enables the brand to be “at the forefront of what’s new in luxury travel.”
“We get to see the new cruise lines, we get first look at gorgeous new hotels, we get to see amazing tour experiences. It’s a bit like being in the front row of Fashion Week.”
Galloway said 90% of people travel not because of trends, but to share special moments with family and friends, “so what we focus on is making sure that we deliver the experience that is at the forefront of travel for those individual clients.”
The rise of “Henry’s”
The emergence of a younger generation of traveller seeking out high-end travel experiences was also discussed by the panel. Wealthy 30- to 50-year-olds who are ambitious travellers.
At Travel Associates, the market is referred to as ‘Henrys’– high earners that aren’t rich yet. People who are seeking a combination of diverse destinations that offer adventure and energy, such as Tokyo and Los Angeles, Galloways said.
“We have a very strong world database, and our average [client] age has been around 60 years-olds. But what we’re seeing…this younger audience that is really enticed by luxury travel and the luxury market.”
Galloway said this market is about to experience a significant transfer in wealth, highlighting “they are an audience that we all need to stop and watch, because they are investing in travel heavily.”
Describing the younger emerging market, she said these individuals are “time-poor and value a financial advisor and they value a travel advisor, because what’s critically important for them is when they do take that trip, it has to be seamless.”
“It has to be unique and special. They don’t want any dramas on that trip, so the importance of making sure that it is perfect, is of incredibly high value.”
“We are delighted top welcome this younger audience into the Travel Associate stores and to see the next generation of bookings come through, from their parents through to their children. It’s a really exciting segment of the market, and it is one to watch.”
Also on the panel, Gillian Woodley, Business Leader, Woodley & James Travel Associates discussed the transformation of luxury travel in the past five years, saying the panedmic “changed the face of luxury traveller” and the mentality of clients, who desire “luxury travel now”.
“What’s happened is the clients that perhaps didn’t see themselves as a luxury traveller, or didn’t travel in business, they’re actually saying we want that luxury now.”
Woodley said what luxury travellers value most is time, trust, the truth and authenticity.
Other luxury traveller key trends that were briefly discussed by the panel, include an increase in longer stays, demand for private islands, safaris and guided touring in cities. Destinations that are hot include Morocco, Egypt and Kenya. Demand for the East African destination this year is up a whopping 75% compared to 2024, Galloway revealed.
On the flip side, package holidays are “declining rapidly”, she noted.
The significance of emotional intelligence versus artificial intelligence in luxury travel was also underscored by Galloway.
“AI will never replace emotional intelligence,” she added.
