Top luxury travel trends

luxury travel trends

After more than a year of the pandemic, and even with most people not traveling throughout 2020, the luxury travel market has warmed up in 2021. It became clear that luxury tourists are still traveling, although less frequently than they did before.

On the other hand, the luxury traveler now stays longer in the same destination and hotel. Thanks to the new reality of home office and distance learning for many people. They invest more and seek to surround themselves with safety-related precautions and hygiene.

The openings of new luxury hotels, which continued throughout 2020, have intensified even more this year. With fewer guests per hotel, the personalization of services has become more important than ever. And it will be the defining trend in this market, even in the post-pandemic — as well as sustainability and well-being. And trends that start in luxury travel generally end up extending to other tourism sectors as well, including the more economical ones.

1. Remote destinations

Travelers are increasingly seeking out remote and isolated destinations, above all still little known and under frequented. Destinations that guarantee outdoor activities and lots of contact with nature will continue on the rise.

The idea of ​​social distancing remains in vogue in 2021, regardless of the evolution of the pandemic scenario. Open places, and with open borders, must remain as a priority, as well as destinations that request PCR tests for entry; after all, we know that widespread and adequate vaccination will take a long time in some destinations.

2. Staycations

Staying in a hotel in your own city is another trend that should also continue on the rise, as well as the search for domestic and close-to-home destinations, which tourists can easily reach in a vehicle. Hotels in Miami, for example, have been focusing a lot lately on the locals themselves, expanding services in gastronomy and investing in greater infrastructure to mix work and leisure — and the strategy has been working.

3. Longer stays

The extended stays had their most successful year precisely in 2020 — and the trend to invest in this type of longer trip continued this year. We have been seeing even greater growth in slow luxury travel.

Travel will be longer and more relaxed, stays in the same hotel will take longer, and people will always try to make the most of every experience outside the home. Hotels that offer a good structure for home office and homeschooling should stand out.

4. Family trips

After so long apart from family and friends, it is natural that travelers started to value this type of travel in small groups even more in 2021. But without excesses and always thinking about social distance.

The expectation of the sector is that multi-generational trips with families or small groups of friends will increase, including the possibility of booking small inns or entire lodges to try to ensure more safety for everyone.

5. Focus on safety

Even with so many countries already starting their vaccination processes, travel in 2021 should continue to have safety as one of the main focuses.

It is worth remembering that travel planning focused on safety should not only refer to health safety. Travelers are increasingly aware that cancellation and refund policies are different. In general, flexible policies are valued by them when choosing a product or service.

6. Personalized services

The trend is that the customization of services also includes the decision of hotels and service providers to actively maintain contact with the tourist before, during, and after the trip. Some luxury hotels have even created new departments and specific projects to guarantee this constant customization of services.

This is the case, for example, of the Cheval Blanc hotels (with properties in destinations such as St-Barth, Courchevel, St-Tropez and, soon, Paris), which recently created “the wish maker by Cheval Blanc”, a sector that is struggling to turn all your guests’ wishes into reality during their stay.

7. Sustainability

The luxury traveler is increasingly aware of how everything is connected. We learned in 2020 that the need to transform tourism into a truly sustainable chain is immediate. The traveler will be even more interested in this. Before the pandemic, the market had already expected that 2020 would be the year of the conscious traveler.

And make sure you travel in style with Mundi.

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