For luxury travellers, it's now experiences over dollars

The desire for learning and enrichment, giving something back, the rise of the ephemeral and instant as well as great service are the key trends defining luxury travel today, according to the Limited Access Luxury Travel Report, developed by MyTravelResearch.com, Executive PA magazine and the Luxperience travel show.

MyTravelResearch.com said modern luxury travel reflects wider macro-economic trends including rising levels of inequality, which make conspicuous public displays of wealth less acceptable.

In tandem with less ostentation, higher spiritual and emotional motives are now coming more into play – such as the need for inner fulfilment, creativity, self esteem, belonging and contentedness.

In short, experience transcends dollars at the higher end of luxury travel. The consequence: demand for luxury experiences seems to be growing faster than the demand for luxury goods.

The report also shows that luxury travellers are placing an even greater emphasis on service and increasingly insisting on a wider diversity of experiences, empowered by the Internet and a surplus of service providers in the luxury sector.

MyTravelResearch.com founder Carolyn Childs also singled out notable characteristics of the modern luxury travel market, including the greater number of new younger and women millionaires; the rise of wellbeing, multi-generational travel and learning; the growth of the luxury cruise market; as well as the luxury traveller's ever-rising expectations and premium placed on value.

-TTG Asia.