As the world comes back to life post pandemic, luxury travel demand has been skyrocketing 🚀. The COVID-driven boom in private travel is still flying high! Great right…? Yes and no, sub-par service and sky-high rates are a risky mix. I personally have spent days if not weeks putting together a luxury getaway and found the following to be a constant challenge.
Unverified suppliers: A sea of unknowns 🤹
Back in the late months of 2021, as the pandemic restrictions started to loosen I found myself searching for a rather easy private jet route 💸. I amassed a boat load of quotes from various players in the industry. With each quote came the need to converse with many brokers across different companies working in all timezones.
Following this flight, a seamless transaction into a luxury villa rental was needed. This again proved difficult; unclear restrictions around minimum nights for booking, extent of services at the property and weighing up the plethora of options once again took precious time from my days as I explored the hundreds of offerings you find in a generic online search. 🤯
Booking process: A click away…? Not quite! 🤖
We all know the likes of Booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb. These platforms have spent many years and millions of $$$ tailoring the systems we use to quickly and efficiently book a trip, flight, car rental and more and have managed to do so in many ways ⏰. The luxury market in these same spaces have yet to catch up with this process!
This leads to once again… you guessed it, time lost!
A synergy between automated systems and human interaction must be built, upheld and tailored to each individual request. ⭐
The price of privilege: Crystal ball pricing** 🔮
Luxury travel comes at high cost, but just how high? This battlefield of prices online leaves the affluent traveler more than confused when budgeting in the costs of their luxury getaways. 🤔 Premiums, memberships, packages, partners, discounts and much more are just the tip of the iceberg when delving into the volatile world of pricing.
To truly better understand the cost of such privilege you must first find a trustworthy service supplier, again these come in many forms; TA’s, OTA’s, brokers, companies, travel managers.. On and on we go. Fees and charges are ever changing and opaque 🌑. Who is to say a certain flight is at a certain price, a certain yacht at a specific rate? Good question! A broad and transparent overview will lay the foundation for stable pricing.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step!
Thanks for reading.
LM.
