Targeting yesterday’s luxury traveler may have been all about throwing as much cash and flash as possible into opulent accommodations and luxury limos for the jet set. Today, luxury travelers are still the 1% who can spend on what they want, but they’re not looking for pomp and prizes.
So, companies hoping to attract these luxury travelers with SEO are wise to focus efforts on providing the transformative experiences they’re searching for.
The luxury traveler in our current marketplace is looking for experiential encounters like many millennials are, bumped up a few million notches though to include access to life-changing opportunities that only millions or billions can provide. They’re looking for customized trips that leave them recharged and renewed, not simply vacations offering opportunities to post on Instagram.
Luxury travel brands hoping to reach the new luxury traveler, the one who’ll spend nearly any amount to find fulfillment on a personal journey, can be in the right place to do so by keeping 3 things in mind.
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Small Brands Are Able to Attract the Luxury Traveler
It used to be the only the biggest luxury hotel chains that could lure the luxury traveler in. Today, small brands are creating spaces that big spenders looking for big transformation want to be in.
Consider boutique hotel companies renovating historic, charming and story-filled buildings, and turning them into private penthouses of sorts, where one could getaway but have comfort at the ultimate level. Or, think about the villa owners renting out their estates for those who seek rejuvenation and solitude with chances to get to know the locals who work there and live nearby.
Small brands can make it big when targeting the luxury traveler by focusing on offering accommodations that customize a traveler’s journey in a way a huge hotel never could. Even small luxury car hire, yacht charter and air travel companies can do this.
Being able to personalize a core offering for the unique needs of a luxury traveler is more important than having a well-known, luxury name attached to your brand.
Of course, the only way luxury travelers will know about what you provide is if you’re able to be there when they’re searching, using specific SEO tactics to target the luxury traveler.
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The Luxury Traveler Wants Access, Not Acquisition
Those with money to do as they please usually do as they please, and have what they please. Then, many of them get to a point where they’ve seen enough places and acquired enough things, and they want instead to find meaning behind where they go and what they buy.
Luxury travelers today want to spend their money on purchases that affect them in a new way. With extreme wealth comes many opportunities, so creating fresh transformative experiences for the rich – something they’ve never done and that they’ll be moved by – can be challenging. But, it can be as easy as knowing the customer’s journey, and anticipating what might provide peace and enjoyment in a busy and stressed life.
According to Skift, a travel industry research media company, results from its 2017 poll indicated that 54.3% of luxury travelers ranked transformative travel experiences as being 7 out of 10 or higher in importance when considering travel in general.
The key for travel brands is to understand that each luxury traveler’s journey is different, so one-size-fits-all upscale and exclusive experiences aren’t going to cut it with this new group. Luxury travel now is extremely personal, so providing access to luxury almost on a guest-by-guest basis – based on perceived individual value – is necessary.
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Short and Meaningful Encounters Are More Important than Long Trips Filled with Fluff
Accommodation providers and other sectors within the travel industry can support a luxury traveler’s transformation on short, succinct targeted trips. Today’s wealthy don’t always have time, or want to take time, to engage in extended travel.
Quick getaways that include opportunities to recharge and gain control of one’s life can be more valuable than longer trips filled with tons of meaningless activities.
Marriott global brand leader Tina Edmundson realizes this and says that the “distractions and unpredictability of travel, and today’s overscheduled and always-on culture” leads travelers to want to incorporate “smaller transformative moments” into their lives.
Experiences that transform by allowing luxury travelers to put their well being first and realign priorities are those that luxury brands should be providing.
Doing this takes a well-planned program for the luxury traveler as well as a strategy to bring it to that traveler. Galileo Tech Media provides SEO strategy and application for travel brands targeting today’s luxury traveler.
