Luxury Institute News

April 18, 2013

Resonance Consultancy Releases Key Findings about U.S. Affluent Travel and Leisure in its 2013 Resonance Report

Posted in Hotel/Resort,Luxury Leaders,Press Releases,Travel & Leisure
Tags: Bahamas, Chris Fair, Marriott, Milton Pedraza, Resonance Consultancy, Ritz-Carlton —

(Miami, FL) April 18, 2013 – The Resonance Report, a national study by leading global tourism consulting firm Resonance Consultancy, sheds new light on the travel and leisure habits of affluent American households.

The study, conducted in conjunction with the Luxury Institute in New York, surveyed more than 1,200 individuals from households with incomes of $150,000 and higher to measure their travel and leisure preferences and aspirations. These affluent households account for almost a third of all domestic spending on lodging and air travel, according to recent estimates in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditures Survey.

“The desirability of exotic vacations for the affluent remains virtually unchanged since 2008,” says Resonance Consultancy President, Chris Fair. “What’s changed is their growing interest in traveling with more family members and friends and their rising interest in once-in-lifetime experiences and classic journeys such as train travel, safaris and cruises that explore non-traditional destinations.”

Key Findings of the Resonance Report include:
•Affluent American households take an average of three vacations a year averaging six days in length.
•Ritz Carlton is the #1 hotel brand of choice for high net worth households ($1MM+) on vacation.
•Marriott is the most frequented hotel brand of affluent households.
•New York City is the most popular U.S. vacation destination, followed by Las Vegas and San Francisco.
•The Bahamas is the most visited island destination, followed by Puerto Rico and Jamaica while Turks & Caicos is the #1 destination affluent households aspire to visit.
•Italy is the #1 overseas vacation destination for affluent households, followed by the U.K. and France.
•Wine country tours and luxury cruises are the most desired type of vacation experiences.
•Affluent owners of vacation properties use them an average of 5 weeks per year.
•Affluent consumers are willing to spend an average of $650,000 on their next vacation property.

“This influential cohort uses its leisure time to explore what’s meaningful for them and for those closest to them,” says Milton Pedraza, CEO of the Luxury Institute. “The affluent consumer is driven by extraordinary experiences, and this study shows clearly the importance of experience for this demanding demographic.”

To download a copy of the Resonance Report 2013 visit resonancereport.com.

About Resonance Consultancy (http://www.resonanceco.com)
Resonance Consultancy provides brand development, strategic marketing and planning services to leading travel & tourism companies and organizations around the world. The principals of Resonance have completed more than 100 travel & tourism studies, reports and plans in 65 different countries.

About Luxury Institute (http://www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises.

Comments Off

October 17, 2012

High-Income Shoppers Talk Openly About Luxury Salespeople; Relationships With Wealthy Customers Blossom When Staff Shows Knowledge, Professionalism and Courtesy

Posted in Automobiles,Fashion,Finance,Handbags,Jewelry,Press Releases,Travel & Leisure,Watches,WealthSurvey,Wealthy Consumer
Tags: BMW, Hilton, Lexus, Marriott, Mercedes-Benz, Milton Pedraza, Ritz-Carlton —

(NEW YORK) October 17, 2012 – Wealthy shoppers with minimum annual income of $150,000 rank attributes they find important among people selling them high-end goods and services in the new Experiences With Luxury Salespeople WealthSurvey from the independent and objective New York-based Luxury Institute.

The most important attribute is knowledge, cited by 72% of respondents. Being professional (68%), and polite and courteous (65%), are also of high importance, followed by being honest (57%), helpful (56%), trustworthy (52%) and experienced (52%).

Relationships with individual salespersons are common, with 40% of shoppers reporting a primary point of contact for at least one luxury provider. Relationships are most prevalent in personal finance (11%) and jewelry (10%). Perhaps surprisingly, individual relationships are just as common in fashion (8%), as they are in autos, travel and beauty.

Respondents provided ratings of specific brands in ten categories with exceptional levels of sales service. Some of the standout performers are Lexus, Mercedes and BMW in automobiles, Marriott, Hilton and Ritz-Carlton in hospitality, Coach in handbags, Nordstrom in fashion apparel and Rolex in watches. Categories in which the highest proportions of wealthy customers cite exceptional service are jewelry and watches (31%), leisure travel (24%), and fashion apparel (24%).

“A strong Customer Culture has a halo effect on companies,” says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. ”More than 75% of high-end shoppers recommend brands to family and friends based on outstanding experiences that they’ve had with a salesperson.”

Respondents reported average income of $310,000 and average net worth of $3.6 million.

About the Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.

Comments Off

September 12, 2012

In Asian Luxury Hotels, Wealthy Chinese Love Lodging With Hyatt And Marriot, But Japan Prefers Putting On the Ritz

Posted in China,Customer Experience,Customer Service/CRM,Hotel/Resort,Japan,LBSI,Luxury Brands,Press Releases,Travel & Leisure
Tags: Grand Hyatt, InterContinental, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, St.Regis —

(NEW YORK) September 12, 2012 – U.S. hotel operators prove popular among wealthy travelers in Asia’s two biggest markets, according to two new Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) surveys of affluent Chinese and Japanese by the independent and objective New York-based Luxury Institute. Japanese travelers earning at least 15 million yen per year ($190,000) evaluated 20 luxury hotel brands, and Chinese consumers with minimum annual income of one million yuan ($157,000) considered 26 luxury-lodging names.

Wealthy respondents rated hotels 1-10 on criteria including quality of accommodations, exclusivity, degree of status enhancement and ability to deliver special guest experiences. They also indicated which hotel brands they planned to stay with this year, and whether they’re willing to pay premium prices or to recommend a brand to people close to them.

In China, St. Regis (8.41) earns the highest LBSI score, but the JW Marriott (36%) and Grand Hyatt (34%) were most frequently visited in the past year by wealthy Chinese travelers and are the two hotels where they plan to stay next. Along with InterContinental, Marriott and Hyatt are also the two most likely brands to receive favorable recommendations from wealthy Chinese travelers.

In Japan, Ritz-Carlton ranks at the top for both popularity and prestige. Ritz earns the second-highest (7.62) LBSI score, just behind Peninsula Hotels (7.66), but it is deemed the hotel most worthy of a price premium. Ritz-Carlton is also the most popular choice for the next hotel visit.

“Luxury hotels don’t achieve consistently superior ratings by accident,” says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. “Standards, systems and training underpin excellence in any service business, especially luxury.”

Comments Off

September 28, 2011

The Affluent Family | An Emerging Market Segment

Posted in Hotel/Resort,Luxury Market,Travel & Leisure,WealthSurvey
Tags: Affluent Family, Exclusive Resorts, iPad, Luxury Market, Ritz-Carlton, Technology, Travel —

By Susan Kime
JustLuxe
September 27, 2011

New research from both Ipsos Mendelsohn and the Luxury Institute display similar trends regarding an emerging luxury market segment: the affluent family. Starwood/St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton have re-sculpted their branding messages in order to attract this group among others, and membership sales of Exclusive Resorts. ER is the largest Destination Club in the world, with approximately 3,400 members. Their new member sales were up 60% in the first six months of 2011, versus the first six months of 2010. A major portion of their member-base is the affluent family.

Ipsos Mendelsohn, in their 2011 Annual Affluent Survey, found this year, that brands marketing to the affluent family have a higher chance of seeing ROI, since the family generally buys many products all at once, particularly in the digital and consumer electronic goods industries. This year was the first time that the affluent family was explored by Ipsos Mendelsohn. Their survey is based on 14,405 representative interviews with adults who have more than $100,000 in annual household income, which collectively represents 58.5 million adults.

Also, according to this research, the affluent family has now emerged as a major marketing segment, due in part to changes observed in the contemporary family dynamic. Purchasing decisions are no longer made by the head of house, but are largely discussed and influenced by the children, especially in the digital and mobile areas. Mature affluents are looking to their tech-savvy kids for advice on electronic products like mobile phones, tablets and laptops or computers. Children also have become heavy influencers on vacation locations.

The Luxury Institute’s Wealth Report for September 2011 mirrors many of these findings. The top two luxury categories in which the wealthy indicate plans to spend more are travel (18%) and technology (16%). Driven by the success of the iPad and numerous smartphones, plans to boost tech spending are up from 13% who indicated they would be spending more last year.

Private jet travel has become more popular also, with 12% of respondents planning to boost spending, compared to 9% in 2010. The Luxury Institute surveyed wealthy U.S. consumers earning at least $150,000 per year about attitudes toward luxury goods and services and future spending plans. Two luxury hotel brands, those who historically cater to both the ultra affluent and high-end travel have recently changed their messaging, possibly to attract more of this emerging segment.

At Starwood Luxury Collection hotels, that includes the St. Regis brand, their first new branding campaign in three years encompasses the theme of discovering unique experiences for its guests. The advertisements showcase what a travel experience looks like for a Luxury Collection guest through various photographs in an affluent consumer’s home, with the motto ”Life is a collection of experiences. Let us be your guide.”

Also, in a move toward enhancing the positive, memorable experience of the guest, Ritz-Carlton has created a new marketing concept, as it now suggests to its guests to let the brand “stay with them.” With the new campaign, the Marriott-owned hotel chain invites consumers to create memories in Ritz-Carlton properties around the world that will stay with guests long after they leave the hotel. The “Let Us Stay With You” film is already being featured on the branded Ritz-Carlton website as well as on its Facebook page.

In both cases, the focal evolution appears to have moved from outer to inner, instead of externals, stories of hotel histories and their locations, the focus has moved to a deeper dimension: the experience of the guest(s), their needs and wants, and how these luxury brands can fulfill them, creating unique memorable experiences.

Finally, it is important to mention Destination Clubs. I have written about this industry since its inception. This industry has had its ups and downs in the past years, but Exclusive Resorts has emerged as its largest and arguably most visible representative. Like all of destination clubs now extant, Exclusive Resorts has consistently catered to the affluent family and their travel needs. This year, as a validation point to the previous research mentioned, Exclusive Resorts’ growth YTD through June 30, 2011 in new membership sales were up 60% over the same period in 2010. They have added three new destinations this year at St. Andrews, Scotland, Doonbeg, Ireland and Montage, Deer Valley, and have partnered with Delta Air Lines and Delta Private Jets.

And, next week, members will learn about the new accessible events for 2012 that include The Super Bowl, The Final Four, New York Fashion Week, The Daytona 500 and more. ER’s logo is, “There’s No Place Like Together.” Seems to fit well with the current research.

http://www.justluxe.com/luxe-insider/trends/feature-1648233.php

Comments Off