Luxury Travel in Asia Pacific to Outpace Europe

According to a new Amadeus report featuring data from Tourism Economics, Asia Pacific’s luxury travel market will see faster overall growth than Europe’s from 2011 – 2025.

North America and Western Europe lead the world’s luxury travel market – accounting for 64% of global outbound luxury trips despite only making up 18% of the world’s population. However, the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in luxury outbound trips for Asia Pacific from 2011 – 2025, projected at 6.3%, will be higher than Europe (5.3%).

Leading the region are India and China, with a CAGR of 12.8% and 12.2% respectively. India’s projected growth in luxury travel is the highest of the 25 countries explored in this report and presents great potential for luxury travel investment over the coming decade.

The report further finds that growth in luxury travel will outpace overall travel, spurred on by consumers’ desire for life experiences. Over the next 10 years, the growth rate in outbound luxury trips is projected at 6.2%, almost a third greater than overall travel (4.8%).

“The Asian luxury travel market is one to watch. It presents a lucrative opportunity for travel players but will not be an easy one to crack,” said Hazem Hussein, Executive Vice President, Airline Commercial, Amadeus Asia Pacific. “Asian luxury travellers have a unique set of motivations and needs – truly understanding what drives their travel behaviour will be critical for travel providers looking to tap into that segment.”

Other key findings from report on Shaping the Future of Luxury Travel include:

· We have entered a new age of luxury travel, where luxury is curated, real-time and experience-led;

· Driven by India’s impressive luxury market growth, South Asia’s luxury travel market will expand at a faster rate than any other region explored;

· China’s relatively mature luxury market is set against a backdrop of tightening regulations and a battle against corruption. This means luxury travellers in China are more conscious about flaunting their wealth;

· Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand and Philippines, will also see luxury travel outpace overall travel;

· A human desire for more rewarding experiences provides an essential catalyst to evolve and improve travel industry quality and service standards;

· A hierarchy of luxury travel needs is identified, ranging from 5-star quality and service standards to exclusive VIP privacy and security

In 2015, Amadeus released a report called Future Traveller Tribes 2030, which identified six traveller tribes based on consumer behaviour, recognising that purchasing patterns change depending on the circumstances of each trip.

Using similar methodology, Shaping the Future of Luxury Travel identifies six luxury traveller tribes to help travel providers better target their luxury customer market: Always Luxury; Special Occasion; Bluxury; Cash-rich, Time-poor; Strictly Opulent; and Independent Affluent.

“Luxury means different things to different people and this is especially true today. As emergent middle classes seek the material aspect of luxury travel, more mature markets are craving a new, evolved kind of luxury,” said Rob Sinclair-Barnes, Strategic Marketing Director at Amadeus IT Group. “This is why offering luxury customers a relevant personal and exclusive experience will become even more crucial than it is today – it will be a differentiating factor between old and new luxury. Exploring the latest technologies and innovations for making the industry work better as a whole is key to achieving a new level of luxury that has never existed before.”

The report was commissioned by and developed with data from Tourism Economics as well as expert interviews with global luxury travel experts across specialist travel concierge agencies, airlines, hoteliers and intermediary suppliers through Connections, a global networking event organiser for luxury travel providers.

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