Reported by Sanjiv Bisaria
Luxury Travel Highlights from ILTM Cannes: The 2016 edition of the International Luxury Travel Market is now underway in Cannes where Travel+Leisure India’s representative is treading the red carpet and ballrooms to bring you the latest news.
Some of the most intriguing insights into the mind of the luxury traveller came from Clare Bennett, vice president, strategic partnerships, American Express Consumer Travel, who spoke about the trends emerging from a recent American Express Travel survey that revealed travellers in the future will use both high-tech options and high-touch human service to create a unique, highly personalised travel experience.
Luxury Travel Highlights from ILTM Cannes: What to know
According to Bennett, 83 percent of surveyed millennials said they value personalisation and are comfortable with travel brands tracking their habits in exchange for a more tailored experience. “People are very comfortable with a brand curating their data,” she said. “They want that level of personalisation. They want you to use the data. They want brands to take that information, and use it to make their trip more compelling. More and more consumers will be expecting: “You should know this about me.”
As for the future of luxury travel, it seems to be overwhelmingly positive according to a new trends report published yesterday by ILTM in association with Euromonitor. Luxury travel can expect to see more buoyant growth across the globe with highest growth seen in the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa. Chinese outbound travellers are predicted to reach over 87 million by 2019, with the most popular destinations all located in Asia Pacific.
“The theme of this year’s ILTM was ‘Love, Loyalty and Luxury,’ which will help travel agents create more meaningful relationships within the global luxury travel market. They will enjoy improved, genuine human connections and experiences with the service providers and managers at boutique and global hoteliers, experiential adventurists, high-end cruise specialists and other luxury suppliers,” said Perry Lungmus, Vice President of Luxury Travel for Travel Leaders Network. “Our participating Travel Leaders luxury agents know that ILTM is where they can network with a global array of travel experts who truly understand this unique breed of luxury travelers.”
