Founded in 1998, Strategic Vision is a global marketing communications company specializing in execution of strategies involving campaigns that focus directly on the luxury market and the affluent consumer.
Strategic Vision’s 2024 Pulse of the Industry Survey, measuring the outlook and opinions of luxury travel advisors, shows that wealthy consumers are driven mostly by emotional motivators post-pandemic: spending time with family, the importance of self-care, coupled with opportunities to go “beyond.” A new survey of consumers and professional travel advisors affirms that the luxury travel industry is still booming, but also signals that bookings are tapering off this year and that high-net-worth consumers are showing resistance to the increasing cost of travel.
The survey reveals rising interest in cruises particularly expedition cruises, adventure travel, multigenerational travel, and destinations including Italy, Japan, and Antarctica. Post-pandemic, clients are driven now by emotional needs: curiosity, fulfillment, and self-care, and are willing to spend to reach those goals. At the same time, they express concern about the price-to-value ratio and the quality of service they encounter on the road.
Respondents to Strategic Vision’s 2024 Pulse of the Industry Survey — which includes executives from top travel management global firms that plan and book leisure, business, meetings, and incentive travel for some of the world’s largest companies and wealthiest individuals — largely reflected the industry’s optimism about luxury travel, predicting that revenues and bookings would continue their post-pandemic rise. Nine out of ten respondents (91%) said 2023 revenues were up year over year. The Pulse of the Industry Survey was sent in Spring 2024 to CEOs, presidents, and other senior executives of the leading luxury travel management firms and meetings & incentive buyers in the U.S. These firms, members of Strategic Vision's research panel, arrange travel for luxury leisure clients, corporate executives, and high-end meetings and incentive groups.
“The customer has changed since COVID, becoming more demanding, less forgiving, more entitled,” said Peter J. Bates, President and Founder of Strategic Vision. “And as generations shift — the very youngest boomers are in their 60s; Gen Xers are well into their 50s — attitudes and offerings must shift along with them.
Below are some key findings of the survey, which was conducted in Spring 2024.
According to the survey, the desire for personal connections, intellectual stimulation, and emotional well-being is what spurs luxury consumers to travel. Asked about the strongest travel motivators for their clients, the top answers were spending more time with family and loved ones (63%); discovering new destinations (59%); the opportunity for “transformative” or life-changing experiences (57%); and rest and relaxation or “getting away from it all” (43%).
More time with family means more multigenerational trips: 83% of respondents said that bookings for multigen trips have increased over the past 2-3 years, with 48% saying that bookings have increased by 25% or more (0% reported a decrease).
Not surprisingly, Europe and Japan ruled the list of most popular destinations in 2024. Italy was at the top, mentioned by 44% of all respondents, followed by Japan (33%), Europe in general (28%), France (22%), and the United Kingdom (17%).
Asked about destinations that are emerging or trending in 2024, most advisors mentioned places that are farther afield, reflecting a yearning for deeper and longer explorations. Antarctica was number one, mentioned by 17% of all respondents, followed by Japan (15%), Australia and New Zealand (11%), Northern Europe, including the Northern Lights specifically (11%), and Southeast Asia (9%).
Cruise business is full steam ahead, with 74% of survey respondents saying their 2024 bookings would surpass 2019 levels, compared to 13% who expected it to level off, and a mere 2% whose cruise business is still lagging behind 2019’s numbers. More than 80% reported increased client interest in expedition cruises, and 50% are seeing more interest in river cruises.
“Cruising is still largely seen as a good value, especially at a time when consumers perceive many luxury hotels to be overpriced,” said Bates. “It also aligns with consumer interest in multigenerational trips and discovering new destinations.
Asia is also back, and bigger than before: 43% said their Asia bookings will surpass 2019 levels, and another 33% predicted they would be at around that level. Advisors cited Southeast Asian destinations like Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia’s Raja Ampat and Sumba islands as “emerging” hot spots.
Asked about the most significant obstacles to travel for their clients, the top answer was “high prices relative to the perceived value of travel,” cited by 67% of respondents. Eight out of ten respondents agreed that in general, clients are willing to spend a lot more on travel than in the recent past, and nine out of ten said clients are willing to spend a lot more on “exclusive and/or bespoke” travel experiences than in the recent past.
“A higher perceived value — the idea that ‘this experience was created just for me’ — is what opens wallets,” said Bates. And consequentially, the importance of sustainability and overtourism are less consequential than in previous years. Overcrowding and “overtourism” were cited as a top client concern by 30% of respondents this year — a marked decrease from our 2020 survey, when 42% of respondents said that overtourism concerns had a negative impact on client travel decisions. Similarly, this year 0% cited concerns about sustainability as obstacles to travel, vs. 27% four years ago.
“Our market intelligence with cruise lines, hotels, event planners, and travel advisors suggest that high net worth consumers — armed with substantial portfolios and savings accounts — are not slowing down,” said Bates. “They may be adjusting and reassessing, but our research shows that business will remain buoyant for the rest of this year.”
