Skift Take

Luxury brands are gradually realizing the power of experiences and this is leading them to buy or partner with traditional travel and hospitality companies. Expect this trend to continue in 2019.

Series: New Luxury

Luxury Travel News

The Skift New Luxury column is our weekly column focused on the business of selling luxury travel, the people and companies creating and selling experiences, emerging trends, and the changing consumer habits around the sector.

When LVMH, which owns brands ranging from Louis Vuitton to Moet Hennessy, acquired Belmond, it wasn’t the first time a luxury fashion firm decided to get involved with hospitality. But it does represent something of a change in the way high-end retailers view fashion.

Before it might look good for a brand to occasionally partner with or buy a hotel, but now it is considered vital to have a bigger slice of the “experiences” market, as well as goods.

Earlier this year, we published a story on luxury car firms linking up with hotels, and that is just one area to keep an eye on. The whole luxury sector is primed for more cross-selling.

For feedback or news tips, reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet me @paddywhyte

— Patrick Whyte, Europe Editor

6 Looks at Luxury

Luxury Brands Are Making Unconventional Partnerships the Next Big Thing: Convergence, collaboration, partnership. By whatever name you call the phenomenon, expect to see more luxury travel companies expanding their appeal by teaming up with their customers’ favorite brands.

The New York Times Misfires With 52 Places to Go List: Nobody wins from The New York Times making a spectacle out of people’s dreams and then recommending a trite list of places to visit. The prominence of destination lists also speaks to the bigger problems in travel media.

The Megatrends Defining Wellness in 2019: Find out what’s on the rise and worth tracking in the wellness industry this year with these Megatrends, from mind- and body-focused co-working spaces to health biohacking to the continued buzz around CBD.

Bangkok’s Prolonged Haze Could Cost Millions in Tourist Dollars: Bangkok needs more than rainmakers to be treated seriously as the world’s top city destination, and to be a strong contender for medical tourists. Here’s what’s choking the city and why it’s unhealthy for tourism.

Luxury Concierges Help the Super Rich Grab Elite Experiences: If your net worth is about $50 million — the supposed average net worth of members of luxury concierge service Quintessentially — you too can have some unique travel experiences. This shows how the “experiences” trend is becoming pervasive in different shapes and forms, and for a variety of income levels.

Bali Mulls How to Charge $10 Tax on Foreign Tourists: Tourism revenue accounts for a vast majority of Bali’s income, but the crowds take a toll on its resources and infrastructure. Now the provincial government will charge a toll of its own: a $10 tax on foreign visitors to help defray the impact.

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Skift Europe Editor Patrick Whyte [[email protected]] curates the New Luxury newsletter. Skift emails the newsletter every Tuesday.

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Tags: belmond, luxury, lvmh

Photo credit: A guest boarding the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. Luxury brands will step up their collaborations this year. Belmond

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