Opinion & Comment
Reinvention comes in many forms, but don’t forget to stay personal and true to your brand
volatility of global markets, luxury businesses need to keep reinventing themselves and create the type of products and services that continue to inspire new breeds of consumers, while staying true to their origins and heritage. The challenge remains equal to all brands in
Guy Bentley, chief executive, Glion Institute of Higher Education
As an institution that focuses on educating the future generation, we felt it important to host a recent panel called Inside the Future of Luxury with experts from across the luxury sphere. We gathered James Amos, marketing director
of Boodles Jewellers; celebrated chef and restaurateur Mark Hix; Stephen Alden, chief executive of Maybourne Hotel Group; David Lewis the managing director of Sunseeker; and Marcus Wareing, Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur. And while they each had a unique perspective, it seems there are several themes in common. According to a study commissioned by
Walpole, the UK’s high-end creative and cultural industries are forecast to reach sales values of £51-57 billion by 2019 and account for as many as 177,000 jobs. With such rapid growth and the
This man thinks that star ratings matter more than ever in the digital age
sites, travellers are becoming more savvy to these “influential” websites, while “real life” reviews can have a huge effect on a hotelier’s business. But in most cases, consumers have too much information at their fingertips and it can make for a scattered and confusing landscape. TripAdvisor is hugely successful, and I admire
Gerard J. Inzerillo, chief executive, Forbes Travel Guide
Travel is a massive sector, representing 9% of global GDP and there is a revolution going on with regards to information. There are so many associations claiming unbiased ratings and websites that offer ratings, awards and reviews, yet are they reliable and how can we recognise those that are truly relevant and trustworthy? With the commoditisation of travel, the growth of OTAs and the proliferation of review
it because it’s a place where people can go and learn about travel. But the luxury guest doesn’t really trust TripAdvisor because it doesn’t know what it means to be truly four-star or five-star – it doesn’t measure service at its deepest level. The best hotels in the world are the ones that serve their guests the best and once there are worldwide standards applied, the luxury consumer can then make an informed decision. To make any rating system reliable,
informative, fair and transparent – something that our customers and agents can trust and use –we need to guarantee the quality of service and product by having clearly defined standards; standards that are relevant geographically, relevant culturally and relevant for the time.
20
TTGLUXURY.COM SPRING 2016 BUSINESS OF TRAVEL
the luxury sector: how to sell non-essential goods and services. Typically, brands utilise design, branding and the experience related to a good or a service to differentiate from competition and engage customers – all three categories need to be of the highest level and quality to inspire consumers to choose and stay loyal to a brand. At the same time, consumer groups are changing, with a younger millennial generation gaining spending power that is well-informed and spoilt for choice, making most purchasing
decisions online and expecting the best value for money. In order to cater to this consumer group, auctioneer Christie’s is increasingly running online-only auctions for modern art, watches and wine and generates more than 30% of its new business this way. But more senior customers’ behaviour is also
shifting: where a Sunseeker boat show in the past attracted a mostly male clientele it has become a family event, where decisions are made across genders and generations. Luxury companies are now organising non-accessible, unique experiences to ensure brand loyalty: at jeweller Boodles, buyers of certain collections get access to exclusive private performances of the Royal Ballet, accompanied by a Boodles family member. In the high-end hospitality sector, guests have
always been willing to spend more for a higher quality of service and a heightened atmosphere – Wareing builds on the heritage of his restaurants and caters his service to guests’ every wish, while Hix commissions artists such as Damien Hirst to create unique environments (pictured). And for long-time London hotelier and Glion alumnus Stephen Alden, innovations often occur through cross-sector creative collaborations. Online has of course become indispensable,
but despite digitalisation trends, consumers still appreciate a human element and on the highest levels of luxury, a need for personal interaction prevails to provide the personalised service that inspires consumers’ confidence. Because as Alden says: “Luxury is something that moves you – with an emphasis on you.”
glion.edu
At Forbes Travel Guide, we are creating, like
the Olympics, a global benchmark of excellence that measures the best hotels around the world with a single system. Based on a proprietary set of 800 objective standards that we’ve been developing since 1958 when we first started, our ratings are now accepted and embraced worldwide. We rate hotels in 29 countries throughout the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region and plan to expand further. Our ratings process is the most stringent in
the hospitality industry, so guests will have no doubt about the quality of service and product they can expect from one of our rated properties. Hotel partners, particularly in London and
the UK, welcome the idea of Forbes Travel Guide Star Ratings. We provide a reliable source, which is a natural “go to” when it comes to informed decision making about travel and lifestyle. We have worked hard to build our relationship
with the trade, which is a hugely important part of the luxury travel industry. Travel agents are the conduit and the experts who know what their clients are looking for and we want them to trust us to be transparent and reliable too.
forbestravelguide.com
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