Leaders of by


FORUM REPORT Leaders of Luxury 2021: T ravel Weekly’s luxury sister title Aspire held its annual


Luxury bosses upbeat and ‘bullish’ about next year


A


panel of industry experts painted a positive picture of travel, reporting


“record-breaking” bookings, a healthy appetite for holidays and a renewed reliance on the trade. Black Tomato said it had the


best trading months in its history in September, October and November, with the company hitting its November target within the first two weeks of the month. Atlantis The Palm in Dubai


reported October had been its “best month in the history of the resort”. It is on track to unveil sister property Atlantis The Royal by the fourth quarter of next year and has further expansion plans afoot. Private jet company Air Charter


Service is expanding its headcount on the back of an increase in enquiries, with 20% of bookings each month coming from new clients. And new cruise line Explora


Journeys, whose first ship launches I think we have to


approach everything with a healthy dose of realism for what can come


in May 2023, said it was seeing demand for bookings into 2024, with sales for the vessel’s upper inventory “outpacing” the rest of the ship. Black Tomato co-founder


Tom Marchant said: “The world is back up and running, not necessarily as it was before, but places are opening up and people’s appetite is really strong. I’m bullish about next year but I think we have to approach everything with a healthy dose of realism for what can come.” All panellists agreed the recovery


from the pandemic posed a “great opportunity” for agents. Tim Kelly, executive vice-president and managing director of Atlantis


Dubai, said almost 50% of the property’s bookings were made by the trade, a proportion he expected to continue into 2022. “When you have an experiential


product, it’s very hard to express that online,” he said. “You need an expert [explaining] why this is a relevant choice for you as a customer.” Jessie Howes, private jet director


at Air Charter Service, said travel agent bookings were “on par” with last November, adding: “We are really gearing towards travel agents. People who don’t know how to charter go to their agents. It’s a booming market.” Helen Beck, head of global sales


excellence at Explora Journeys, said market research had highlighted “a heavier reliance on travel advisors”, leading the line to create a ‘by appointment’ service for agents. “Everything we’re doing is with


the travel advisor at the heart,” she said. “We’re going to the guests through the travel community.”


‘Covid is not an excuse for mediocre service’ and customers want to feel they are ‘truly cared for’


Travel sellers were warned not to be fooled into believing that consumers would be more obliging following the pandemic. Filip Boyen, chief executive of Forbes Travel Guide, said average daily hotel rates had gone up


by between 30% and 50%, with customers expecting “the very best”. He said: “A lot of players in our business thought that clients would be extremely forgiving [in light of] the pandemic. But guests are not forgiving at all. Covid is certainly not an excuse for mediocre or inferior service.” Businesses can placate difficult clients by investing in the “emotional side of service”, Boyen


said, adding: “Human connection is the most important thing, because after 18 months of frustration and isolation, people want to feel again. “Why is it so difficult to get five stars at Forbes? Simple – 75% of our standards are about


the emotional side of service. How you make your client feel today is more important than ever because people want to feel safe and truly cared for – and that’s what you have to deliver.” The panel expressed concern that service levels were hard to maintain with the loss of so many employees from the sector.


12 25 NOVEMBER 2021 ‘I steer clients in the right direction’: Jessie Howes


Tom Marchant


Agent promotes sustainable options Travel agents have a responsibility to steer their clients in the right direction when it comes to sustainability, delegates were told. Katie Terrington, owner of Katie Terrington Private Travel


and co-founder of not-for-profit social enterprise The Conscious Travel Foundation, said although responsible travel isn’t high on her clients’ agenda, she actively promotes sustainable alternatives. “My role as a travel advisor is to present them with options,” she


said. “I often find when clients go to the property they come back with their eyes open to all the incredible things that those properties might be doing. You must steer them in the right direction. “If you’ve done the right job in matching them up to a [luxury]


product and it is doing all of the right things on the ground, then that journey has started for them.”


travelweekly.co.uk


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