Fancy hotels and dinners aren't enough for wealthy travelers anymore — now some want to feel like celebrities with security and motorcades

04.10.2024 - 18:51 / insider.com / George W.Bush / Jeff Bezos / Mariah Carey / Sienna India / Sienna Charles

Millionaires, they're just like us.

When they see Instagram posts of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé surrounded by devoted followers, paparazzi, and motorcades, they also feel envious. The only difference is that when they travel, they can pay to replicate the feeling of fame and prestige.

Jaclyn Sienna India, founder and CEO of ultra-luxury travel concierge service Sienna Charles, told Business Insider that most of her clients now request security and private hotel check-ins, even if they aren't recognizable individuals.

She calls this phenomenon the "celebritization" of travel.

Ironically, some of her customers, like singer Mariah Carey and former president George W. Bush's family, have obtained A-lister status. However, most of its 100 or so clients are finance executives with an average starting net worth of $100 million — enough to pay the company's annual $75,000 to $150,000 membership fees.

A few prefer to stay under the radar. But over the last few years — especially with the proliferation of Instagram — most have started wanting to "feel special, feel like a celebrity, and for people to know how much they're worth," India said.

For Sienna Charles' clients, this means requesting security, hotel check-ins from the privacy of their car instead of at the front desk, and a motorcade of four to eight vehicles. They're not for an entourage — just to "arrive in style, emulating the glitz and glam they've seen in movies," a spokesperson said.

In other words, "they want to be acknowledged from the first moment," India said, noting that achieving stardom, as Jeff Bezos has done, is their "last frontier."

"They're the billionaire next door, and nobody knows who they are," Sienna Charles' CEO said. "Nobody will go above and beyond for them the same way they would for a celebrity. But the one thing that separates them is what they don't have. Recognition."

They could strategically buy fame by hiring a publicist and social media team. Or, they could turn to Sienna Charles to provide celebrity-like services, such as a table at an otherwise impossible-to-book restaurant.

On the surface, the "celebritization" trend is about recognition and ego.

It's a yearning to replicate the celebrity lifestyle, as shown in A-listers' Instagram posts. A desire to experience what it's like to be Rihanna, surrounded by cameras as she walks down the streets of New York City.

"The amount of wealth these people have amassed is absolutely incredible and only happens to less than 1% of people," India said. "So they should feel special, and I think they want to be recognized."

But dig a bit deeper, and it'll also reveal gripes about the hospitality industry.

Good luck booking the best hotels and restaurants if you're ultrawealthy but not