Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 9. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
22.12.2023 - 00:35 / thepointsguy.com
It's harder than ever to open a new luxury hotel. Interest rates and construction costs are high, so even the projects that do move ahead take longer than expected to finish.
On one hand, that means fewer new hotels entering the space, so nightly rates are going even higher. But on the other, it puts major pressure on hotel owners to renovate and refresh existing hotels to provide something new to longtime guests. This often means new restaurants, outside-the-box experiences and revitalized guest rooms and suites.
The recent International Luxury Travel Market conference in Cannes, France, showed some of the leading trends in luxury hotels heading into 2024. Here are a few of our takeaways.
Luxury hotel brands, in general, don't add waves of new hotels in the best of business climates. But financing trends nowadays make it harder than ever to expand into new markets. When a brand can't add a slew of new properties, suddenly the existing hotels in its portfolio must shine brighter than ever before. This means providing returning guests with new experiences alongside lofty room and suite buildouts they haven't seen before.
The Peninsula New York, first opened in 1905, is undergoing a phased renovation in 2024 that will see new carpets and wall fixtures as well as a brighter Palm Court restaurant. The hotel's rooftop bar will get more of a loft vibe with an anticipated finish by September.
The guest roster at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi relies on 65% repeat business — including its $90,000 per night private island that is a favorite of Beyonce and Jay-Z. Having such a high level of repeat guests means the resort has to constantly find new ways to keep things fresh, from the food served to the guests to the cocktails mixed in the bars.
"I find it extremely luxurious to be working for us because how do you please a billionaire? How do you please someone who has everything?" TJ Joulak, general manager of the Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi, said. "You touch the heart. It's the experience."
All signs point to a major tailwind for luxury travel at Marriott International in the new year. The world's largest hotel company hosted a breakfast at ILTM showcasing all the metrics that give Marriott leadership confidence in their luxury travel sector heading into 2024. Further, signs point to a luxury hotel expansion around the world.
There is an anticipated 38% increase in global wealth by 2027 — reaching $629 trillion, according to data provided by Marriott's luxury group. Additionally, 30% of the world's wealth is expected to be in emerging economies in the same timeline. But demand for luxury hotels is outpacing supply: Demand is expected to grow by 11.4% by the end of 2025 compared to only a 4.5%
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, January 9. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
Some pundits thought COVID was going to kill the cruise industry. They were wrong.
The Beverly Hilton may have hosted the Golden Globes on Sunday, but that's far from being the only luxurious happening taking place at a Hilton this year.
Embark on a literary journey at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel. On Jan 12, 2024, the hotel will host the second instalment of the Reese’s Book Club x Sheraton Lobby Library. It’s the Reese’s Book Club’s only stop in Canada. This collaboration is a cornerstone of the new Gatherings by Sheraton program, which features weekly experiences aimed to help guests and locals feel inspired by the stories and cultures of communities around the world, ultimately helping guests get the most out of their travels.
Five hotels under Dubai’s home-grown company Emaar Hospitality have been rebranded in one swoop this week. Properties in prestige locations such as The Dubai Mall (the world’s biggest mall) and Dubai Marina have been rebranded as Kempinski and Marriott respectively. Abu Dhabi National Hotels (ADNH) owns the properties and says the move to strip Emaar branding was a “strategic business decision.”
Ask a New York City regular where to stay in Manhattan and they’ll tell you NoMad is the coolest downtown neighborhood. The clue is in the name: NoMad, or Madison Square North, bounces right off the north end of Madison Square Park. A recent revival has brought a surge in luxury hotels, inventive bistros, and voguish bars to this historic 30-block nook. NoMad hotels are close (but not too close) to Times Square while Chelsea and the Flatiron District are on the doorstep. The “North of Madison Square Park” neighborhood is ripe with luxury hotels for sightseeing and nightlife in NYC, and the new INNSiDE by Meliá New York NoMad leads the pack.
Takes Hyatt Ziva Cap Cana’s dining concepts to new levels.
Filmmaker. Academy Award Winner. Knight. Sir Ridley Scott is not short on titles; and now, the Napoleon director can also add hotelier to the list with Mas des Infermières, a historic winery and vineyard with vacation residences in the heart of Provence, France. Owned and operated by Scott and his family, this charming Luberon address sits on the fringes of the medieval hilltop village of Oppède-le-Vieux and has been in the Scott family for over 30 years. The estate’s first independent vintage was recently released in 2020.
Merging hospitality with the world’s top Asian destinations, Remote Lands is at the forefront of the luxury travel planning industry. The operator offers itineraries to 38 different countries on the Asian continent, highlighting the cuisine, heritage, and standout features of each. The company has teamed up with hospitality brand Aman to add a personalized element to its trips by jet.
Since its launch in 2018 as a luxury lifestyle brand of individual hotels with distinct character, Radisson Hotel Group has seen rapid growth within its Radisson Collection brand.
In this series of articles, I talk to a wide range of travel experts, insiders and luxury brands to find out more about the future of travel for next year and beyond. In Part 1, I wrote about the search for authentic travel and how technology can elevate travel experiences. For Part 2, I spoke to Black Tomato about the rise in people wanting to capture special moments through travel experiences. In Part 3, I looked at the rise of sustainable architecture, the return of maximalist hotel design and the quest for the best of sleep science. In Part 4, Cazenove+Loyd x Globetrender revealed their seven key travel trends for 2024. For Part 5, I spoke to wellness experts about the growth in demand for immersive well-being experiences when travelling. Today, for Part 6, and the last article in this Trends series, I write about a return to age-old traditions in the burgeoning wellness industry.
Wellness used to be as one-dimensional as a spin class and a smoothie. Diet and exercise are of course still fundamental, but we’ve finally started to embrace a more holistic approach to achieving better health. This means focusing on long neglected areas like a solid sex life, socializing, rest and recovery, and emotional and mental wellbeing. Feeling good now trumps looking good and healthspan—the quality of our years—has become just as important as lifespan. Longevity, the concept of living a longer and healthier life, will be the biggest buzzword of 2024, with wellness clinics as well as sybaritic beach retreats offering the latest biohacks (cryotherapy, infrared light treatments, poolside vitamin IV drips) to optimize our performance. Tantra gurus and sex therapists will be the new must-have in-house expert and artificial-intelligence empowered smart beds are fast becoming an expected amenity.