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Luxury Travel Trends For 2008 Tip Toward Concierges, Family

By Craig Altschul
December 14, 2007

Family travel is the fastest growing rate of all sectors of leisure travel and American Express travel agents report a corresponding rise in the luxury arena. They say 82 percent requested high end lodging properties with kids' programs and that 56 percent brought along their nannies (maybe there's a limit to closeness).

That said, quality concierge services will score big this year. There's an overload of information available today and the affluent among us want someone else to sort it all out. "Personal concierges are all the rage," she says. Go get 'em dinner, arrange flowers, ski school lessons, get babysitters (for those sans nannies). You know the drill.

Other trends: Fitness is in and, if you've got the bucks, you want to be pummeled and pampered in style. High quality spas are a necessity for those concerned about "age maintenance" even on vacations.

Even social responsibility gets a nod. Escalera says things are different than they were at the end of the nineties when cause-related marketing prevailed. She says today's wealthy consumers want to believe "their consumption is also helping to save the planet." That bodes well for the Aspen Ski Corp's communication of their significant environmental efforts.

Big money follows big money. Perhaps that's why the Sundance Film Festival is so successful in Park City, Utah each January.

Finally, "exotic" is in. Those with no limit platinum can go anywhere. OK, Andorra, Lapland, and Bulgaria. Go for it.

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