High-value bookings on the rise, say luxury operators

 An increase in high-value bookings has been noticed across the luxury travel sector.

Discussing current trends and customer habits during a panel session at Aspire’s Leaders of Luxury conference, held at The Peninsula London on June 22, delegates from several luxury operators reported the shift.

Managing director at Lusso, James Weaver, revealed that while the operator’s booking volume has decreased by around 90 fewer trips since January, total turnover has risen by 10% with an average booking value of £26,000.

He credited this to high-value clients “repurposing their holidays to other destinations” amid the ongoing disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

He said: “The big winners have been the Caribbean and cruise. Interestingly, Europe was down for us in January in terms of booking value, but in March [the region] was 231% up, which was a result of the crisis and people refocusing holidays there."

Managing director of ITC Travel Group, Lisa Smith, reported a similar trend.

Across the group’s four brands, which include Inspiring Travel, Spectate, Regent and Rainbow, the average booking value has increased by 40% year on year.

Smith said: “We’ve been seeing our booking value increase substantially since December. While volume was down in May, the number of high-value bookings was up 70% year on year. So far in June, we’re up 90% year on year.”

Smith said this was the result of “elevating and narrowing” ITC Travel Group’s product portfolio.

She added: “Last November, we started to do some work around product positioning and marketing to really elevate our proposition, focusing on higher room categories.”

Carrier has also seen continued growth in high-value bookings since launching its first dedicated product brochure, The Limitless Collection, focused on “big-ticket trips with a price-tag of more than £100,000” last year.

Managing director Natasha Towey (pictured) said: “The high-value booking space is one that we’ve strategically intended to grow and we have seen that growth over the last four years. Since launching The Limitless Collection, we went from doing around 30 to 35 of those types of trips per year to more than 50.

“That’s continued into this year, despite a little slowdown due to the Middle East conflict, but we’ve caught up, and we’re on par with 2024. Our biggest booking so far this year was just short of seven figures for a trip to the World Cup.”

Carrier also reported “strong growth” for bookings worth £60,000 to £100,000, with sales in this bracket up by 10% year on year.