06 August 2008

Luxury differs for men and women

Women value a fantastic bathroom and the ability to keep the children happy on holiday, while men want a concierge and a lively bar.

A survey on luxury holiday by Kuoni, to coincide with the launch of its Luxury Travel Report, found differences in the needs of men and women.

In July, 1,500 adults were quizzed about what they felt made a luxurious holiday and the study revealed that keeping children happy is three times more important for women than men, while a fantastic bathroom is four times more important for women.

The majority of men claimed that a luxurious holiday required the use of a concierge and should have a bar with atmosphere within their resort.

Not surprisingly, overall those quizzed felt the most important features for a luxury holiday were five-star accommodation and flights.

Privacy is more sought after in the younger generations. Some 20 per cent of 16-24 year olds desired to be on their own, but only 15 per cent of 35-44 year olds and seven per cent of those aged 65 over wanted to escape from everyone else.

However, when looked at by income brackets, it is clear that the wealthy rate privacy as important. Of those in the Ã&#pound;80,000-Ã&#pound;100,000 salary bracket, 38 per cent wanted space from others, while for the rest of the population the figure is 17 per cent.

Meanwhile, The Luxury Travel Report revealed Thailand, KuoniÃ¢â¬â¢s top seller in 2007, has remained in the number one spot in the year to date. The Maldives has moved up from number three to number two and last yearÃ¢â¬â¢s number two, Dubai, has slipped a place.

Although Dubai offers high standards of service and accommodation, its popularity has been affected by stories about the amount of building work in the resort.

Antigua, which did not make the top 20 in 2007, is in 20^th position so far this year and head of long haul Wendy Kenneally said it had not seen any drop off in bookings following the recent killing of two Britons at Cocos Hotel on the island. Kuoni does not feature the property.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis year, Antigua has been very popular and bookings are around 30 per cent up,Ã¢â¬~ said Kenneally. Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are coming up to the low season in September, but so far we have not seen any significant change in booking patterns and people are not cancelling their holidays.Ã¢â¬~

Kuoni managing director Nick Hughes said its relaunched flagship store in High Street Kensington, London, which opened three months ago, had exceeded its sales targets.

It will open another new-look store in Manchester in September and Hughes re-iterated plans to open up to 10 stores in selected destinations around the country.

The operator has also recruited six travel counsellors and Hughes said two of them were now among its best sales advisors.

by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)