People will continue to pay for luxury
Holidaymakers are looking for authentic experiences and are prepared to pay big money for them, delegates at the ABTA Travel Convention were told.
Martin Lomax, the business development director at Gold Medal Travel, said nearly 50 per cent of people agreed with the following statement about luxury holidays: “These holidays are all about the experience.â€
Speaking in a breakout session entitled “Selling Luxuryâ€, he added: “Luxury is now about authenticity and the enhanced experience and you must differentiate your product.â€
Lomax said Gold Medal´s Pure Luxury Holidays division currently had two bookings in the pipeline, each for half a million pounds.
“Our average selling price is 7,500 pounds and the most expensive holiday we have sold so far has been for 110,000 pounds, but that is about to be beaten with those holidays in the pipeline,†he said.
The average duration for a Pure Luxury Holidays trip is seven to eight nights.
Lomax claimed the market was resilient and said the luxury sector was continuing to grow. He said statistics showed that 1.6 million people had a disposable income over 100,000 pounds per year and over five million had a salary of more than 50,000 pounds per annum.
He said 16 per cent of family holidays sold by Pure Luxury Holidays were for three adults, because people were increasingly taking their nanny with them on trips.
Delegates were also told that 42,000 rooms would be added in the first class and luxury market in Dubai in the next five years.
By Jeremy Skidmore
Jeremy Skidmore
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Air Mauritius reduces frequencies to Europe and Asia for the holiday season
Major rail disruptions around and in Berlin until early 2026