A high-profile panel of luxury travel specialists at World Travel Market 2014 will share new research on affluent travellers and debate how not only luxury product, but also the theory and practice of selling that product to new customers is changing.
In a session called “Evolution of selling luxury: what do affluent travellers want and how can we give it to them?” the panel will talk about how the boundaries are shifting on the creation of luxury experiences for travellers and discuss what anyone’s guidelines should be if they are serious about selling luxury travel.
Timetric Analyst Oliver Williams will begin the session with an analysis of affluent consumers worldwide and changes in what they want from travel and services.
The confirmed panel speakers are:
- Brown + Hudson Founder, Philippe Brown. Brown + Hudson works with high and ultra-high net worth clients and is set on redefining what bespoke travel should be, using a method Brown calls “part journalist, part therapist”.
- Kuoni UK Managing Director, Derek Jones. Kuoni is a tailor-made and luxury tour operator and Jones has also now grown its retail estate in the UK to 30 branded stores, including concessions within John Lewis, as well as branded partnerships with selected independent travel agents.
- andBeyond CEO, Joss Kent. andBeyond runs more than 30 luxury lodges and camps of its own in Africa and India and works with other partner properties in Asia. A former guide in Africa, Kent has also previously headed up Abercrombie & Kent.
- Volcanoes Safaris Founder, Praveen Momam. Volcanoes Safaris has a strong grounding in sustainability and community and owns and runs four eco-luxury lodges in Uganda and Rwanda, specialising in safaris to see mountain gorillas and chimpanzees in the neighbouring forests.
- Virtuoso SVP of Global Member Partnerships, Becky Powell. Virtuoso is a luxury network with more than 340 agency members who between them have 8,900 elite advisors in 20 countries throughout North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand. Powell supports the network’s agency members, managing professional development and training.
April Hutchinson, editor of ttgluxury, the UK-based magazine for premium travel professionals, will moderate the session. It takes place on Tuesday 4 November from 15:30 to 16:30 in the South Gallery, Rooms 13-14.
World Travel Market Senior Director Simon Press said: “Luxury travel continues to evolve and this seminar will look at how the product itself is changing and how new approaches to creating travel and marketing can help companies retain existing clients and attract new ones.”
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About World Travel Market
World Travel Market, the leading global event for the travel industry, is the must-attend four-day business-to-business exhibition for the worldwide travel and tourism industry.
More than 50,000 senior travel industry professionals, government ministers and international press, embark on ExCeL – London every November to network, negotiate and discover the latest industry opinion and trends at WTM.
03WTM, now in its 35th year, is the event where the travel industry conducts and concludes its deals.
WTM 2013 generated more than £2 billion of travel industry contracts, revealed independent research by Fusion Communications.
WTM is owned by the world’s leading events organiser Reed Exhibitions (RE), which organises a other portfolio’s of travel industry events including IBTM Events, the world’s leading showcases for the meetings and events industry and International Luxury Travel Market events.
In 2013, RE held more than 500 events in 40 countries bringing together more than six million people from around the world generating billions of dollars in business.
Reed Exhibitions
Reed Travel Exhibitions (RTE) is the world’s leading provider of exhibitions in the travel and tourism industry, with a wide-ranging portfolio of 21 international events in 14 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Its market-leading, business-to-business events cover all elements of travel and tourism, including leisure travel, luxury travel, meetings, events, incentives and business travel, as well as golf, ski and spa travel.
RTE is part of Reed Exhibitions.