Luxury Bounces Back

A curated collection of can’t-miss news from this week, including 2021 travel trends, developments and more. Sign up to get the TURNER Weekly Download in your inbox.

Deals, Deals, Deals

With a post-pandemic travel boom on the horizon, the industry is looking to lure us out of our home. The strategy? Deals. Lots of them. The Frugal Traveler at the New York Times has the details. “Travel sales have reigned since the beginning of the pandemic, with few takers,” writes Elaine Glusac. “Now, with the national vaccine rollout steaming full speed ahead, the travel industry, for better or for worse, is juicing its attempts to get Americans off their couches and into hotels, ships, airplane seats and tour buses, despite the rise in virus cases in many areas.

A Sustainable Return

Another post-pandemic travel trend: sustainability. New Zealand’s new Tourism Futures Taskforce puts eco-mindfulness front and center. “International visitation is not expected to return to previous volumes for a number of years,” says Rene de Monchy, Interim Chief Executive at Tourism New Zealand. “This is a fantastic opportunity to ensure that we are well set up to accommodate growth and strategically manage visitation so that it enriches our home. The Tourism Futures Taskforce activity is expected to be instrumental in helping guide this.”

Luxury Bounces Back

Expect luxury travel to bounce back in a big way in the next several months. According to luxury travel advisor Jack Ezon, “there will be tremendous pent-up demand for luxury travel coming out of the pandemic. But luxurious travel experiences will look somewhat different than before. Travelers will increasingly seek wellness-centric destinations, look to reunite with family and friends and discover authentic experiences.

Marketing Reinvented

Travel changed in 2020. And so did travel marketing. “Like everything else, travel marketing will not return to a pre‐March 2020 norm,” writes Michael Becker and Adam Hanft. “Destination marketing will be reinvented, with data and experiences as the new differentiator. Winning the disposable travel dollar will turn on more than just whose beaches are more pristine, whose museums are more inspiring, whose restaurants are more imaginative.”

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