The word luxury can be polarising. There’s often confusion around who should use it, how to position it, what it means and what it represents. This week, we bring you insights from some of our expert interviewees of the first season of Luxury Unpacked to explore what luxury really means.
Goldman Travel Joint Managing Director Anthony Goldman says what’s luxury to one person is very different to another person.
“What I think about is how do we broadly define luxury to make people comfortable in their purchasing decisions?
“The luxury experience doesn’t start when you board that cruise ship, when you go to that hotel, or go on that beautiful tour. We have to consider that the luxury experience in our world needs to begin from the very beginning of the enquiry.”
Jo Kennedy of Kennedy & Turner Travel Associates agrees.
“It’s not just a booking, it’s an enhanced and elevated experience wherever it might be because we’ve got insider access to the general manager or the person that’s doing the booking and checking you in, and possibly an upgrade or any other number of options that we have to elevate the experience.”
The role sustainable and Indigenous tourism play
As Luxury Lodges of Australia Executive Chair Penny Rafferty says there’s a growing awareness of the importance of the connection with nature and personalised narrative from an expert guide.
“It’s the sense of rarity of access in its purest kind that is a really critical part of the luxury piece.
“With Bullo River Station… they have a partnership with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. They operate a tourism business, but it’s a very deliberate way of saying we need agriculture, we need to protect the land.
“El Questro also has a partnership with the Willingham people, where the land is now back in the hands of traditional owners and leased back by tourism business.
“There’s been a cultural awareness and awakening in Australia, we’ve shifted from Indigenous experiences being dots, dancing and didgeridoo to real people’s lives and stories and because of that ancient oral culture, and they are custodians of the environment, that desire to connect comes together.”
Air, rail and cruise are also evolving to meet the needs of an ever-changing traveller.
As Journey Beyond Executive General Manager Alicia Triggs says the Ghan might not be the same experience as the Orient Express, but it’s uniquely Australian.
“What it means is that we’ve really made sure that we play to the strength of the rugged nature of the countryside. So it means you stop in destinations like Manguru, for example, which is just out of Coober Pedy, and it’s all red dirt … you’re experiencing something that you would never do on your own with a group of like-minded people.”
Captain’s Choice CEO Bas Bosschieter explains how it’s taking sustainability seriously as an important part of its luxury offering.
“From this year, every private jet flight with Captain’s Choice will be carbon neutral through the purchasing of carbon credits.
“It’s up to all operators to ensure we’re doing everything possible to minimise our footprint.
“It’s a commitment we’ve worked hard on with our mother company APT, and we are very conscious of our footprint.”
As host Fiona Dalton adds, we all need to continue to discuss the idea that luxury isn’t about more, it’s about meaning.
“It’s not about how much something costs, but about how deeply it connects us. It’s about people, purpose and possibility.
“Luxury is nothing without the people who believe in it.”
Listen to the full wrap episode of Luxury Unpacked Season One here:
For more information, partnership opportunities, or to be a guest on the show, contact Karryon’s Partnership Manager Carolyn Nightingale at carolyn@karryon.com.au.
