This week, LATTE invited Luxperience Event Director, Michelle Papas, to provide readers with insight on the rise and rise of the ‘Couture Experience’.
Every year at Luxperience we conduct focus group studies with buyers and exhibitors to extract insights from our premium Australian and international travel specialists. In doing so not only do we ensure the best possible future Luxperience, we also gain valuable updates about trends within the industry. One of the key trends we saw from Luxperience 2018 was the rise of the ‘Couture Experience’.
Today’s clients are looking for bespoke and personalised options as well as the experiences impossible to find. They want personal shopping experiences such as a private atelier appointment at the Dior boutique where they can enjoy handpicked pieces or even farmers market visits hosted by award-winning chefs from top restaurants.
Luxperience 2019 will welcome exhibitors like Fly Me To The Moon and Madrid and Beyond, high-end travel design specialists, who are able to produce bespoke itineraries tailored perfectly to every traveller’s individual needs. Madrid and Beyond, for example, can arrange tours with fashion experts and experienced shopping guides to esteemed fashion houses like Loewe and take guests behind the scenes at their Madrid-based factory. Similarly, Fly Me To The Moon offer private tours to meet with local Greek artisans and manufacturers.
Italy has long been a luxury travel favourite, but no longer are shopping trips to Via Montenapoleone enough. The high net worth client wants to go beyond the flagship boutiques and discover exclusive experiences that are inaccessible to the everyday tourist.
Another exhibitor at Luxperience 2019 is Missing Italia DMC, a team of Italy experts designing carefully selected tour itineraries for the discerning traveller. The team recently designed an itinerary for a family travelling through Tuscany where the mother and daughter visited the Prada factory in Valvigna, while the rest of the family took a bike tour through the local village.
Closer to home, local luxury tour operators are surprising international visitors with bespoke experiences such as a private welcome to country ceremony in iconic Sydney Harbour locations, diving at secret spots on the Great Barrier Reef and creating a personalised treasure hunt to discover a treasure chest full of fine jewellery for a very special anniversary gift.
Luxury travel today is really about catering to every client’s needs and desires; basically, if a client can dream it, the luxury agent can provide it.