#luxtravelchat: Luxury Trends Around the World

One of the best in terms of useful content and enjoyability Twitter Chats we've found to take part in is the #luxtravelchat on Thursdays at 12:30pm EST created by @luxurytravelmom & @mrsoaroundworld. It suits us down to the ground: we love a bit of luxury, we love to hear how others have found luxury on their travels, and the feeling during the chat is that everyone involved wants to spread that love around and make sure others can partake in luxury while travelling.

This latest chat was about Luxury Trends and how they affect how we travel around the world:

This chat started out by asking: 

Millennials like to travel in a tribe, are they the only ones? Who likes to bring the whole gang? 

@DelightThoughts hit it right on the head by starting out the answers with: "I only like to travel in groups IF everyone agrees that people are free to do their own thing."

There was an outpouring of agreement from all sides including ourselves, @concierge_99 and organiser of the chat @mrsoaroundworld, both exclaiming “Amen!” in response! 

@LuxeRecess clarified how group travel should be done: “I love travel in big groups if we rent a house or villa and make meals events. Otherwise, nah.” 

And @Aardvarksafaris took it a step further with: “We have 'clans' of families, & the new trend of bringing your friends and family on honeymoon” which caused quite a stir as many felt honeymooning with friends was too much. However, we pointed out that #friendmoons are actually quite popular these days! (Ahem, we had one! :D)

Moving swiftly on to Q2 in the chat, we were all asked:

Travelers want personalized amenities, what’s the best personalized amenity you’ve seen or heard of?

@DrifterHannah reminded us all how attentive hotel restaurants are key in catering to those trying to avoid certain foods with: “As an annoying lactose intolerant guest, I'm always impressed when a hotel goes out of its way to get creative with food”

Everyone agreed @DriferHannah was not being annoying though; Avoiding gluten, meat & lactose is very common these days and restaurants, especially high end ones, need to keep on top of trends to ensure they are up to speed with their guests' preferences and diets.

@meanderingmarlo pinpointed who exactly is keeping up with luxury trends by explaining: "luxury car service @stregishotels and now helicopter service is on trend too."

It's true; 5 star hotels like St.Regis Hotels really set a high bar for luxury travel and you know whenever you stay there, it's going to be the epitome of comfort, service and attention to detail. 

After much discussion back and forth, we were on to Question No.3: 

They say that “humans are back” in the travel planning business. What do you think?

We @concierge_99 chimed in here with: "No one wants cookie-cutter trips any more-it's more about the local experiences and tailored trips & tours" which definitely had people in agreement. Popular trips such as safaris and island hopping have made the 'human touch' indispensable when booking travel as these are complicated trips that require extra planning and involvement. 

@mrsoaroundworld and @fromtheupside started an interesting back and forth which exemplified why these Twitter Chats are so important: 
@mrsoaroundworld first tweeted in answer to Q3: "When things go wrong, good luck calling 'the internet'. I do not use third party websites when booking." 

To which @fromtheupside responded, handily doing some live, on the spot market research with: "I'm developing a travel app. Just curious, what would make you more likely to book in that way?"

And @mrsoaroundworld was able to help out by responding: "relationships. The Internet can't upgrade you. There has to be someone I can call or tweet. And that cares"

Important points made and questions answered all taking place live and unscripted via the Twitter chat!

Next up came an at-first seemingly innocuous question, but what quickly turned into a lively debate with: 

Have you heard the term “bleisure” combining business and leisure? Trend or stating the obvious? 

@carmensluxtrvl said what we were all thinking (and also saying!) with: "Not the nicest sounding word! It's great that more people are trying to make time to enjoy themselves" 

Many people just couldn't accept the term 'bleisure' as commonplace or 'on trend', although everyone agreed with the concept of it: That business trips should include some leisure activities and leisure trips could sometimes make time for business. Of course, many of us partaking in the #luxtravelchat Twitter Chat already do business by working remotely so travelling is invariably a term that implies both business and leisure in equal amounts! 

@RentalEscapes made us all have business and leisure travel goals by posting the following picture of the most ideal 'office' location ever: 

"I mean if you have to work on holiday at least do it style"

And so we were on to the last question:

What trends are you seeing in your corner of the travel world?

This was a really interesting question for us to hear the answers to as Concierge99 works on following trends around the world, paying attention to what travellers are looking for in holiday or remote work destinations and ensuring our local experts in each location can cater to those needs. 

Gastro-tourism, volun-tourism, more technology, and the need for real, local experiences got strong votes by many involved.
​@Bear_Caldwell gave the full picture with: "private guiding, hot destinations: CUBA & ICELAND, voluntourism, genealogy travel, & culinary Asia! GO GO! "

We @Concierge_99 also chimed in with: "Trend we see: health-concious travellers looking to keep up yoga or workouts while they are away from home"

There was agreement with this statement by luxury brands such as @SixSensesSamui who have seen a huge uptake in their wellness activities, demonstrating that even people in the most luxurious surroundings are looking for that little bit more, in this case, a yoga or meditation session before spending the day at the pool. 

What we're also discovering and what this chat goes to show, is that many travellers are not just heading to the same old destinations as before, but giving purpose to their trip by ensuring they come back with more than just a tan; they'll give back to the community they visit, or take a cooking class to learn a local cuisine, or sync up with a local for the day and really discover a city that a group tour would never have enabled them to. It's a different level of travelling - we're freely giving and getting more back than ever before. 

Thanks to everyone involved in #luxtravelchat! Join in on Thursdays to hear about all things luxury, hear the travel stories and get the inside scoop!

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Concierge99 makes it ridiculously easy for you to find ways to treat yourself by finding treats and services while away from home, making it feel more like home wherever you are in the world.