Here’s a round-up of luxury travel stories that have caught the eye this week. To make sure you receive these new weekly alerts in your web browser, please click on the red bell icon in the bottom right hand corner of the page and click ‘subscribe’ (works on desktop only – for other ways to subscribe, please click here). This will also alert you to any other posts on the blog. Should you wish, you can unsubscribe at any time, by clicking on the icon again and selecting ‘unsubscribe’.
China’s ultra wealthy are dominating the global luxury market
It’s hard to believe now, but the very first Singles Day in 2009 generated only about $7 million for Chinese mega-retailer Alibaba. No one could have guessed then that ten years later the 24-hour shopping event would see that sales figure surge to an all-time record of $38.4 billion, an unbelievable multiple of 5,471… [read more]
Venice hit with a historic third major flood in less than a week
enetians coped with another exceptional tide Sunday in a season that is setting records while other parts of Italy wrestled with a cornucopia of weather woes, from rain-swollen rivers to high winds to an out-of-season avalanche. Stores and museums in Venice were mostly closed in the hardest-hit area around St. Mark’s Square, but tourists donning high rubber boots or even hip waders still came to witness and photograph the spectacle… [read more]
Heesen Xventure explorer yacht is the no-limits toy carrier of the sea
For years, we’ve been watching the growth and evolution of all-terrain camper vans, expedition buses and off-road trailers built to haul all means of outdoor recreational gear to distant destinations. But if you really want to get out there — “thousands of miles offshore” out there — you’ll need to leave the 4×4 camper outside the marina and proceed via explorer yacht. And if you want that explorer yacht loaded with toys for more closely examining land, air and sea, the new Xventure should prove immediately appealing… [read more]
The 2020 list of the world’s best cruises is out now
U.S. News & World Report has released its annual list of the world’s best cruises. The report evaluated 176 ships in 17 of the top cruise lines to determine the rankings in six categories including best cruise lines for the money and best luxury cruise lines. The findings factored in evaluations from cruise industry experts, health assessments conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, price classes, itinerary offerings, and reputation among travelers… [read more]
Cooler temperatures can heighten perception of luxury
As we have been reporting recently in New Luxury, there’s a great deal of room for travel marketers to explore how sensations can, in nonconscious ways, influence behavior and decision-making. According to Rhonda Hadi, associate professor of marketing at Oxford University, the power of the senses is underexploited by marketers. That’s why she and a fellow researcher from Musashi University in Japan decided to explore what role temperature may play in selling luxury… [read more]
We really enjoy hearing from our readers and would love to hear your views on any of these stories! Please click on the comments below and share your thoughts. Thank you.
Have a story you’d like to share? Please contact us for details.
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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9 Comments
Is it going to be late for the Moses flood defence project to save Venice? How much will it cost to make good the damage from these floods? Even if Venice can finally put aside the problems of corruption will there be any funds left? If Moses would have cost 5 billion euros in 2011 what would it cost now with inflation almost a decade on?
It was supposed to be completed in 2011, but now is expected to be finished in 2021. My understanding is that it was originally going to cost 1.6 billion euros, but will now be nearer 5.5 billion…
The Forbes piece on cruise rankings makes for interesting reading. It is also noteworthy that there are 6 categories for awards. Though from my experience I suspect that may not be enough to fully represent a market where the suppliers are increasingly discovering new market segments. For example, do these awards give recognition to the growing number of cultural cruises taking in live performances at the ports of call?
I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they extend the number of awards. The British Cruise Awards, for example, already have 22 categories.
I definitely agree that cooler temperatures heighten perceptions of luxury. There are some members of my family, who had better remain nameless, who get very tetchy as the mercury rises. I think many people are more amenable and rational at lower temperatures. Is that where the saying to keep a cool head originated from?
Yes, we are all highly impressed with the Heesen Xventure being a floating toy garage that can do 5,000 miles on one tank of fuel.
If only my Mini had such a range.
Then if you start thinking about it – how long would it take to fill that tank? Then an even more scary question is how much would it cost?
Also on environmental considerations how much fuel are you burning up just to shift the weight of that tank?
I think I’ve seen more about Singles Day this year too, on deals sites and places like AliExpress as well as Alibaba. Pretty lucrative time for retailers then by the sound of it! Interesting research on the cold temps and perceptions of luxury. I think you want to snuggle up and feel cared for when it’s colder, so that would make sense.
With Venice swamped by its third catastrophic high tide of the week is the message finally getting through to people that climate change is for real?
Earlier in the year I was walking along a towpath by the Danube and I came across a wall marking the Danube’s highest floods over the last 6 centuries. The top three water levels had all been recorded in the last 12 years.
To me there seems to be plenty of physical evidence of climate change but I suspect that it is not in the profitable interests of many businesses to accept it.
I read today that Sir David Attenborough believes that the message on global warming is getting through but he fears that it may be too late to counter the consequences.
I hadn’t realised until the flooding in Venice this year that ‘acqua alta’ seems to happen every few years with particularly high tides and flooding. It does seem particularly bad lately, judging by the photos in the news. There are lots of places in the UK that have gone underwater due to recent rainfall so I think everyone’s hoping the rain eases up a bit and we get a longer calm spell so things can dry out. Mother Nature can be so beautiful, but so destructive at the same time.
That explorer yacht sounds ridiculously expensive and huge. I bet it would be a dream to travel on though as they say they want it to offer “seven-star comfort”. Sounds pretty nice! I also noticed it’s got space for a personal submarine!
China’s ultra wealthy are dominating the global luxury market
It’s hard to believe now, but the very first Singles Day in 2009 generated only about $7 million for Chinese mega-retailer Alibaba. No one could have guessed then that ten years later the 24-hour shopping event would see that sales figure surge to an all-time record of $38.4 billion, an unbelievable multiple of 5,471… [read more]
China’s ultra wealthy are dominating the global luxury market
It’s hard to believe now, but the very first Singles Day in 2009 generated only about $7 million for Chinese mega-retailer Alibaba. No one could have guessed then that ten years later the 24-hour shopping event would see that sales figure surge to an all-time record of $38.4 billion, an unbelievable multiple of 5,471… [read more]
Venice hit with a historic third major flood in less than a week
enetians coped with another exceptional tide Sunday in a season that is setting records while other parts of Italy wrestled with a cornucopia of weather woes, from rain-swollen rivers to high winds to an out-of-season avalanche. Stores and museums in Venice were mostly closed in the hardest-hit area around St. Mark’s Square, but tourists donning high rubber boots or even hip waders still came to witness and photograph the spectacle… [read more]
Heesen Xventure explorer yacht is the no-limits toy carrier of the sea
For years, we’ve been watching the growth and evolution of all-terrain camper vans, expedition buses and off-road trailers built to haul all means of outdoor recreational gear to distant destinations. But if you really want to get out there — “thousands of miles offshore” out there — you’ll need to leave the 4×4 camper outside the marina and proceed via explorer yacht. And if you want that explorer yacht loaded with toys for more closely examining land, air and sea, the new Xventure should prove immediately appealing… [read more]
The 2020 list of the world’s best cruises is out now
U.S. News & World Report has released its annual list of the world’s best cruises. The report evaluated 176 ships in 17 of the top cruise lines to determine the rankings in six categories including best cruise lines for the money and best luxury cruise lines. The findings factored in evaluations from cruise industry experts, health assessments conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, price classes, itinerary offerings, and reputation among travelers… [read more]
Cooler temperatures can heighten perception of luxury
As we have been reporting recently in New Luxury, there’s a great deal of room for travel marketers to explore how sensations can, in nonconscious ways, influence behavior and decision-making. According to Rhonda Hadi, associate professor of marketing at Oxford University, the power of the senses is underexploited by marketers. That’s why she and a fellow researcher from Musashi University in Japan decided to explore what role temperature may play in selling luxury… [read more]
We really enjoy hearing from our readers and would love to hear your views on any of these stories! Please click on the comments below and share your thoughts. Thank you.
Have a story you’d like to share? Please contact us for details.
Is it going to be late for the Moses flood defence project to save Venice? How much will it cost to make good the damage from these floods? Even if Venice can finally put aside the problems of corruption will there be any funds left? If Moses would have cost 5 billion euros in 2011 what would it cost now with inflation almost a decade on?
It was supposed to be completed in 2011, but now is expected to be finished in 2021. My understanding is that it was originally going to cost 1.6 billion euros, but will now be nearer 5.5 billion…
The Forbes piece on cruise rankings makes for interesting reading. It is also noteworthy that there are 6 categories for awards. Though from my experience I suspect that may not be enough to fully represent a market where the suppliers are increasingly discovering new market segments. For example, do these awards give recognition to the growing number of cultural cruises taking in live performances at the ports of call?
I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they extend the number of awards. The British Cruise Awards, for example, already have 22 categories.
I definitely agree that cooler temperatures heighten perceptions of luxury. There are some members of my family, who had better remain nameless, who get very tetchy as the mercury rises. I think many people are more amenable and rational at lower temperatures. Is that where the saying to keep a cool head originated from?
Yes, we are all highly impressed with the Heesen Xventure being a floating toy garage that can do 5,000 miles on one tank of fuel.
If only my Mini had such a range.
Then if you start thinking about it – how long would it take to fill that tank? Then an even more scary question is how much would it cost?
Also on environmental considerations how much fuel are you burning up just to shift the weight of that tank?
I think I’ve seen more about Singles Day this year too, on deals sites and places like AliExpress as well as Alibaba. Pretty lucrative time for retailers then by the sound of it! Interesting research on the cold temps and perceptions of luxury. I think you want to snuggle up and feel cared for when it’s colder, so that would make sense.
With Venice swamped by its third catastrophic high tide of the week is the message finally getting through to people that climate change is for real?
Earlier in the year I was walking along a towpath by the Danube and I came across a wall marking the Danube’s highest floods over the last 6 centuries. The top three water levels had all been recorded in the last 12 years.
To me there seems to be plenty of physical evidence of climate change but I suspect that it is not in the profitable interests of many businesses to accept it.
I read today that Sir David Attenborough believes that the message on global warming is getting through but he fears that it may be too late to counter the consequences.
I hadn’t realised until the flooding in Venice this year that ‘acqua alta’ seems to happen every few years with particularly high tides and flooding. It does seem particularly bad lately, judging by the photos in the news. There are lots of places in the UK that have gone underwater due to recent rainfall so I think everyone’s hoping the rain eases up a bit and we get a longer calm spell so things can dry out. Mother Nature can be so beautiful, but so destructive at the same time.
That explorer yacht sounds ridiculously expensive and huge. I bet it would be a dream to travel on though as they say they want it to offer “seven-star comfort”. Sounds pretty nice! I also noticed it’s got space for a personal submarine!