The news. Euronews has rounded up what is coming in luxury travel next year: slower trips, privacy, wellness, rail instead of planes. One section stands out for anyone who sells travel. AI can now draft an itinerary, the piece says, yet the travel agent is making a comeback and, quoting Elle, has become "chic again", now under titles like "travel advisor" or "trip designer".
What the client is paying for
The piece is clear about why. Wealthy travellers value "the human touch of knowing when to go, which room to request, and which restaurants live up to the hype". Today's advisors fix, negotiate and sometimes perform "miracles".
Two more details are worth noting. Virtuoso's luxury report surveyed more than 3,100 travel advisors in more than 50 countries. And a luxury operator quoted in the piece names Egypt among the destinations with "renewed interest" that shows little sign of slowing.
Keep the scope in mind: this is the top of the market and mostly Western sources. It is still a useful signal, because trends at the top tend to travel down.
Why it matters for the agency
None of the things listed above is information. Any assistant can list hotels in a city. What it cannot do yet is know which room in that hotel is the quiet one, which supplier answers at midnight, and which promise to a client is safe to make.
That kind of knowledge comes from volume, one client problem at a time. More than 44,700 travellers passed through the desks I ran. That is the part of an agency that should not be automated. It is also the part clients are now paying a premium for.
If you called yourself a trip designer tomorrow, what would you have to stop doing?
Source: Euronews Travel — Trip designers, wellness and privacy: what's trending in luxury travel.