The Primary Difference Between Luxury Travellers And Affluent Travellers

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You tend to hear the term luxury being tossed around in the travel industry nowadays. Many different types of travel experiences can be classified as luxury. 

One would be spending a week on a yacht in the French Riviera. Another could be spending some time in a villa in Mykonos with your dedicated chef. However, you’ll also find some companies out there marketing these types of holidays in Tenerife for only £450pp. 

Because of the overuse of the word luxury, it can be rather difficult to figure out whether or not something is luxurious. This has led to a lot of confusion among those that are into travelling, but who don’t have the biggest budget to spend on their travels. Carmen of carmensluxurytravel.com explains it all below to remove the confusion between the two.

Definition of Luxury Travel

The overuse of the term luxury has led to major issues among some of the businesses targeting the ultra-luxury sector of the industry. They have to try to set themselves apart somehow from the businesses that don’t deliver such an experience. 

Because of this, they have to go above and beyond to attract the actual customers they are intending on getting to their resorts. They tend to do this by enhancing the personalisation of their efforts. 

When you go to a luxury resort, you will be given special gifts that have been selected based on previous visits and even social media research. A lot of these resort operators are looking to offer much more exclusivity when it comes to experiences and more. 

For instance, if a guest wanted to drive to a desert to stay at their camp and have a private chef at the same time, it’s not an issue. If they want to have their luxury dinner in the middle of Machu Picchu, that’s exactly what they can get. Or even if they just want to experience shopping on the famous Rodeo Drive with a personal stylist, they will have it organised for them. 

However, there are some downsides to this. By providing an exclusive experience, these businesses have to spend more money. It’s becoming incredibly expensive to distinguish your resort and business from the rest.

What’s the Difference?

So, you might be wondering what the difference is between a luxury traveller and an affluent traveller. The primary thing that separates the two is budget. 

Someone that is an affluent traveller typically has the requisite disposable income they need to have a fantastic holiday. However, they don’t necessarily have an unlimited budget. 

Because of this, they will tend to prioritise value above exclusivity. They aren’t one’s that travel nearly as much as those that are deemed extremely high net worth. 

They do have high-paying full-time jobs. Because of this, they tend to be after an escape from their normal work life. This tends to mean they value things like spending time at a beautiful pool, in a luxurious room, and enjoying excellent food. They also want fast and free Internet so they can easily communicate with loved ones on the Internet and at home. They want unobtrusive service whereas, luxury travellers tend to want to have staff waiting on their every move.

The affluent traveller wants to have a well-curated experience. They want something unique. They don’t want a cookie-cutter type of holiday. Instead, they want it to be bits and pieces of things they choose on their own. 

A luxury traveller is likely to utilise a tour guide and a travel agent to handle everything for them. Whereas, those deemed affluent travellers will tend to do a lot of the legwork on their own and book the different experiences directly themselves.

Affluent Travellers are Different

Affluent travellers want to experience cool things. They don’t necessarily pick and choose on brand names alone. They want to showcase their trips on social media.

Therefore, they’ll be seeking trendy and stylish décor in places they stay.. This isn’t typically something you find at a lot of the luxury properties that are usually old-fashioned and classic. 

The trendy and modern boutique properties are typically what the affluent are after. They want to have a drink menu that they can choose from that has trendy cocktails on it. 

They don’t necessarily care about having a personal massage in their room. Instead, they’re willing to go to the spa to have the experience. But when they do visit the spa, they want to have a customised and personalised treatment. 

They don’t want to partake in the mass tourist experience. Instead, they want access to experts in the local area and they want to take a step off the beaten path to experience the hidden spots that you normally wouldn’t get access to.