With an increase of around 18% since 2014, the growth of journeys in the luxury travel segment is almost twice as high as that of all foreign trips. All foreign trips rose by around 9% during the period. This is the result of a special evaluation of the World Travel Monitor on behalf of ITB Berlin. According to the study, Germany is the most popular destination in Europe.
In the analysis, international trips were defined as all outbound short trips of up to three nights with expenses of more than 750 euros per night, as well as all longer stays abroad from four nights with expenses of more than 500 euros per night. In 2016, around 54 million luxury trips were made abroad. The market share of luxury travel rose to around 7% in 2016.
USA in the Lead
The largest source markets for luxury travel are the US with 13.7 million and China with ten million luxury trips abroad. Other major source markets are Japan, the UK and Taiwan. Most of the luxury trips in Europe were made by the British (3.6 million), followed by the French, and Germans.
Overall, according to the study, the US was the most popular holiday destination with 8.1 million trips, followed by Canada, and Germany. The Federal Republic displaced Italy with four million luxury trips from first place of the most popular destinations compared to 2014. France, Italy, and the UK follow Germany in the standings.
Internet a Necessity Even in Luxury Travel
Pure holiday trips or in combination with a visit to friends and family as well as other leisure trips made up almost 75% of the majority of all luxury travel. Only one in four trips had a business purpose. With a share of 29%, luxury travellers prefer city trips, followed by roundtrips as well as beach holidays.
Similar to all other foreign travels, the internet is also frequently used for the planning of luxury trips in around 83% cases. In order to inform themselves, 51% of the travellers use the travel agency, while the global average is significantly lower at 33%. The same applies to booking through travel agencies. While an average of 27% of all foreign trips are booked through a travel agency, the share of the luxury segment is significantly higher, at 40%.
