Belize by horseback
Photo: Elevate Destinations
Today's Wall Street Journal reports that a new consumer is emerging from the rubble of the financial crisis. Old-fashioned, over-the-top luxury spending is gone for good. According to the paper, consumers, travelers included, are reassessing their consumption patterns, turning to quality of life and even—dare I say it?—social responsibility.
What kind of trips do you find most fulfilling? The research suggests that more and more of you are are demanding that travel companies do good, too. The challenge, of course, is organizing a trip that strikes the right balance of fun, pampering even, and community. I know that when I go on vacation, I don't necessarily want philanthropy to be the only, or even the main focus.
In this blog, I plan to introduce a number of travel companies that I think are doing great stuff, offering great trips and adventures—but also giving back.
Today, meet Elevate Destinations, founded by Dominique Callimanopulos, a passionate, socially conscious entrepreneur who specializes in organizing philanthropic trips, including an upcoming Valentine's Day chocolate tasting trip to see the beautiful country and explore Fair Trade issues in Belize. I recommend Elevate's great blog about responsible travel.
For more on the new kind of consumer we are all becoming, please read on...
The recent consumer research resonates with a report produced in August by Unity Marketing, which says the new normal in luxury will be very different from the old normal. Says Unity's Pam Danziger: "Affluent consumers are redefining, reassessing and reevaluating their lives and their lifestyles. This...will mean major shifts in the way luxury brands can market their goods in the new economy. Discounts and sales won't be enough. They will need to realign their brands with the new values that more thoughtful, careful and selective affluent shoppers hold."
Ruth Mortimer agrees in her Brand and Business blog that the economic crisis is resetting consumer values. "The global crisis of confidence in governmental, financial and other institutions will drive luxury consumers to demand that luxury brands serve not just them, but society as a whole. They will require luxury brands to be ethical with all constituents, charitable in ways that make a difference to their beneficiaries and eco-friendly in ways that can be documented. It might mean we will see, among other changes, a reversal in luxury charity events where 80% of proceeds go to lavish fun for the attendees and 20% to the beneficiaries."
I'd love to hear your thoughts: what does all this mean for travel?
Ruth Mortimer agrees in her Brand and Business blog that the economic crisis is resetting consumer values. "The global crisis of confidence in governmental, financial and other institutions will drive luxury consumers to demand that luxury brands serve not just them, but society as a whole. They will require luxury brands to be ethical with all constituents, charitable in ways that make a difference to their beneficiaries and eco-friendly in ways that can be documented. It might mean we will see, among other changes, a reversal in luxury charity events where 80% of proceeds go to lavish fun for the attendees and 20% to the beneficiaries."
I'd love to hear your thoughts: what does all this mean for travel?
This trend has been developing for many years. Immersed among luxury travelers looking for trips to Costa Rica and other Central American countries for many years now, I've seen the percentage of people who are genuinely interested in giving back (as opposed to just appeasing their conscience) climb steadily.
Travelers' understanding of what types of efforts actually help local communities and people has also been increasing incrementally. The recession and its associated mass rethinking of values and priorities have certainly accelerated the type of demand for 'green luxury' you're describing, Dinda. But I believe the momentum was already swinging in that direction, making me think there is a very fundamental shift in how affluent and educated consumers see travel, and even relaxation and rejuvenation, that is not going away.