“Experiences, experiences, experiences.” It’s been the driving mantra of luxury travel for several years now. And not only is it not going away, it is permanently and substantially reshaping the industry.
This week’s announcement by Collective Retreats that it had secured $10 million in funding along with the support and participation of industry veteran Simon Turner underscores the fact that luxury hospitality is no longer about simply providing accommodations.
And it’s a fact that was emphasized by general managers and luxury travel professionals repeatedly during the annual International Luxury Travel Market in Cannes.
Collective Retreats is new “asset light-experience heavy” brand of portable luxury resorts. It currently operates tented resorts in Vail, Yellowstone National Park and New York’s Hudson Valley and is preparing to open in the Texas Hill Country and Napa Valley. With the new cash influx and guidance from Turner, former head of global development for the innovative Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Founder Peter Mack says the company will be looking into developing new urban and international destinations as well using thing like moveable modular-style retreat.
The whole focus is on hyperlocal but still hyperluxe experiences, which was the driving theme as well at ILTM.
Accor luxury brands CEO Chris Cahill, for instance, said the focus across all his company’s luxury portfolio is on creating memorab...