How Monte Carlo Embraces Change for a New Luxury Customer
Photo Credit: Interior of the Casino de Monte-Carlo. Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer
Skift Take
Monte Carlo might be known for its traditional luxury offering, but a deeper look shows a hospitality group that's keenly aware of its positioning, the changing market and how it must adapt to ensure a spot of the ultra-wealthy's jet set itineraries.
Luxury travel is changing and nowhere are those changes quite as evident as in the longtime jet set haven of Monaco.
Month-long stays have become week-long trips, couples' vacations have become family affairs, and the adrenaline high promised by gambling has been replaced with sporting events or a green juice buzz courtesy of Thermes Marin’s reset cleanse.
Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer — in charge of the Monte Carlo brand and four luxury hotels, four casinos, 30 bars and restaurants, and a spa within the less than one square mile principality — is navigating these changes with an eye on the future.
“Luxury is more and more defined by time. You can not buy time so it’s more a question of creating unique moments,” says Axel Hoppenot, Group Director of Sales and Marketing at SBM.
“It’s a question of how you move from offering the best product in the world to offering the best experience?”
One of the destination’s most talked-about changes is th
