Luxury Travel

Marriott is promoting the fact that its eight luxury brands answer to the demands from different segments of luxury travelers, but it needs to make sure consumers understand what makes each brand unique.

In a world that seems in constant flux, luxury travelers are pivoting a bit. They're prioritizing a stronger connection among themselves and with the people they meet, which hotels are attempting to facilitate with travel experiences designed around engaging guests on a more personal level.

With so many brands that fall under the luxury space, this makes sense but we wonder: what will happen to the other 20+ brands? How will Marriott contend with differentiating them, too?

Details count, and it's clear that, as a luxury hotel brand, the Four Seasons takes every single detail of the hotel guest experience very seriously, from the water pressure in your shower to the placemats in the restaurant.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts' approach to the luxury market is a little bit different from its peers, and our conversation with president and CEO J. Allen Smith gives you a bit of a glimpse into that approach.

Millennial travelers are already money-makers for brands around the world. But luxury-oriented Chinese millennials seemingly look to fill up any free time with travel, and there is a substantial market to accommodate them.

Over the next decade, North America's dominance in luxury travel may be supplanted by Middle Eastern and Asian travelers looking to upgrade to a luxury travel experience.

Luxury travel is about more than brand names and butler service. Providers are realizing they have to deliver custom, personalized experiences to earn loyalty from wealthy clients.

Rather than outright canceling their international trips, many U.S. travelers of all income levels have decided to change destinations or even hotels to alternatives that make them feel safer after multiple terrorist attacks in Europe and the Middle East.

What happens to the luxury fashion industry as more and more wealthy consumers move their dollars from product to experience?