Luxury

NTA and the Luxury & Affluent Travel Market

49 percent of NTA tour operators serve the luxury travel market in some form.

Facts about the Luxury & Affluent Travel Market

• Approximately 10 percent of U.S. households (12.1 million) have a median income of $275,000, median assets of $1.5 million and $100,000 or more in discretionary household income. (Source: The Survey of Affluence and Wealth 2014)
• The mean number of trips taken by the affluent is three trips per year for an average of six days per trip. (Source: Resonance Report 2014)
• Top reasons behind high-end travel includes exploring new destinations, rest and relaxation, seeking authentic experiences in new destinations, rediscovering previously visited destinations and personal enrichment. (Source: 2014 Virtuoso Luxe Report)
• “When spending money for travel, what is most important to your luxury travel clients?” Top responses: (1) Accommodations – luxury 38 percent; (2) Experience – unique activities 18 percent; Air – first or business class 17 percent (4) Experience – exclusivity 11 percent; (5) Accommodations – ultra luxury 8 percent. (Source: The Travel Leaders Group Survey 2014)

Types of Luxury & Affluent Travel Experiences

• Customized, exclusive vacations
• Private journeys
• Cruises, yachting and small ship expeditions
• Adventure and active trips
• Family and multi-generational travel
• Rail journeys
• Celebration travel
• Safaris
• Private jet vacations
• Calling on all seven continents
• Special events
• Romantic vacations
• Rest and relaxation trips
• Health and wellness travel
• Culinary travel
• Shopping
• Sporting trips and events
• Small group journeys
• Philanthropy trips

Notables about NTA Members

• Abercrombie & Kent voted World’s Leading Luxury Tour Operator by World Travel Awards and Best Luxury Tour Operator by Travel Weekly and Luxury Travel Advisor.
• Uniworld named Best Luxury River Cruise Line by Cruise International Awards.
• Portrait of Affluent Travelers survey ranked Holland America as the No. 1 Preferred Cruise Line.
• Washington State’s The Davenport Hotel has welcomed film stars, explorers, writers, politicians and other luminaries for more than 100 years including Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, John F. Kennedy, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, John Travolta, Bill Cosby, Jay Leno, Carrie Underwood, Ringo Starr, Taylor Swift and numerous others.
• Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is ranked as Travel + Leisure’s 500 World’s Best Hotels and by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as One of a Dozen Distinctive Destinations.
• The Fairmont Royal York has played host to some of the world’s most elite clientele.
• The Beau Rivage Resort and Casino was named one of the top 100 hotels in the U.S. and Canada by Travel + Leisure Magazine.
• Nottoway Plantation is the largest remaining antebellum museum and member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation honoring the finest historic hotels.
• The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is a member of the Historic Hotels of America and has been welcoming travelers for more than two centuries dating from 1773.
• Jekyll Island Club Hotel is ranked among top 500 resorts in the world by Travel + Leisure and is a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places.