How Luxury Travel Advisors Help Clients Avoid Price Gouging, Spotty Service

Forbes

6 days ago

If lackluster service is giving you pause as a luxury traveler, the answer could be tapping into the expertise and relationships of an experienced travel advisor. Travelers continue to complain about paying more and, if not getting less, at least finding spotty service and other letdowns that make them feel underwhelmed. A survey released last week with travel advisors revealed that while booking trends continue to point upwards, high-net-worth clients are in some cases switching hotels and even destinations they see as not delivering value.
Jack Ezon, CEO of EmbarkBeyond, says while the travel agency's safari business has seen 91% year-over-year growth, Botswana is down 18% in peak season. He attributes it to 'exorbitant rates—at almost US$10,000 a night.' At the same time, Italy, which grew 4% year-over-year, lost its perennial number one spot to France. Greece was down 4%, its second year of declines. Travelers aren't staying home, Ezon explains. Overpricing is 'shifting market share to other destinations.' St. Tropez saw a 26% increase, while the Côte d'Azur grew 21% and Portugal stole share, rising 28%.
However, the over 4,800 travel suppliers and travel advisors gathering this week in Las Vegas for the annual conference of Virtuoso, whose member agencies sell around $30 billion in luxury travel annually, say they know there are issues despite continued demand. They also have ways to reduce the likelihood of disappointment.
Zankhana Shukla, founder of New York City-based Zenzi Luxury Travel, says deep relationships with suppliers who have proven worthy of her agency's trust mean reducing those disappointing experiences where what's on the website doesn't match what's delivered.
Shukla says savvy travel advisors help clients who want value, want to miss the masses, but don't want to miss main attractions. While it's possible to arrange a VIP visit to Le Louvre in Paris after hours for $10,000, the museum is open until 9 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. For around $1,500, she can get a top guide specialized in the particular galleries that are of interest to her clients. Clients save money and still have a memorable experience, she says.
Of course, the key is finding a top guide. Nancy Ebel of Hill's Travel Service in St. Petersburg, Florida, says there is a shortage of quality English-speaking guides in Japan. Melissa Novick of Remote Lands says while some consumers are rebelling against high prices, when it comes to guides, who are typically independent contractors, it is often a case of you get what you pay for. She says the best guides align themselves with the companies that pay the best.
Remote Lands is the company behind Aman's private jet trips, which cost around $15,000 per couple per day. Novick says they hired a person dedicated to making restaurant reservations in Japan to ensure clients get those hard-to-get tables. At each destination, each couple (trips typically have a maximum of eight or nine couples) gets their own private driver and guide. She says this enables clients to create a pace in tune with their personal interests.
An executive with A&K, which offers similarly priced private jet tours, says part of the value is time savings. She says a typical A&K round-the-world tour means just over 50 hours of flying. To do the same itinerary with the airlines would require nearly 200 hours, including connecting flights, but not including the time spent at the airport on departure and arrival. The A&K jets typically use private terminals. In other words, you save about six days of travel time on a single trip. The A&K tours also include a private photographer, so you don't have to stress between enjoying the experience or snapping away. You get all the photos taken by the photographer at the end of the trip.
Advisors say a pain point is when clients must keep taking out their wallets after they've already laid out lots of money. Micato Safaris, which specializes in small groups, says part of its formula to avoid letdowns is being truly all-inclusive. Ebel says from arrival to departure, her clients never have to touch their Black card.
However, being all-inclusive is not a panacea. Regent Seven Seas Cruises includes shore excursions as part of its cruise fare. It found passengers were often frustrated that their desired excursions were already booked. The line has recently begun overbooking its excursions by 10%. Customers who book their cruises and shore excursions more than half a year in advance, but later change their minds, were often no-shows. This adjustment allows the line to accommodate more guests. An executive during a Virtuoso Travel Week session says so far, the change is yielding the desired results of enabling more guests to partake in the excursions they want.
While 5-star hotels have been criticized since the post-pandemic travel rebound for lackluster service, The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, has a unique approach during its annual Cayman Cookout. The hotel only sells rooms tied to the event, even if the event doesn't sell out. This prevents bookings by guests who would find themselves massively outnumbered by festival attendees.
Destination Marketing Companies, the local companies in the places you visit that coordinate the ground transportation, guides, after-hours access, and unique experiences, are also trying to ensure a more consistent experience in a world plagued by post-COVID labor shortages.
Karim Fehry Fassy, co-founder of Alizes Private, is a former hotelier who launched the Moroccan DMC in 2017. For each client and their travel advisor, he creates two WhatsApp groups. One includes the guide and driver, Fassy and the travel advisor, so the travel advisor can see how the day is going for their client and get real-time updates if plans need to be changed. The other group consists of the client, Fassy, and the travel advisor, allowing the client to share any concerns with them discreetly, also in real-time. He says that by acting quickly instead of waiting for feedback after the trip, there is usually a quick fix that satisfies the client.
Other DMCs say they maintain standards by using their own cars and drivers instead of outsourcing. They also stop taking bookings when the guides they trust are not available. Fassy says he finds the best way to address price questions is transparency, saying he happily shares with travel advisors how much the services he is arranging cost his company.
Of course, if money is no object, Access Italy says for 10,000 euros, you can have 30 minutes in the Sistine Chapel after hours. One client recently used his time there to propose to his girlfriend. She said yes. Ewelina Kula says relationships matter for DMCs. Access Italy was founded by the current CEO's father, who was a driver at Rome's famed Hotel Hassler, where he made numerous location connections. She says some of the most memorable experiences don't need to cost four or five figures. They include getting behind the scenes to see how gelato is made or accessing wineries that are not open to the public.
Still, one hotel executive says service delivery comes down to investment in training. Nigel Page of South Africa's The Royal Portfolio, which includes The Silo Hotel in Cape Town, says finding a top-notch pastry chef or sommelier can be challenging, but there is no shortage of potential workers for restaurants, bars and housekeeping. He says the key is to hire for attitude and then support employees with training and opportunities to advance. Managers who come up through the ranks, he says, naturally want to mentor new starters to find similar success. Pace says while hardware matters, in an environment where consumers are paying more than ever, the small touches from employees who are genuinely committed is more important than ever.
EmbarkBeyond's Ezon says even if prices seem to be reaching the stars for your bucket list destination, there's hope. He says his advisors often find by shifting dates several weeks, there can be significant savings.