Top ten luxury travel and lifestyle trends for 2008

Buying behavior, geography, interests and connoisseurship will become the new definition of wealthy, particularly in emerging markets where luxury status will be displayed outwardly via symbols: luxury goods and labels.And even more, space, space and more space is luxury. Refurbishing will come to mean over-sizing hotel guest room and ship cabins, not just the usual interior furnishings and amenities. And top hotel suites will get larger and pricier, appealing, as they must, to the super wealthy who are accustomed to homes of 10,000 square feet or more.2. Mature affluent are gravitating to “stealth wealth.” They seek products that express personal interests and style while requiring connoisseurship. They prize uniqueness: one of-a-kind hotels that are all about the owner’s exquisite taste, selectivity and demanding standards.3. Relationships with family and friends take center stage. Fueled by a backlash against a contemporary world dominated by 24/7 work schedules and dehumanizing technology, family travel is growing at a faster rate than all other sectors of leisure travel. Parents, grandparents and friends are looking to travel as a way to reunite, and to celebrate life’s landmark events. Business trips with the whole family will become as common as tag-along spouses, while high-end business hotels and resorts will roll out the red carpets for families with special suites and villas.4. Creativity checks in. As Thomas Friedman writes in “The World is Flat,” we are living in the Talent Age. Companies will need to innovate to set themselves apart and find new solutions and alliances to tap into fresh talent. The right side of the brain will trump the left as creativity and design sell.5. Concierges are king. Personal concierges are all the rage. They are the go-to curators for sourcing flowers, a home or...