US luxury traveller psyche revealed

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The group of 13 top-end travel agents from the US talked to LTN candidly about their clients’ perception of the Middle East as a tourism destinaition.

LTN staged a roundtable with a group of high-profile US travel agents who provided a telling insight into the travel preferences of their clients.

It's not often the opportunity arises to get inside the heads of discerning travellers and discover the truth about their travel likes and dislikes.

So, when a chance to meet with 13 top-end travel agents from the US - who were willing to hold an open and honest discussion about where their clients travel to and what they really thought about the Middle East - presented itself, LTN, on behalf of its readers, swiftly accepted the invitation.

Refreshingly, there was no holding back as the agents, who had been hand-picked by the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) to sit on its Luxury Travel Advisory Board, were very candid about their clients' wants, needs and perceptions, as well as their own.

They unanimously agreed that Dubai was very much on the radar of North American luxury travellers, but stressed that Gulf countries just sounded "too Middle Eastern".

"Dubai is not seen as [being in] the Middle East," one of the agents commented.

"It's a status place right now; the perception is that it's a modern Arabic city.

But when asked if their clients would venture into other Gulf States such as Qatar or Bahrain, another agent said bluntly: "No, because that sounds like the Middle East.

US luxury travellers were, however, starting to take notice of what destinations such as Abu Dhabi and Oman had to offer, some of the panel members revealed.

"These [destinations] are getting press and being marketed so the interest is gathering momentum," said one agent.

All the agents warned it was time for Dubai's tourism authorities to start marketing what Dubai had to offer the US luxury traveller.

"Because Dubai is at risk of becoming a short-stop destination, pre- or post-cruise, or on the way to somewhere like the Maldives," said one agent.

Indeed, Dubai Department of Tourism Commerce Marketing statistics reveal that the average stay in Dubai is currently around 2.5 days.

"We know about the hotels; now we need to know about the activities on offer. Our clients want unique and authentic experiences," said one panel member.

"We need to know that there is more to Dubai than shopping, because our clients can shop anywhere in the world. They want something more."

Another travel agent added: "Dubai already has a fantastic luxury product, but it needs to get the word out - to us agents, and our clients."

The agents said they found it difficult to find "good DMCs" in the Middle East.

"We need to make sure that our clients who come here have a unique and "outside the box" experience," said one.

"Our clients don't want to be labeled and they don't want to be a tourist or an average Joe on the street. Money is no object for them and so we need to work with partners here that can meet these needs and make us shine [as professional travel agents].

Another agent added: "Exclusive opportunities are what they are looking for".

An example of this, said one agent, was when her client requested a family breakfast at the Great Wall of China.

"So we arranged this - and they paid a lot for it," she said.

The panel noted that the Middle East-based DMCs they had dealt with to date had a MICE background but were not geared up to dealing with bespoke travel experiences for individual luxury travellers.

"Many destination management companies (DMCs) here have experience with meetings and incentives, but it doesn't translate to the luxury FIT market," said one agent. "It's something we will look for when we attend ATM (Arabian Travel Market)."

One agent who had sent his client on a family break to Dubai for Christmas said he had found the ground handler/DMC to be inefficient and disorganised.

"It was like extracting teeth - I would rather have root canal treatment than have to go through that," he said.

The panel also bemoaned the fact that the visa process for US citizens visiting Dubai was "unclear".

"Some of us were told we needed to get a visa before we travelled when in fact, we were granted visa on arrival," said one agent.

The panel reiterated that US travel agents therefore need educating about every element of a visit to Dubai, from visa processes to unique experiences on offer.

Have family, will travel.

IHG's panel identified a number of luxury travel trends worth noting.

"Family travel across multi-generations is popular - where grandparents take their grandchildren on holiday," said one agent.

"They are also going away to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and taking the entire family with them."

Luxury travellers were keen to discover new and "exotic" places. Current favourites (for the North American market) spanned Italy, Mauritius and the Seychelles, while emerging luxury destinations included Bhutan and the Middle East.

The agents said they and their clients were impressed by the standard of the properties in Dubai, as well as the tourism infrastructure that was being built, although service standards were patchy on occasions.

Their clients were also interested in visiting places with historical and cultural value such as Jordan, Libya and Egypt and said these could be combined with a trip to Dubai.

The average age of the North American luxury traveller was diminishing, with some clients now in their mid- to late-30s, the panel revealed.

"We get a lot of bookings for 40th birthday celebrations," said one, "when it used to be 50th and 60th birthdays".

Clients demanded "a genuine and authentic experience" and "destination quality".

Hotels, they said, should provide "signature services", be "intuitive", and be flexible to cater to individual client requirements.

A spa, they concluded, was now an essential hotel component.

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