(Above): Maddison Done, Global Head of Brand and Marketing for Travel Associates (left) and Lisa Wright
Q: Why is luxury travel enjoying a boom right now?
A: People are prioritising experiences over ‘things’ and travel is something they are increasingly seeing as a non-discretionary item.
In a recent Flight Centre Travel Group survey, 45 per cent of Australians said they are most likely to prioritise luxury travel in 2025
Q: What are the hot luxury destinations we need to look out for in 2025?
A: We expect to see travel to Thailand surge off the back of the new season of White Lotus. Cool-cations are another big one where we’re seeing lots of people head to Northern Europe in the summer to escape the heat and the crowds. Med cruising is also bigger than ever.
Amazing culturally enriching experiences close to home are as popular as ever as people continue to love exploring within their own backyard.
Q: Are travel agents still vital in selling the luxury travel message?
A: Absolutely. Luxury travel isn’t just about where you go but the end-to-end experience and the advisor plays a vital role in this.
Luxury travel advisors are specialised in their craft and have built deep connections with suppliers, which means they have access to those one-of-a-kind experiences that you can’t seek out on your own.
Q: How important is an initiative like your Luxury Travel Events to help spread the word on what’s available out there?
A: There is so much product out there so being able to “shop” in person and sit down with an advisor to digest all that information is invaluable.
For suppliers it’s incredibly valuable to be able to meet clients in person and give them an in-depth explanation of the product.
We believe our incredible portfolio of famous luxury events is one of the most essential and defining keys within our house of brands.
Our team has honed these events over many years, bringing exceptional expertise to bear as well as extensive consultation with our community to create the best opportunities for members and partners to directly connect and converse, build strong, mutually beneficial relationships and share knowledge about the finest luxury itineraries, experiences and services available.
Q: As Event Manager for The Luxury Travel Collection what are the main challenges of your job and what are the highlights?
A: We love to do things differently in Luxury Travel Collection and bring to life unique immersive experiences, whether that be directly with our clients or our members.
The challenges are always finding the “next thing” in events and new ways to bring ideas to life along with securing destinations and guest speakers that are true to our brand DNA and inspire our audience.
I recently returned from AIME which was a great opportunity to do exactly that and spend a lot of time researching luxury brand events for inspiration.
The highlights are absolutely seeing the vision come to life, the at event “buzz” and the fact that you’ve been a part in delivering inspiration, connections and learnings to the network and beyond.
Seeing clients sitting down and booking travel in our Boutique Booking Lounges with our advisors, seeing leaders meet and connect for the first time, seeing our partners sales grow as a result – it’s hard to highlight just one thing!
Q: Do you have any favourite places you like to travel?
A: I love experiencing new destinations, cities and cultures, so am often in search of what’s next that I haven’t visited as yet, or if I have travelled to that city or country will always explore a new region.
I’ll be visiting Sri Lanka on a family holiday this year which we have seen a resurgence in bookings and travel, so will be excited to experience the sights, culture and cuisine of this stunning country.
In saying that we are so lucky to have this beautiful country as our own backyard and as often as I can will experience somewhere new in Australia.
I just returned from a mother/daughter trip to Launceston, Tamar Valley and Bakers Beach in Tasmania and had an amazing horse riding experience on the most remote beach. It was truly beautiful.
https://www.luxurytravelcollection.co/
