But this buzzphrase is in many luxury travel conversations – referring to trips that focus on self-reflection and self-discovery, with people hoping to come back with a new perspective on life.

It’s a tall order, but one luxury travel companies are rising to the challenge of creating for clients, whether it’s trekking the Himalayas with a life coach or taking the family to a conservation project in South Africa.

But not all luxury travel has to have such lofty aspirations. For some, it’s simply a beach break at one of the world’s luxury hotels. And the definition of a luxury customer also varies greatly. According to Mintel’s UK Luxury Travel market report, “big-ticket spenders” – defined as those who have spent either £1,000+ per head for a break of one to six nights; £1,500+ per head for a holiday of seven to 13 nights; or £3,000+ per head for 14+ nights – account for an estimated 14% of holidaymakers. And the luxury agents and operators I speak with say spend is often much higher than these figures.

Mintel expands that further still to say that 41% of holidaymakers fall into ‘all luxury travellers’ – which is the big-ticket spenders, plus those who say they have stayed in five-star accommodation, or spent £250+ per night, in the past five years.

So, with that in mind, and as ttgluxury celebrates its second Luxury Travel Week this week, this week’s TTG is a special luxury issue, which helps you tap into almost half the UK’s travellers – if we follow Mintel’s logic! We can’t promise that reading it will transform your business, or your clients’ travels, but it will provide product inspiration and selling tips. Above all, it’s worth noting luxury provides the perfect opportunity to showcase agents’ service and flair – and that has to be a good thing.

April Hutchinson

Editor, ttgluxury