16 Luxury Travel Highlights of 2014

16 Luxury Travel Highlights of 2014

Luxury travel highlights: adventure travel

Travelers in search of adventure, like these kayakers, were a hot trend in 2014

Where were the hottest luxury travel spots of 2014? What were the most interesting emerging destinations? The requests everyone was asking for? The trends in luxury travel?

To get the inside scoop on these questions, we asked a panel of four Virtuosos to take a look back at 2014:

  • Trish Winebrenner, vice president, Air, Auto and Insurance, Virtuoso
  • Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president, sales, Celebrity Cruises
  • Jay Johnson, president, Coastline Travel Advisors
  • Barbara Pang, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts

Below discover what the four shared about what characterized luxury travel in 2014: everything from river cruising to Bhutan to family travel.

Travel Highlights of 2014: Hot Trends

Travelers in 2014 couldn’t get enough of river cruising, particularly in Europe and Asia

  • River cruising, especially the Danube, Rhine, Douro and Mekong
  • Culinary tourism, including tours by local chefs
  • Adventure travel where travelers both learn and explore
  • Family travel with multiple generations

Travel Highlights of 2014: Emerging Destinations

  • New Zealand – perhaps due to the Hobbit effect?
  • Abu Dhabi and Dubai
  • Asia for its less commercialized destinations: Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal and Bhutan

Travel Highlights of 2014: Popular Requests

  • Personal meet-and-greet services
  • Combined ocean and river cruise packages
  • Discovering somewhere new and exotic that’s still a five-star experience
  • Unique experiences in destinations that insiders can offer

Travel Highlights of 2014: Luxury Developments

Luxury travel highlights: culinary tourismExperiencing a destination’s culinary wonders was popular in 2014

  • Travel focused on interests such as food, sport, art or nature
  • More choices in cruising
  • Adventure combined with comfort
  • The freedom and time to explore a destination doing whatever you like

For more details on what was hot in luxury travel in 2014, click to enlarge the below chart:

2014_travel_industry_review

Another trend in 2014: people discovering the benefits of working with a travel advisor. Here’s why you can benefit from partnering with an expert to plan your travel for 2015 and beyond. If you’re looking for an advisor, browse the luxury travel experts at virtuoso.com.

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