In the
lead up to its 2013 edition, ILTM Americas (www.iltm.net/americas),
the Americas ’
largest and most exclusive gathering of the luxury travel industry has revealed
a new report identifying a unique insight into the experiences that luxury
travellers seek and share online. ‘The Luxury Traveller & Social Media:
The Americas’ highlights that
luxury traveller behaviour patterns - and specifically the way purchasing
decisions are influenced - are now redefined by the ‘Millennial’ generation,
who seek ‘Instagram-able’ experiences that are visual, one-of-a-kind and will
generate buzz amongst their social networks. The Millennial generation (those
born between 1980 and 2000) is responsible for the growth of social media in
record time.
In 2013,
there will be a total of 278 million internet users across Latin America, for
the first time surpassing the number of users in both North America and Europe . During the research period, social postings
by North American luxury travellers increased by 130% while social posting by
Latin American luxury travellers increased by 304%. The satisfactions
levels among both groups also steadily increased.
‘The
Luxury Traveller & Social Media: The Americas ’ was produced by Circos
Brand Karma, global leaders in hospitality industry digital analysis and
management and will be presented by the company’s COO and Co-Founder, Mario
Jobbe at ILTM Americas on Monday 30 September. With a specific focus on the Americas , the
report analyses the key findings of 541,186 reviews written for more than 2000
luxury hotels worldwide (researched between January 2011 and June 2013).
The report interprets and identifies the preferences and behaviour of current
and future generations of luxury travellers and explains the key changes across
the global luxury travel landscape.
The report
also highlights that 5000 Facebook ‘Likes’, a Tripadvisor rating of at least
4.5 and a strong presence on Instagram, YouTube or Pinterest are now considered
the new minimum levels for social media excellence. North Americans and
Europeans place the most online hotel reviews, but it is the emerging markets
that lead in engagement on Facebook, Pinterest and other social networks.
Simon
Mayle, Head of Marketing for ILTM comments:
“The
Luxury Traveller & Social Media: The Americas ’ report highlights the increasing
importance of digital content in influencing today’s luxury traveller. At ILTM
Americas, we will hear from leading luxury travel advisors who have created
multi-voiced Facebook and Twitter campaigns which communicate their own true
passion and knowledge for hyper-personalised travel experiences, and as a
result, are seeing significant growth in their networks of Millennial
clients.”
There is a
marked difference between North American and Latin American travellers’
preferences based on their social media reviews; North Americans seeking
experiential travel with high values placed on helpfulness, empathetic service
and aesthetics and Latin Americans prioritising the more key functions such as
room and restaurant standards.
ILTM
Americas takes place from 30 September – 3 October at Riviera Maya, Mayakoba , Mexico ,
hosting up to 69 pre-scheduled, one to one appointments between up to 230
buyers and 230 suppliers, with a detailed programme of social networking
activities throughout.
For further information regarding ILTM Americas, please visit www.iltm.net/americas
About ILTM
International Luxury Travel Markets
(ILTM) are the world’s leading invitation-only events created for the business
of luxury travel, bringing together the world’s most sought after destinations,
ultra-luxurious accommodation, elite transportation and unique travel
experiences showcased for the most discerning hosted luxury travel buyer via an
unrivalled pre-scheduled appointment system and effective networking and
information opportunities.
The next ILTM events are ILTM
Americas – a one-to-one summit for travel agents from North, Central and South
America – taking place at Fairmont Mayakoba, Riviera Maya, Mexico: 30 September
- 3 October 2013; ILTM Spa – inviting the best of the world’s spa specialist
buyers – which will take place in
London from 30th September
– 2ndOctober 2013 and the global ILTM, now in its 12th year –
which invites 1300 of the most discerning buyers from across the world – taking
place in Cannes, 2 - 5 December 2013. Confirmed ILTM 2014 events are ILTM
Japan – inviting both Japanese and international buyers on 17-19 March 2014 in Kyoto; ILTM Africa
– now part of Reed Travel Exhibitions’ Africa Travel Week – taking place 28 -
29 April 2014 in
Cape Town, South Africa profiling African product and inviting international
buyers and ILTM Asia – which selects buyers from across the Asia Pacific – next
takes place in Shanghai, 2 - 5 June 2014.