What is experiential luxury travel?
There’s luxury travel and then there’s experiential luxury travel.
From the beginning of The Cultureur, staying true to my travel style of luxury travel and local culture, I have maintained that both facets are equally important to me and comprise my ideal way of travel. In fact, every travel experience of mine is fueled by my interest in the finer things in life, my adventurous spirit, my social awareness, and my craving to understand the disparate cultural fibers that make up our world. Well, there’s a name for that kind of travel — it’s called experiential luxury travel. It also falls under the umbrella of sustainable tourism/responsible travel.
Having traveled around the globe extensively in the past decade, The Cultureur is an organic convergence of my interests, experiences, and passions that has fueled an insatiable appetite for not only the finer things in life, but also the hidden gems of a destination’s local culture. From the grand aesthetics of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris to the aromatic flavors of street food in Mexico City, The Cultureur bridges the richness of both worlds into a redefined idea of luxury, effortlessly maneuvering through the satisfaction each brings and appealing to the millennial audience that values experiential luxury travel.
Just loved reading it. How nicely you have put it all together. I loved the idea of experiential luxury travel and realising thats my style too 🙂
[…] in 2012, I have often written about the intersection of local culture and luxury travel, calling it experiential luxury travel and showing people that the two ideas are not mutually exclusive. Over the past 5 years since […]
[…] that are not only authentic and exclusive, but also fulfilling and enriching. If this sounds like experiential luxury travel, you’d be right. Experiences (the current marketing buzzword on everyone’s […]
[…] luxury travel market, which has seen exponential growth in the past several years due to the experiential travel preferences of the millennial […]
[…] luxury travel market, which has seen exponential growth in the past several years due to the experiential travel preferences of the millennial […]
Loved reading this, especially as I actually just recently experienced what experiential travel is in the true sense of the term. When I used to travel I usually booked luxury hotels without thinking but recently during my trip to Marrakech I accidentally stumbled across a riad called Dar Jaguar and that completely changed my perspective and experience of what Luxury is. Like you said, there was so much more to the riad than just being classified as luxurious, the design, interiors, style, ambience, the vision behind it (it was created by a Notting Hill couture designer) so everything about it felt so immersive and so much more than just a standard luxury package. But it’s quite hard to find those hidden gems.
[…] The Culturer says this […]
Travel is indeed a wonderful pleasure which lends itself extremely well to the experiential luxury approach to life. Perhaps another deeply experiential encounter is offered through exploring one’s own uniquely personal heritage. Uncovering your heritage gives opportunity to combine the best of luxury travel, lifestyle, products and intelligence to leverage your entirely personalised exclusive story.
Great insight into the ever-changing travel industry. Experiential travel and experiential luxury travel are making the world more accessible to enjoy!
When I do travel I try to involve as much “comfort” as I can where I stay – my own bathroom, my own bed in my own room and a mini bar with a view is all bonus. Luxury is really the eye of the beholder which makes this term so widely applicable but also so interpretable. Interesting post and discussion!
I’m the same way when I travel. This is the first time I’ve heard of “experiential luxury travel.” I never knew how to label the way I liked to travel.. because to me it just seemed like a mixed bag! I love being pampered, but I also like checking out the street scene and boutique hotels.
I am so with you. I think midlifers share that same philosophy. We’ve seen the sights and now want the experiences – in a luxury setting, of course 🙂
This is exactly how I like to travel. I want good design while feeling comfortable in a pair of jeans and I want to experience the destination I’m visiting.
“The irony of it all is that our level of connectedness, that is, technologically, is unprecedented, yet we crave human intimacy and meaningful community like never before. ” I think you’re right – and in more ways than one. We’re so “connected” technologically that we’re no longer connected as intimately – experiential travel lets us actually with that intimacy. Great article, and I really do agree with your viewpoint.
I think we would travel well together. I think I’ve been doing your “experiential luxury travel” without terming it so, but may start. I’ll give you full credit though. Great thoughts and way to see, or rather, experience the world.
I like the term experiential luxury travel, although I guess experiential can apply across the budget to luxury spectrum.
You have to scratch pretty deep to find experiences of substance these days. And that might be the fault of many travel bloggers – we write about them when we have them, sharing the details and making it available for others. But once multitudes of people share the experience it gets diluted and experience docents dilute the experience out of the desire to earn more money with less effort. It is one of the less positive outcomes of the travel blogging community 🙂
Completely understand your point, but you’re assuming that everyone likes to travel this way. Some just want to get away from it all and relax on the beach with a pina colada in hand. The beauty of travel is that it’s constantly evolving and as long as one’s willing, there will always be fresh, new ways to see the old.
“It’s far more rewarding to me to delve into the stories of the farmer who supplies the produce to the market, the corner shop owner who is a fourth-generation cheesemonger — it’s about humanizing experiences and brands.” Yes! The human factor is so important in travel!
Indeed — it’s what creates the memories and stories!
[…] What is Experiential Luxury Travel and Why I Choose It as a Millennial […]
“I wouldn’t call experiential luxury travel a trend, but rather a lifestyle.” Could not have said it better! Great article!
Thanks, Jess!
Great article and I adore the term ‘experiential luxury travel.’ People always ask how I combine my niche of ’emerging destinations and luxury’ – this is it. The back-story, behind-the-scenes and interactions with a backdrop of comfort. Good read Nyssa.
Thanks, Anisha! Absolutely right — they’re not mutually exclusive.
Nyssa, this is the first I’ve heard of “experiential luxury travel”. Did you coin that yourself? Regardless, what a well written article! “Substance with style” says it all.
Thank you! 🙂 Alas, I didn’t coin the term. It has been around for awhile, but it didn’t gain popularity until millennials brought it forward and now you see people of all ages seeking similar experiences.
This is such an interesting article! I love the idea of this style of travel being a lifestyle, milennials do have a fascinating take on the world now!
Thank you! It’s only going to get more interesting from here!