Luxury Retreats Lists Top Travel Trends in Luxury Market

Luxury Retreats has released a list of six of the top luxury travel trends for the first half of the year, with some surprising results. To compile the list, the luxury villa specialist looked at its guests’ destination statistics and polled its team of travel specialists on general themes that have reappeared time and time again since January.

“We speak to thousands of travelers per month, multiply that over six months and it becomes a pretty good snapshot of the luxury industry,” said Jon Chiniborch, sales manager at Luxury Retreats. “There were trends that clearly stood out far and away from others.”

The most prevalent luxury travel trends for the first half of 2010 include a renewed love affair with classic destinations such as Italy, Maui and the Turks and Caicos; searching for value, even at the luxury level; a big increase in travel to South Africa, due to the World Cup; and surging popularity in building “green” and demanding accommodations that are eco-friendly.

Other trends indicate that travelers are now focused on maximizing quality time with their families more than ever, and traveling in bigger family groups to villas with extra privacy.