There is such a lot of noise around the luxury travel market that I wonder where it will all end. Every luxury resort regularly appears to go through some kind of inevitable reboot or upgrade, promising the kind of experiences that you are led to believe are fashioned from the very elixir of divine extravagance. At the top end of the market, consumer expectation has also never been higher, driven by a variety of reasons — a post-lockdown hysteria that has morphed into a kind of petulant travel entitlement; a post-White Lotus desire for destination bragging rights; and the basic (in both senses of the word) one-upmanship of social media.
Which all means that seven-star travel has become a bigger business than ever. St Bart’s. St Tropez. Ibiza. The Hamptons. Palm Beach. Forte dei Marmi. You name it. Every resort and every resort hotel now promises the lifestyle experience of a lifetime, unashamedly exploiting our relentless ambition to enjoy a bespoke life.
