A survey of Elegant Resorts’ most loyal guests showed client budgets have been largely unaffected.
The poll, which was carried out in early June and completed by 400 people, showed that 67% said their budgets were not affected by the pandemic, while 10% said they would likely spend more on luxury travel.
When asked about their feelings towards travel, 52% said they would be more cautious about where and when they travel; 26% said their plans and feelings were unaffected by the pandemic, and 17% said the crisis had made them reassess their travel plans and as a result they would be creating a new travel wish list.
When asked when they would travel again, 33% said autumn 2020, 16% said winter 2020, 35% said spring 2021 and 17% said summer 2021 and beyond.
The results showed that 85% of the operator’s Chairman’s Club guests quizzed on travel sentiment saw hygiene in hotels and resorts as being “more important than ever”.
Elegant Resorts said there was a clear desire for travel closer to home, with 76% of respondents most likely to travel to Europe in the next 18 months and 58% looking to book private homes in the UK.
The Caribbean (38%) and Indian Ocean (37%) came in as the third and fourth most popular destinations for future travel.
When it came to holiday types, luxury beach break reigned supreme with 94%; 78% said they were likely to pick a city break; and 62% said they wanted a luxury villa holiday. The results also showed a preference for private jet travel, with just under half (48%) of those polled picking this option.
When it came to priorities around future bookings, the majority (88%) said they wanted flexibility to amend without charge. Hygiene in resorts and hotels was also important with 85% picking it as being “more important than ever”, with 77% saying destination hygiene levels would also be a key consideration.
More than 75% said airline reputation and hygiene protocol was important, with 62% saying direct flights were a priority.
Lisa Fitzell, managing director of Elegant Resorts, said: “We would like to thank our loyal clients for taking the time to answer our survey. It’s extremely important and enables us to have a clearer understanding of their current expectations and aspirations. I am delighted to see that the appetite for travel is still very much there, and that luxury holidays are part of their plans for the end of this year and early 2021.
“We are working hard with our partners to make holiday dreams come true in the safest, most flexible and seamless way possible. We have recently launched our new UK and Ireland Collection and are working to offer a more enhanced and exclusive VIP service at the UK’s major airports as a direct response to this survey.”