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LIFESTYLE | 17 www.italchamind.eu Luxury hospitality, a mine of gold A shift to luxury for personalised experiences T he hospitality sector is one of the biggest in the world and its most lucrative sub-sector is luxury hospitality, which analysts believe will be worth more than $171bn in 2020 with a forecast of $222bn by 2024. In the last five years, a shift to luxury goods and experiences has been registered, with consumers preferring to spend more in Michelin restaurants and 5-star travel in order to have a personalised experience. Because of this shift to luxury, hospitality saw the rise of a new business structure made of boutique hotels, at the expense of independent and family or corporate owned hotels with different strategies that were not able to survive this evolution of the sector. Luxury brands such as Gucci, Armani and Bulgari felt the need to jump the wagon and embark on a new adventure where they had no experience, opening restaurants and hotels all over the world. These brands decided it was time to make this move because their customers were asking for more luxury experiences and services to meet their need of exclusivity. For example, Bulgari opened several boutique hotels in London, Milan, Dubai, Bali and Beijing and is planning to expand to Paris, Moscow and Tokyo by 2022. Big luxury brands are opting for boutique hotels because they can offer an exclusive experience that will be more personal, customised and unique for each customer, which is exactly what the modern audience is asking nowadays. Boutique hotels, as opposed to the traditional luxury ones, have fewer rooms but are more peculiar and quirkier, giving the customer a different way of perceiving the hotel thanks to their specialised spa, restaurant and room service. As a matter of fact, according to Forbes Travel Guide, “the quality of the service and more intangible measures allow small luxury boutique hotels to be compared with large hotels that have all the facilities”. LONDON, A CITY MADE FOR LUXURY HOSPITALITY London is the leading European capital for hospitality but most of all for luxury hospitality. In fact, in London this sector can take several declinations depending just on the customers’ requirements due to the diversity and opportunities offered by the metropolis. According to Forbes Travel Guide, the British capital is the place where to find the best wellness, food, culture and activities, and where customers seek “the same experiences that wealthy locals have access to, providing guests with a real flavour of the local culture.” London has the advantage of having both traditional luxury hotels like Claridge’s or boutique hotels such as Bulgari. Claridge’s, located in the heart of Mayfair, is the classic hotel par excellence with traditional rooms, more than one restaurant and a 24h room service; Bulgari instead, located in Knightsbridge, next to Harrods, has stylish rooms recalling its Roman origins, with one Italian restaurant welcoming guests in an intimate and warm atmosphere. As stated by Forbes Travel Guide, “staff at these hotels in London are taught to predict and meet the demands of clients in advance, so they can proactively respond to them”. London remains the European city where to find a home away from home, but with a luxury twist. ·