NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - September 20, 2016) - The independent and objective Luxury Institute today releases the 2017 Luxury Brand Status Index covering the global luxury hotel industry, providing rankings and ratings of 40 luxury hotel brands by affluent travelers from the world's wealthiest countries, and detailed insights into lodging preferences and spending behavior. New York-based Luxury Institute conducted in-depth surveys of 3,900 consumers 21 and older earning the following minimum levels of annual income in the currency of their home country: United States ($150,000); United Kingdom (£60,000); France, Germany, Italy (EUR50,000); China (1 million CNY); and Japan (¥150 million).
Luxury Brand Status Index scores are an average of respondents' degree of agreement on a 0-10 scale with the following four statements about each hotel's performance on the four pillars of luxury:
- "This hotel delivers consistently superior quality."
- "This hotel is truly unique and exclusive."
- "This hotel is visited by people who are admired and respected."
- "This hotel makes guests feel special across the full customer experience."
Affluent travelers also provided key outcome metrics for hotel brands with which they have direct experience, indicating whether they believe a brand is worthy of a price premium, and whether they were willing to recommend it to friends, family, or other people they care about. Respondents provided specific statements detailing specifically why they would or would not recommend particular hotels, and they revealed which brands they are most likely to consider the next time they make a hotel reservation.
The top five luxury hotel brands which affluent respondents from around the world are most likely to have visited in the past 12 months are JW Marriott, InterContinental, Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt, and The Ritz-Carlton. These four brands were also the four most popular brands in the prior year's survey, although there were some noteworthy year-over-year changes in popularity at the country-specific level. JW Marriott saw a spike in visits by affluent travelers from the U.S. and China, while Chinese consumers also reported greater patronage of Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt, InterContinental, The Peninsula Hotels, and Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts. Among Europeans, Club Med, Le Meridien, and Sofitel gained ground with affluent French consumers; Kempinski Hotels was more frequented by German travelers; and high-income Italian consumers reported an increase in visits to Armani Hotels, Club Med and Le Meridien.
U.S. travelers were the only respondents to report an increase in nights spent at luxury hotels over the past year. Among respondents from all seven countries, total nights spent dropped from an average of 19 to 17 over the past year. Europeans reported the biggest decreases, with German travelers spending an average of 19 nights in luxury hotels over the past twelve months, down from 26 nights in last year's survey, and French travelers reporting a similar drop in the number of nights from 23 to 19. Japanese consumers have also cut back from an average of 15 nights to 12 nights. Demand was relatively stable among Chinese travelers who reported spending 16 nights at a luxury hotel in the past year, compared to an average of 17 nights in last year's survey.
Leisure travel drives visits to luxury hotels. The most popular reason for their last luxury hotel stay, cited by 31% of travelers from around the world, was a vacation of one week or longer. Holiday travel (20%) and a weekend getaway (19%) also rank among the top three motivations for high-income travelers to make reservations at luxury hotels. Regarding companionship, 62% travel with their spouses, 16% report traveling solo, and 11% travel with business colleagues.
"Luxury hotel brands clearly face some challenges due to economic issues in Europe and Japan, but there are several brands that have found ways to boost their popularity among affluent travelers," says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. "Delivering consistently superior experiences is at the foundation of a luxury brand's success, and the Luxury Brand Status Index provides a glimpse into how well these hotels are performing for their guests."
Below are all 40 hotel brands surveyed in the 2017 LBSI Global Hotel study, listed alphabetically:
- Aman Resorts
- Armani Hotels
- Banyan Tree
- Club Med
- Como Hotels and Resorts
- Conrad Hotels and Resorts
- Fairmont Hotels and Resorts
- Firmdale Hotels
- Four Seasons
- Grand Hyatt
- InterContinental
- Jumeirah
- JW Marriott
- Kempinski Hotels
- Le Meridien
- Langham
- Leading Hotels of the World
- Loews Hotels
- The Luxury Collection
- Mandarin Oriental
- Maybourne Hotels
- Oberoi
- Orient-Express Hotels
- Pan Pacific
- Park Hyatt
- The Peninsula Hotels
- Preferred Hotels & Resorts
- Raffles Hotels and Resorts
- Regent
- The Ritz-Carlton
- The Rocco Forte Collection
- Rosewood
- Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts
- Small Luxury Hotels of the World
- Sofitel
- St. Regis
- Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces
- Trump International Hotels
- W Hotels and Resorts
- Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts
For complete rankings and ratings with additional insights from the Luxury Brand Status Index survey, visit www.LuxuryInstitute.com, or contact Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza (mpedraza@luxuryinstitute.com).
Contact Information:
Katherine Sousa
ksousa@luxuryinstitute.com