The travel segment is changing and evolving almost as fast as it’s growing – a third faster than any other travel segment, to be precise – and the private aviation sector achieved record breaking numbers in 2021.
With the wide adoption of remote work and the technology to facilitate it, we believe that people will be able to have more enriching experiences – travelling more exploratively and for longer. This provides the hospitality industry with an exciting opportunity to better accommodate long term stays, ‘work from anywhere’ solutions and provide a ‘live-work-play’ experience.
Why is the future of travel about adventure for longer and how can private aviation stand the test of time appealing to its widest audience ever?
Purpose Travel
Remember when nowhere in the world was off limits and last-minute travel was as easy as grabbing your passport and breezing through check-in just 45 minutes before a flight?
Today is different. Admin mountains, shifting government advice and the prohibitive expense associated with travel today – think multiple PCR tests, potential quarantine, specialist insurance – mean extended stays are now both more time and cost effective. No wonder then that people who are travelling are now exploring private charter and staying put for longer. The beauty of this development is multifaceted. SHY Lifestyle have been reflecting on our best performing offering of the season which has been Giftable Experiences and how this can play an eponymous part in 2022. Meanwhile, extended stays encourage journeys that champion self-reflection and personal engagement – key attributes that destinations are looking to foster in their quest for ‘quality’ tourism and ‘purpose travel’.
The industry is tempting travellers with a range of innovative incentives designed to take the sting out of the pocket – and the process. Since August 2021 SHY Aviation and SHY Lifestyle have offered round the clock service for all testing solutions, PCR and Antigen tests to keep pace with fluctuating global restrictions. With insight that unless usurped by vaccine passports, PCR tests are here to stay.
Once an irritating but very much optional expense, travel insurance has had a welcomed makeover. It does not apply to private travel due to the demands of the industry, however our expansive luxury hotel partners offer lucrative programmes that accommodate Covid-specific insurance – some of it even complimentary.
Helping travellers make the most of a workcation across the globe is our SHY Lifestyle “Live Luxury” programme, which partners visitors with a local expert acting as a personal guide and concierge before and during your stay.
It’s a Lifestyle
Championing a Live Work Play ethos means so much more than diving reefs in the Maldives, resourcing high-speed WIFI connection and plush coffee offerings.
For our clients it has shown meaningful experience travel has surpassed that of traditional winter sun and weekend getaways. Through our lifestyle concierge we have seen an exponential rise in requests for experiences, they want personalisation and they want to discover places before they become overdone and overrun.
As the world becomes busier and the lines between professional and personal success continue to blur, living in the moment feels more unattainable than ever, and this an issue people are actively trying to address when planning their holidays.
Multilayered expectations and shifting attitudes are transforming the very definition of a holiday. Our travellers now desire and expect memorable experiences that they can not only share with their network of friends and family through social media in the short term, but also have in their life experience artillery in the long term.
People want to explore their passions through bucket-list experiences, such as getting tickets to major events like the Olympics, Super Bowl and Wimbledon. Art aficionados are inquiring about private tours of locales like the Vatican after hours, and shoppers want appointments at high-end stores such as Hermès to purchase signature items like a Birkin bag. Our Luxury travel advisors are also arranging private dinners with influential local figures.
Some of our most recent travellers have also expressed heightened interest in eco-tourism, sustainability and animal-related experiences. Some request visits to animal protection facilities or to observe animals in the wild, such as whale watching and viewing rhinos at close range. Some want to interact more directly with animals, such as at the Instagram sensation Giraffe Manor in Nairobi or dogsledding in the North Pole.
To keep up with the sky-high expectations of travellers, both big hotel chains and smaller, boutique properties have upped the ante on what they offer to guests, in a time when a bed and breakfast is simply not enough.
In a bid to resonate with the mindset of today’s luxury traveller, SHY offer bespoke programming and distinct experiences that have been carefully curated.
Whether you are looking to explore your bucket list options this 2022, or purely travel in safety, security, and speed with a private charter, we have you covered no matter what the request.