Insights from ITLM APAC 2024 Highlight Emerging Trends and Japan's Rising Appeal
Luxurique Inc., a hospitality and events management company with more than a decade of experience curating luxury travel itineraries in Japan, has shared its insights on how emerging middle-class travellers with a growing disposable income are reshaping travel trends.
During ITLM APAC 2024, an annual luxury travel trade show held at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore this July, Luxurique CEO and President Naomi Mano and the team hosted more than 70 meetings with some of the leading travel agencies and travel designers from across the region. She shared with them her insights about the growing middle class from the APAC region and beyond who are reshaping tourism and adopting travel trends of the HNW.
The sentiment was supported by Sumana Rajarethnam, Southeast Asia director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network during his keynote address at the event. He noted that, whilst many of the world’s economies are stagnant, the Asian economy is growing slowly and sustainably, which will spur consumption. Malaysia is leading the pack with a predicted 7.7 percent CAGR growth rate in private consumption per head from 2023 to 2027 as its median household income grows at the same rate. Rajarethnam highlighted expanding middle classes in Malaysia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam have more spending power than ever, empowering them to travel more frequently with more disposable income.
While much of the APAC economy is strengthening, Japan’s weak yen is luring travellers as a prime location for the rising middle-class to get more for their money. Travellers are having frequent repeat visits, exploring lesser-known areas of the country and spending more money during their travels. “We’re seeing the rising middle classes demanding much more from their travels,” says Mano “They want to expand on their interests and are willing to travel to remote places to find unique experiences; whether it’s making miso paste in a 17th-century factory, learning how to meditate with Zen Buddhist monks in one of Japan’s most sacred temples or channelling their inner warriors through an immersive samurai training. These travellers want to learn and experience something new that they can incorporate into their lives back home.”
With more financial freedom than ever, middle-class travellers are dipping their toes into other travel trends that, until recently, were only accessible to the ultra-wealthy.
“Medical tourism was a request that came up numerous times during our meetings with agents at ILTM APAC,” says Mano. “Luxurique is a member of the Medical Tourism Association and has been providing guests with references for the best clinics, doctors and treatments available. Japan’s reputation for quality and hospitality makes it a strong competitor in the medical tourism market. Our guests are booking everything from comprehensive annual health check-ups to cutting-edge stem cell therapy. When you get treated in Japan, you can feel assured your details are handled with the utmost discretion and that you receive world-class care, and it’s a trend that is gradually filtering through to more travellers” she says.
Another luxury that is likely to become more accessible to a broader market is property investment in Japan. “In recent months we’ve even had numerous requests from clients in the APAC region asking us to assist them in buying property in Japan,” says Mano. “Now is a great time to invest in Japan. People are looking to buy in a stable country where they can buy affordable houses. While second-home destinations like the Hamptons or Maui might be out of most people’s price range, a property in Furano, Hokkaido or Yokohama is comparatively cheap. We are trying to help them make Japan their home away from home by assisting with property purchasing and additional support in travelling there and maintaining the property,” she says. “Holiday homes in Japan are the next status symbol.”
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