ET Insider – April 28, 2011

Elite Traveler Insider –

April 28, 2011

Elite Traveler Insider

By Douglas D. Gollan, President and Editor-in-Chief, Elite Traveler Magazine  

Welcome to the latest issue of Elite Traveler Insider, the bi-weekly newsletter designed to update our top partners on trends in the private jet lifestyle. This information is provided to offer a better understanding of how to target these globetrotting elite travelers, their impact on your business and other trends that affect you. Remember, private jet travelers are paying up to $10,000 per hour to fly by private jet, so these super rich consumers could be and should be your best customer. We talk about them and how you can get more of them and more from them.

In this issue:

1. The Runway Comes To the Runway: Lagerfeld and Valentino Meet at Teterboro

2. Now That’s A Superyacht

3. Private Jets Continue Their Post-Recession Rise

4. Elite Traveler Style Editor Tanya Dukes Selected To Couture Design Awards Jury

1. The Runway Comes To the Runway: Lagerfeld and Valentino Meet at Teterboro

According to The New York Post, two private jets from Europe landed within minutes of each other. As the limos and vans pulled up with “an array of luxury suitcases…a beautiful entourage and quite a few dogs,” each plane’s lead passenger got a surprise. Fashion icons Valentino and Karl Lagerfeld realized they had just been back to back on the runway, Teterboro’s that is.

============================================================ Not another magazine or newspaper in that stack of unread mail: With over six private jet trips every two months, that’s at least six chances for wealthy private jet travelers to see your advertisement in Elite Traveler. And even better, share it with friends on the jet! ============================================================

2. Now That’s A Superyacht

The definition of a superyacht is at least 75 feet long; however, that has quickly become a minimum in the past decades. Many of you know that Elite Traveler Superyachts (we have now published two issues, with the Summer issue coming in June) was launched last year to great reviews, so we obviously keep a close eye on what’s new in this amazing world of luxury.

Here’s one that caught our eye: German eco-industrialist Guido Krass is offering to sell his 241-ft. Silver Zwei, the world’s fastest long-range superyacht, for €59 million (about $85 million). Designed to the billionaire’s specifications by Monaco’s famed Espen Oeino, the Silver Zwei is about as an environmentally friendly as a yacht of its size and speed can be.

That means high fuel efficiency, which is quite handy when crossing the Atlantic at a cool 22 knots. The yacht’s light, airy interior has accommodations for 20 guests in nine cabins including a large owner’s suite with private lounge and veranda deck. Earth tones and clean white spaces with orange accents abound.

Luxury touches are in ample supply including an open-air cinema and Jacuzzi on the sundeck, a large sunpad which converts to a dance floor with discotheque lighting and sound systems, a sea level beach club with integrated sauna, and a helipad on the foredeck. Equipped with advanced security and communications systems, she’s ready for a new billionaire owner to take the helm.

Clearly, we are happy to continue our penetration of the global UHNW consumer segment with Elite Traveler Superyachts. After all, what luxury marketer wouldn’t want their ads seen by the luxe guests aboard these beauties?

============================================================ With 41 trips per year, including 11 intercontinental trips and 3+ principal residences, we know where you’ll find elite travelers:  in their private jets and in private jet terminals.  It’s why we’ve invested in providing BPA audited circulation to private jets and private jet terminals in over 100 countries. ============================================================

3. Private Jets Continue Their Post-Recession Rise

According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Entrepreneurs and wealthy leisure travelers are returning to the skies and driving up demand for private jets.

“Flight Options, the jet service based at Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights, more than quadrupled its first quarter sales compared with a year earlier.

The company is selling more partial ownership shares and jet card hours, and has more planes in the air, than at any time since 2008. Flight Options’ JetPASS cards, loaded with 25 hours’ credit toward renting a jet, are for travelers who want occasional access to a 7- to 13-passenger jet without owning an equity share in it.

“Customers in the first three months of the year have used 82 percent of all available flight hours in Flight Options’ fleet, up from 76 percent in the 2010 first quarter.

“It surprised us,” said Chairman Kenneth Ricci. “It started in the middle of February and it’s been continuing very strong.”

The company is private and doesn’t disclose financial details. Tuesday, though, it announced that sales of its JetPASS cards rose 46 percent in the 2011 first quarter, compared with a year earlier, while fractional jet sales soared 467 percent, year-over-year.

Meanwhile, Columbus based NetJets released data showing how its private jet operations benefit the local economy. Allan Ball, an operations manager for the company, showed NetJets contributed more than $15 million in 2010 to Ohio’s economy.

Despite the recession dip, Ball said that between 2001 and 2010, NetJets’ flight hours and the number of flights made with owners on board more than doubled.

Across the Atlantic, London Oxford Airport increased its jet movements year on year by 31% and saw its overall business aviation movements increase 18% over the past 12 months Speaking at a pre-EBACE Show media briefing yesterday, newly appointed Managing Director Chris Orphanou said that the airport is now handling an average 20 business aircraft movements a day, equating to approximately 7,000 business aviation movements a year. “And with some 35 business aircraft regularly ‘living’ at the airport, this makes Oxford Airport the fastest growing for business aviation in the UK,” he said.

============================================================ Spotting Fakes: How can you be sure that a publisher is really sending out the number of copies he or she says? How can you make sure they are actually putting copies on private jets? Ask for the BPA or ABC audit statement. You can find our BPA statement here. ============================================================

4. Elite Traveler Style Editor Tanya Dukes Selected To Couture Design Awards Jury

The Couture Jewelry show in Las Vegas has selected Elite Traveler’s award-winning Style Editor Tanya Dukes as a judge for its Annual Design Awards. The panel is an all-star line-up:

Tanya Dukes, Style Editor, Elite Traveler; Marie Helene Morrow, Owner, Reinhold Jewelers; Jennifer Gandia, Owner, Greenwich Jewelers; Abigail Huhtanen, Senior Buyer, Fine Jewelry and Watches, Bergdorf Goodman; Roberto Coin, Chairman/Co-Owner, Roberto Coin; Jean-Francois Albert, Owner/Designer, JFA Design

============================================================ Would you buy a diamond without a certificate? Would you fly on a plane that hadn’t been certified as safe to fly? Would you buy milk in the supermarket that didn’t have a ‘sell by’ date? Before you buy advertising, next time a publisher says they have distribution on private jets or in private jet terminals, ask for their Circulation statement from ABC or BPA. Ask for them to show you the number of copies going to private jet travelers. You can find our BPA statement here. ============================================================

All the best,

Douglas D. Gollan Group President and Editor-in-Chief