ET Insider – December 2, 2010

Elite Traveler Insider –

December 2, 2010

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. Jennifer Anniston, Cameron Diaz and Friends: A Lesson in High End Travel Marketing

2. Elite Traveler Launches 150 Destination Guides. We Were A Bit Late For Jolie-Pitt in Paris This Time. Maybe Next Year?

3. Booz Survey: Mass Affluent Consumers Still Tight With Spending

4. A King’s Christmas for New York Boutiques?

5. The Private Jet Industry Speaks Out On Elite Traveler (Part 2)

============================================================ 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! ============================================================

1. Jennifer Anniston, Cameron Diaz and Friends:  A Lesson in High End Travel Marketing

In the global fight for lucrative tourism revenue, Mexico has been a leader on many fronts, particularly in the luxury area, and specifically in their efforts to lure high spending private jet travelers.  Recently luxury travel agent group Virtuoso ranked Mexico as their clients’ second most sought after luxury destination after Italy, while International Spa rated Mexico the top destination in the world for spas.   Mexico also had the most selections of any international destination on Elite Traveler’s 101 Top Suites list driven by celebrity recommendations for the country’s too many to count luxury resorts.

Some of the side benefits of Visit Mexico’s efforts were in clear view over Thanksgiving.  A Google search of “Jennifer Anniston Mexico” resulted in over 1.2 million links (A Google search of “Cameron Diaz Alex Rodriguez Mexico” pulled up another 200,000 links).

Or, as PEOPLE Magazine put it for its millions of readers: “It may not have been a traditional Thanksgiving, but Jennifer Aniston’s big group getaway to Mexico came with all the trimmings.

“The actress, 41, brought more than 15 people with her in two private jets for fun, sun, food and drink at a lavish private estate in Cabo San Lucas.

“Her guests included her manager, Aleen Keshishian, her filmmaker brother Alek Keshishian, as well as good friends Chelsea Handler and yoga instructor Mandy Ingber.

“Aniston spent the trip ‘enjoying herself with her friends – relaxing, drinking and eating,’ a source tells PEOPLE. But she also worked out every day, including yoga sessions with Ingber.

“The actress ‘looked amazingly fit,’ the source adds, and ‘seemed to have a great time just relaxing and hanging out with her friends.'”

I can’t tell you if Anniston got her Thanksgiving vacation ideas from Elite Traveler or Elitetraveler.com, but I can tell you that under Minister of Tourism Gloria Guevara, the Mexico Tourist Board has continued to pay attention to the private jet market and has seen its focus pay off.

A Tourism Marketing Success Story:  A Constant Contact survey of 216 private jet owners earlier this year found a 71 percent recall of Visit Mexico’s “Elite Mexico” integrated marketing program with Elite Traveler and Elitetraveler.com, and even better, 65 percent said the program increased their interest in travel to Mexico with 22 percent actually traveling to Mexico as a result of the program.

The highlight of the survey was that each private jet group said they spent nearly $70,000 in Mexico per trip, excluding jet fuel for their private jets, some 70 times higher than the average traveler!

And in the case of Anniston (and Diaz/Rodriguez), the free public relations and press coverage of having high profile private jet setters visit one’s destination is worth tens of millions of dollars in free media coverage.

============================================================ 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. ============================================================

2. Elite Traveler Launches 150 Destination Guides.  We Were A Bit Late For Jolie-Pitt in Paris This Time.  Maybe Next Year?

It has been a busy year for us, with the successful launch of Elite Traveler Superyachts in September and Elite Traveler Getaways, our new regional private jet magazine on the way to the printer this week and on private jets for the holidays.

Next up, in January you will see the debut of Elite Traveler Destination Guides at elitetraveler.com with some 150 guides launching in 2011 covering Abu Dhabi to Zurich.

So do elite travelers even use Destination Guides, and do they need more?

That’s what we asked private jet owners:

– 85 percent of private jet owners surveyed read or refer to destination guides prior to visiting a destination – 66 percent of private jet owners say they aren’t satisfied with current guides

– 90 percent of private jet owners say they would use guides provided by Elite Traveler

Noted one private jet owner, “There are numerous guides, but none that do it all for people like me.”

What to expect from Elite Traveler Destination Guides?

Perhaps a private balloon ride over Paris or your own private cruise on the Seine for a special birthday, the best private guides who can get you to the front of the line, private shopping and private touring, the best private jet facilities and the best in VIP dining, all with direct contact information typically not found in other guides.

Oh, and about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie:

From TMZ.com, “Pax Jolie-Pitt got to see plenty of Paris on Sunday, from the air and the water, while celebrating his 7th birthday a day early with his family.

“Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt made a full day of it with their kids – minus the 2-year-old twins – starting with a hot-air balloon ride and finishing with a party cruise on a riverboat.

“As if that weren’t enough, the group took the festivities to the water in the early evening, renting the luxurious Josephine riverboat out of Port Debilly, alongside the Eiffel Tower, for a birthday cruise on the Seine.

“There was an assortment of cakes and sweets, and the boat was decorated with blue and yellow balloons.

“The birthday celebrations capped a busy weekend for Pitt and Jolie, who also took daughters Zahara and Shiloh shopping on Saturday.

For an exclusive preview of our Destination Guides, click here  or contact Simona Kastly at Simona@elitetraveler.com

============================================================ 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. ============================================================

3. Booz Survey:  Mass Affluent Consumers Still Tight With Spending

The frugal habits that affluent consumers adopted during the economic downturn have continued or worsened over the past year, according to Booz & Co.

The report surveyed 2,000 Mass Affluent/Aspirational consumers, breaking down the analysis of people with annual incomes of over $100,000 and under $100,000. It revealed that most consumers, even those from the more affluent sector, still feel uneasy about the economy and thus continue to cut back on spending:

“The major message there was when you compare the two segments the higher income people said they are spending less over the last 12 years and if they are trading down in the products they buy,” said Marcelo Tau, principle for Booz & Co, New York.

Cutting back: Consumer cutbacks on spending were greater this year than they were in 2009, according to the study. Fifty-five percent of respondents reduced on consumer electronics and 28 percent cut back on health and beauty products, household products and food at home. Consumers also traded down on essentials and switched to more inexpensive brands… In terms of spending, both groups have cut back, with 50 percent of respondents saying they spent less over the last 12 months.

Twenty percent of respondents with an annual income over $100,000 felt that they were in a better place financially than a year ago, versus the 13 percent of respondents that fell into the lower income segment.

“We believe that given the results people will not go out and start spending a lot,” said Mr. Tau. “Recovery has been very slow. Unemployment is really high and people are not that optimistic about the upcoming year,” he said.

============================================================ 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. ============================================================

4. A King’s Christmas for New York Boutiques?

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is in the Big Apple, having taken over a good part of the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center as he recovers from back surgery, and if this visit is like any of his past, it is good news for some of the high-end boutiques here.  The King arrived at JFK with three private jets, including a Boeing 777 said to have its own throne, bedrooms, showers and dinner table for 30.  When you think about the Boeing 777s you and I fly on, think 400 seats and a limit of two carry-on bags!   And of course, Elite Traveler’s BPA audited circulation to private jets in over 100 countries includes 137 to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  It’s what one media buyer recently referred to as “very qualified readership.”  I, of course, agreed!

============================================================ 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. ============================================================

5. The Private Jet Industry Speaks Out On Elite Traveler (Part 2)

Last month, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) held its annual conference in Atlanta. To give you an idea of the industry’s scope, there were over 20,000 attendees in what is mainly a B2B conference. Here is some of the feedback from the aviation professionals who provide Elite Traveler to their customers:

“We have locations in Aspen, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, London, Long Beach, Long Island, Teterboro, San Francisco, Seattle, West Palm Beach and Washington D.C., and we put Elite Traveler on the jets with the catering. It is the only magazine we distribute and we get great feedback about your magazine.” – Paul Schweitzer, President, Air Culinaire Private Jet Catering

“My boss loves your magazine because he is into nice watches and resorts.” – Scott Moore, Chief Pilot, Luck Stone Corporation, Dulles, VA

“They love it. They use it to book hotels, and I have seen them pick watches to buy out of it.” – Dee Buchanan, Corporate Flight Attendant

“We had a passenger who saw an advertisement for real estate and went to see the property. Our customers love Elite Traveler.” – Tina Spence, CAS Aviation, Westchester County Airport, NY

“One of our customers decided to go to Trinidad after seeing an ad in your magazine. They love it and it goes on all 10 of our aircraft.” – Thomas May, Execujet Charter, Tampa, FL

“Elite Traveler is a gorgeous magazine. Our clients like the articles and they always take it. We carry it at our 40 FBOs.” – Jo Schenkenfelder, Landmark Aviation

“We have over 30 FBOs and we put Elite Traveler on every transient and tenant plane and all of our lounges. Elite Traveler is the only magazine we distribute for passengers.” – Sandy Nelson, Chief Business Officer, Million Air

“They take it with them on to the plane. I’ve seen women get on their phone and buy jewelry from the magazine while they were waiting in the lobby.” – Eileen Venuto, Wilson Air Center, Charlotte, NC

“Our customers find it very informative and entertaining.” – Andresia Ferguson, Executive Flight Support

“We have passengers who will not take off unless Elite Traveler is on their plane. One customer told me she uses your magazine to pick hotels and watches.” – Kattie Anderson, Wilson Air Center, Houston

“We put it on the aircraft. It is a very nice magazine.” – Albethe Kemp, Executive Flight Support

“I come in the lobby and see them reading Elite Traveler and I see them taking it with them on to the plane.” – Michael Walker, Global Aviation, Portland, OR

“We distribute Elite Traveler in all our locations, including Boston, Teterboro, Dallas, Palm Beach, St. Louis, London, Moscow, Zurich, Geneva, Dubai, Jeddah, Riyadh and Singapore. The response is amazing. Our customers love Elite Traveler. We also advertise in Elite Traveler because we know it reaches the person in the back of the plane.” – Michael Arnone, Jet Aviation

“I see our celebrity clients always take Elite Traveler. They love Elite. All our customers love Elite!” – Cathy Ferguson, Air Bound, Caldwell/Essex, NJ

“We’re based in Morristown but we fly around the world. They love to look through Elite Traveler during the flight.” – Nan Kramer, Flight Attendant, Honeywell Corporate Aviation

“Our customers love Elite Traveler. They are VIPs and Celebrities. I know they buy things right out of your magazine.” – Rebecca Gonzalez, Servair/Aero Base, Miami, FL

“Ladies love Elite Traveler. We have customers from South America, and I know they refer to your magazine for their shopping.” – Giselle Nieves, Banyan Air Services, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

All the best,

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