Elite Traveler – ET Insider – January 6, 2009

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ET Insider – January 6, 2009

Elite Traveler Insider –

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January 6, 2009

Elite Traveler Insider

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

A Brief Message

Happy New Year! From the entire Elite Traveler team, we wish you and your loved ones the best for 2009.

In what for many will be a year of challenge, we hope Elite Traveler Insider will continue to provide you with news and insights that you can take advantage of as you seek to gain new customers and better position your company with the affluent market.

As we enter this New Year, I’m happy to report that Elite Traveler saw a 15% increase in ad pages in 2008. With the launch of our innovative website at www.elitetraveler.com, our twice-monthly e-newsletter to private jet owners, our Elite Retreat events at private jet terminals during major high-traffic events, and our Luxus advertising in key private jet terminals, we have more platforms than ever to give you access to our readers – through the pages of a magazine, an eye catching video on our website or one-to-one networking.

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Barbados Targets Private Jet Set For Tourism

2. An Inconvenient Truth: Downscale Ads In Upscale Magazines

3. Hawaii Struggles After Failing To Target Private Jet Market

4. Major $1.5 Billion Private Jet Company Launch in Europe

5. The Queen Wants It Bigger: A Private Jet, That Is

6. Business Jet Market Still Growing

1. Barbados Targets Private Jet Set For Tourism

Barbados Tourism Minister Richard Sealy is beefing up the island’s private jet service to boost tourism, according to local reports.

“For many years Barbados has been a top vacation spot for high profile individuals,” said Sealy. “And as a Government we plan to ensure that our services are up to standard.”

Sealy continues, “Our jet service is easy to maintain as you just need the runway and parking space but when it comes to anchoring luxury yachts, there is need for improvement at some of our marine bays and as that interest grows, we will upgrade to suit.”

The Tourism Minister said that the local government welcomed more than 20 private jets over the course of the holidays. However, Sealy refused to disclose who the visitors were. “Part of the exclusivity is the privacy these individuals enjoy so I won’t say exactly who, but over the past few weeks we would have seen some of the biggest names in both entertainment and business and we are glad that they chose our island to spend the holidays,” Sealy said.

You can of course find copies of Elite Traveler in Barbados’ private jet terminal!

A SUPER BOWL OFFER: Be part of Elite Traveler’s Elite Retreat Jan. 30 – Feb 1 for Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa, Florida. Meet, greet and network with our readers with sponsorships starting at $2,500, up to $15,000 for an exclusive title sponsorship! Contact your sales representative or email Ali Schwartz at aschwartz@elitetraveler.com for details.

2. An Inconvenient Truth: Downscale Ads In Upscale Magazines

One of the things I have made clear, whenever asked, is that Elite Traveler is staying the course as the ultimate source for the private jet lifestyle. We owe it to our over 600,000 readers who continue to enjoy the fruits of their success. After all, if they were truly suffering, they would not be flying privately. Unlike the Aspirational Consumer who now is on the sidelines from incessant overspending, the readers of Elite Traveler continue to be the largest individual consumers of luxury products and services, even if perhaps they are a bit more discreet.

On the other hand, it is interesting to see many publications taking their editorial and advertising downscale. Cover lines scream “Deal” and focus on less expensive materials. At the same time I was really floored when I saw on page 73 of the January/February Departures an advertisement for a $584 mail order watch. Are publishers really that desperate that they need that one extra ad page and are willing to sacrifice the environment and branding of all their customers that truly offer luxury products and services?

I remember listening to LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault discuss the meticulous process of selecting store locations to ensure that the location and surrounding neighbors were equal to his elegant brands. Likewise, I remember touring South Coast Plaza with CEO Anton Segerstrom who developed a wing dedicated to what’s good in life in order to accommodate luxury brands.

We know, as research by groups such as Harrison and Prince & Associates point out, about 90 percent of today’s Super Rich are self made, many in the past 10 years, and many coming from Middle Class backgrounds.

Elite Traveler, and what we cover in our editorial and the ads we accept, is an important part of educating them on the private jet lifestyle. Providing luxury advertisers an environment they can be proud to have their ads seen in, and with advertisers they are proud to be associated with, is a bond we will never break.

While the world’s economy today is unsteady, one thing is for sure: The wealthy consumers flying aboard private jets are your best bet, and only Elite Traveler delivers these elite travelers to our advertisers through our BPA audited circulation aboard private jets in over 100 countries, including Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, India, Singapore, Korea and China. All with one ad buy!

3. Hawaii Struggles After Failing To Target Private Jet Market

Hawaii’s failure at the tourism promotion level to support its luxury properties came home to roost over the holiday.

According to local reports, 138 private jets landed at Kona International Airport on the Big Island – down 18% from December 2007.

But the economic doldrums haven’t entirely stopped the wealthy from returning for the golf and sun.

Chauncey Wong Yuen, the Hawaii District manager for the state Department of Transportation’s airports division, said there were 51 private planes on the Kona airport apron as of Monday.

The airport can accommodate up to 61 private planes at a time. Parking and landing fees are calculated based on plane size.

The annual private jet pilgrimage to Kona usually begins in November and lasts until New Year’s.

The passengers stay on the BigIsland for an average of two to five days. Once the jets are parked, the state doesn’t provide any frills or further service. The planes generally turn to private companies for ground operation assistance, from parking to takeoff.

There are currently two main fixed-base operators at Kona – Air Service Hawaii and Bradley Pacific Aviation.

Both provide VIP treatment, including lei greetings, tropical drinks, gourmet catering, red carpets, limousine service, as well as discreet arrivals and departures.

Air Service Hawaii’s website boasts that its “clients include heads-of-state, celebrities and corporate executives who expect nothing less than premier-quality amenities and services.”

Of course, elite travelers who do make it to Hawaii will always find copies of Elite Traveler at the state’s FBOs. I do hope the various tourism boards take note that there is a tremendous upside, considering all the wonderful attributes the destination has. There are more than 5,000 private jet operations daily in California alone, a natural market for Hawaii to tap into. I would really love to see Hawaii come up with a great program in the private jet terminals in key markets at least getting their beautiful island into the consideration set!

Elite Traveler’s BPA audited circulation aboard private jets and mega-yachts in over 100 countries means your ad is guaranteed to reach the highest spending luxury audience in the world no matter where they are from and where they happen to be today – each issue is read by 318,000 readers with a Household Income of $1 million +, the highest of any magazine or newspaper in the world! Sources: 2007 Prince ET/MMR for others

4. Major $1.5 Billion Private Jet Company Launch in Europe

Yes, private jet travel is down anywhere from 10 to 20 percent, but the market is still huge and in many places generating new customers as the misfortune of some turn into big profits for others.

A report from London showcases a new large scale private jet launch in Europe. Jonathan Breeze, chief executive of the newly launched JetRepublic, says that even in the current economic climate, there are plenty of wealthy people who’ve given up commercial airlines and have no intention of going back.

So sure is Breeze of the market for private jet travel that his Portugal-based company has placed the largest European business aircraft order ever, worth $1.5 billion.

The company started flying last summer, using chartered planes, and plans to expand in 2009 with 110 Bombardier Learjets that will travel to more than 1,000 European airports.

Breeze said his customers don’t care about being ostentatious.

“This is about people who simply can’t work any more hours than they already do, and so they need to travel quickly and conveniently,” he said.

Boyd and other analysts argue that the long-term outlook for the private jet industry remains surprisingly upbeat, both in the United States and in Europe.

In particular, any business seeking to make private jet travel more affordable is likely to do well on both sides of the Atlantic.

“While the recession is expected to have a short-term impact on the business jet market, the long-term outlook remains strong,” said Ernest Arvai, president of the Arvai Group, a consulting firm to the airline industry based in Windham, N.H. Analysts say many premium commercial airline passengers continue to switch their allegiance to business jets, spurred by the growing hassles of commercial flying.

Also helping is the fact that business jet travel has been made more affordable with the help of fractional ownership schemes typified by NetJets, the New Jersey-based company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, with a fleet of 650 planes.

Only last March, NetJets announced a $200 million expansion of its operational headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

Under JetRepublic’s fractional ownership scheme, customers purchase or lease a share of a Learjet that’s equal to the hours they need, starting at 50 hours a year.

But even fractional ownership is not cheap. One-sixteenth of a Learjet costs $875,000.

5. The Queen Wants It Bigger: A Private Jet, That Is

From London’s Sun, it seems the Queen of England’s requirements for a business jet have grown since the initial requests were sent out for a bid for a private aircraft. A source with knowledge of the deal said that the requirements now are for a larger business jet.

The Queen of England reportedly wants to buy her own private jet and has asked four business jet manufacturers – including Cessna Aircraft, Hawker Beechcraft and Bombardier Learjet – to submit bids, the London Sun said Saturday.

The Queen wants to spend about $13 million on a private jet for use by the Royal family and its pets for official engagements.

The jet will be dubbed Monarch Air, the Sun reports. The Queen has taken a personal interest in the plane’s design and will be “literally fit for a Queen,” the report said. She wants to buy her own plane after having to share the use of private jets with government leaders and military top brass. They often take priority, forcing her and other royals to hire other planes at the last minute, something that brings a high cost to the public along with it.

The Queen wants a jet that will seat up to 13 people, the Sun reports. It’s expected to include luxury touches such as reclining seats embroidered with the royal crest.

6. Business Jet Market Still Growing

Forecast International’s new study on “The Market for Business Jet Aircraft,” expects annual business jet production to reach nearly 1,400 units in 2008, and exceed 1,600 units in 2009.

Overall, Forecast International projects that 15,936 business jets, worth an estimated $223 billion, will be produced from 2008 through 2017. This total includes some 5,600 Very Light Jets (VLJ).

“The business jet market has experienced tremendous growth since 2004 and, though the growth track continues, the question on the minds of nearly everyone in the industry concerns how long the good times will last,” states an FI release. “While continuing to rack up strong sales, business jet manufacturers are sitting on high order backlogs and cannot get aircraft to their customers quickly enough. Manufacturers and completion facilities are bumping up against capacity limits, while customer waiting times for new aircraft are lengthening.