Elite Traveler – ET Insider- November 4, 2008

Array

ET Insider – November 4, 2008

Elite Traveler Insider –

etlogo

November 4, 2008

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.

CONTENTS:

1. Despite Economy, Private Jets Continue To Be The Choice of the Super Rich

2. Prince Research Shows Why to Target HNWs for the Holidays

3. Mass Affluent in Confidence Free Fall: Unity Marketing

4. Companies Slash Business Travel Budgets

5. Global Market for Private Jets Shows Robust Growth

Over 90 percent of today’s Super Rich are Self Made and over 80 percent of the Super Rich have made their fortune in the past 10 years. Now is the best time to make sure they know your brand. 86% believe Elite Traveler is a good showcase for luxury products.

1. Despite Economy, Private Jets Continue To Be The Choice of the Super Rich…

Let’s just say I am sure there are a few folks who are no longer flying privately. Of course, they probably are hunkered down, selling assets and not buying luxury experiences or products either. That said, for luxury marketers, the private jet market remains strong and remains a perfect venue to target Super Rich consumers who are still living the private jet lifestyle, and still spending.

Case in Point: Halcyon Jets Holdings, an arranger of private aviation services, announced preliminary net revenues for the months of August and September 2008 showed an increase of 470 percent.

Said Greg Cohen, Chief Executive Officer of Halcyon Jets Holdings: “Our client base, which includes entertainers, athletes and highly successful business executives, recognizes the safety, comfort and convenience that our private aviation services provide, making the additional expense worthwhile regardless of the economic environment.”

Another Example: Chief Executive Air, a private jet charter company, reported, “customer acquisition rates continue to accelerate.” For the Super Rich, “even during fiscally challenging times, travel remains a necessity for many people,” the company added. “Whether seeking the convenience and efficiency private jet travel affords business travelers or the safety and security it offers high net worth individuals and entertainers, private jet use continues.”

Don’t forget to search for your brand at www.elitetraveler.com/business. Forward the links to your clients and customers, and post it on your own site’s press room. If you have a press release or a new product you’d like us to feature, send it to me at douggollan@aol.com and we’ll post it for you!

2. Prince Research Shows Why to Target HNWs for the Holidays

The latest research by HNW expert Prince & Associates points to targeting private jet travelers, who typically have a Net Worth of $30 million + and a Household Income of $1 million +./p>

For example, 96% of this segment will buy jewelry and watches between now and the end of the year spending $108,100 per household. A further 97% will spend $77,300 on apparel and accessories, while 16% will use their holiday travels as an opportunity to do some redecorating, spending about $100,000 for some touch ups./p>

Wines and Spirits companies that typically ramp up spending for the holidays can benefit as these Super Rich jetsetters will be spending on average of $50,000 per household, while 31% will retreat to resorts with a projected spend of some $54,000./p>

How can marketers get some $$$ from these folks at this late stage? Luxus Networks provides luxury marketers high-impact duratrans at over 100 premium private jet terminals within North America, or nationwide exposure on Luxus TV in more than 65 of the terminals. Cost for a single month program in December is $5,000 per terminal, per sign or nationally for two minutes of programming per hour at a special rate of $9,500./p>

Contact sales@elitetraveler.com to secure your space, be it in Aspen, Palm Beach, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and many more top markets!

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. Mass Affluent in Confidence Free Fall: Unity Marketing

Luxury consumer confidence for the Mass Affluent as measured by Unity Marketing’s Luxury Consumption Index (LCI) continued its downward trajectory in the third quarter 2008. The LCI dropped 10.7 points to reach an historic low of 40.3 points, the lowest level ever since Unity started measuring Mass Affluent consumer confidence at the end of 2003.

“Unity Marketing’s most recent survey of luxury consumers, conducted October 3-8 following the bailout and during the recent stock market upheaval, shows that affluent consumers’ negative feelings about the economic situation are translating into changes in their shopping behavior,” says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, a consumer insights firm that specializes in the luxury consumer mindset.

“Since the middle of 2007, the LCI has been in free fall, dropping more than half of its value to reach an all-time low of 40.3 points at the end of third quarter 2008. But what is of more importance to luxury marketers than the decline in the LCI is that luxury consumers are taking action in response to the current economic crisis.”

Among the most important findings in this survey of 1,161 affluent consumers (average income $210,700; age 43 years; 34 percent male and 66 percent female):

Some 56 percent are spending less on luxury now as compared with twelve months ago.
Fifty-four percent expect to spending less on luxury in the next twelve months.

Danziger says, “Among the changes in their shopping behavior, luxury consumers are shopping more strategically by looking for sales. They are trading down to less premium brands. In fine dining, they are choosing less premium restaurants and dining out less often. And they are simply staying out of the stores to resist temptation. The latest survey shows affluent shoppers are being prudent and careful with their money.”

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. Companies Slash Business Travel Budgets

When you target the private jet market as a travel provider, you know two things: The person you are targeting is still traveling and not wing-clipped, and they didn’t stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.

That can’t be said for road warriors in general: KDS, an international leader in travel & expense management, has surveyed hundred of its clients from large organizations on the impact of the financial crisis on their travel management program. It appears that they are anticipating tougher travel policies in the coming months.

The survey panel was comprised of 47 percent travel managers. Twenty percent were procurement directors and another 20 percent financial directors. All worked in organizations with 5,000 plus employees.

Fifty-four percent believe that the financial crisis is going to force their companies to cut travel between today and March 2009. Thirty-six percent said that they have had to cancel booked travels. One of the financial directors commented that, since the crisis, no trips under two days are authorized in his company.

Furthermore, 33 percent of the surveyed respondents had to cancel international meetings.

For hotels and resorts targeting the insulated and high-spending private jet market, Elite Hotels/Resorts/Spas 2009 publishes in February 2009 providing readers advertorial profiles of top hotels and resorts worldwide.

The Annual is considered by hotels a cost-effective way to gain full year exposure to the jet-set market, for either business, leisure or group business. Even better, the Annual is online for a full year both in digital and PDF formats, thereby providing participants triple exposure for their property.

Contact your Elite Traveler sales rep for more information!

5. Global Market for Private Jets Shows Robust Growth…

The global market for business jets will continue to show robust growth over the next 10 years, accounting for $300 billion in sales, according to the annual Business Aviation Outlook released Saturday by Honeywell International (HON).

So far, economic uncertainty in the U.S. and some other parts of the world hasn’t slowed the appetite of corporations and wealthy individuals for taking delivery of new planes in 2008 and 2009, executives from Honeywell’s Aerospace unit said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

For 2008, Honeywell Aerospace forecast deliveries of a record number of business jets, nearly 1,200, up from 1,020 last year. In 2009, deliveries are expected to rise to between 1,300 and 1,400 aircraft.

The survey assumed that the global economy will grow between 2% and 3% in each of the next six quarters, and will grow more than 3% per quarter after that. In an industry once dominated by the U.S., demand now is coming from many parts of the globe. Planemakers could actually deliver more aircraft this year and next but they’re constrained by time-consuming “finish work,” such as customizing interiors of posh aircraft, and the availability of aircraft parts, said TK Kallenbach, vice president of marketing and program management at Honeywell Aerospace.

To make its forecast, Honeywell last summer conducted a survey of 1,800 corporate flight departments, aircraft manufacturers and other industry experts. Respondents said that, on average, in the next five years, they expect to buy new planes for replacement or growth, amounting to nearly one-third of their fleets.

Over the next 10 years, up to 17,000 new business jets will be delivered, based on customers’ plans.