ET Insider – October 23, 2007

Elite Traveler Insider –

October 23, 2007

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. US Treasury Secretary Says Housing Slump Deeper Than Thought

2. Reminder: Elite Traveler 2008 Media Kit and Editorial Calendar is Online

3. New Research: Money Buys Optimistic Outlook if Not Happiness

4. North Las Vegas Airport Adds Private Jet Capacity to McCarran

5. The Sky’s The Limit Takes Off: A Book from Yours Truly

Does Elite Traveler work? Ulysse Nardin sold “at least” two $86,000 Sonnerie en Passant watches from its ad in Elite Traveler’s January/February issue

1. US Treasury Secretary Says Housing Slump Deeper Than Thought

In a speech to Georgetown University last week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson made a significant change in how the administration is characterizing the US housing slump, saying the decline and related problems in credit and mortgage markets were “the most significant current risk to our economy.”

In a piece that made the front page of The Wall Street Journal Asia (where I was traveling), Mr. Paulson was quoted as saying, “The ongoing housing correction is not ending as quickly as it might have appeared late last year. And it now looks like it will continue to adversely impact our economy, our capital markets and many homeowners for some time yet.”

Housing prices have flattened or fallen in many parts of the country, as homeowners with adjustable-rate prime and subprime mortgages have found it increasingly hard to make their monthly payments. The market’s problems have affected everyone from low-income homeowners to huge Wall Street banks.

Months ago, Mr. Paulson and other Treasury officials sought to downplay the mortgage market’s problems and its possible contagion. Yesterday, Mr. Paulson said problems were likely to persist.

“The problem today is not limited to subprime mortgages, as the number of homeowners having trouble making payments on prime mortgages is also increasing,” he said.

Mr. Paulson said the housing correction was having a “real impact on our economy,” citing how annual housing starts have fallen off more than 40% since early 2006. “It looked like housing construction had reached a bottom in the first half of this year, but starts have declined again since June, according to data on permit applications.

In turbulent times, the less than optimistic outlook by Mr. Paulson reminds me of an interview I read with the owner of Beverly Hills Motors. Asked about the impact of a recession on his business, he said something along the line of, “the names on the mailboxes may change, but whomever is living there still drive Bentleys, Porsches and Rolls Royces.”

Elite Traveler’s worldwide BPA-audited distribution aboard private jets and mega-yachts offers the same guarantee for luxury advertisers. While the people flying on the jets may change, the people flying on the jets are the core customers for luxury brands and services for that specific time period and the best source of significant sales.

Does Elite Traveler work? Two readers of Elite Traveler just made real estate purchases with Ginn Sur Mer for over $15 million!

 

2. Reminder: Elite Traveler 2008 Media Kit and Editorial Calendar is Online

Elite Traveler has established itself as the only audited publication with worldwide circulation aboard private jets and mega-yachts (over 90 countries). Our unique distribution means we deliver to luxury companies the world’s richest readers: Some 575,000 read each bi-monthly issue of Elite Traveler, bringing to you an Average Household Income of $5.3 million!

Our position as The Private Jet Lifestyle Magazine is supported directly by readers, as noted by Prince & Associates:

91% tell us Elite Traveler is higher quality than other magazines 89% find content in Elite Traveler they don’t find in other magazines 88% say Elite Traveler’s design and format is their favorite of any publication 86% believe Elite Traveler is a good showcase for luxury products and services

At www.elitetraveler.com you will find our 2008 Media Kit online in a downloadable PDF format, plus copies of research studies, articles about private jets and the Super Rich as well as back issues of the Elite Traveler Insider. There is a considerable amount of information that is sure to be handy as you put together your strategies for the coming year, so please feel free to take a look and let me know if you have any questions! As a reminder, the best email to contact me is douggollan@aol.com (right to my blackberry).

Does Elite Traveler work? Felix S. Sabates, Chairman of Trinity Yachts recently bought six Girard-Perregaux watches that he had seen in Elite Traveler.

 

3. New Research: Money Buys Optimistic Outlook if Not Happiness

While there may be some truth to the old adage that “money cannot buy happiness”, it does lead to a more positive outlook about future business conditions, the stock market, and personal household income, according to Ron Kurtz of the American Affluence Research Centers.

Kurtz recently told us, “This pattern of optimism has been evident in 12 twice-yearly surveys of the wealthiest 10% of US households conducted over the past 6 years by the AARC. Optimism about future economic conditions consistently increases as the income and net worth of the respondents increase.”

The latest survey was conducted in September, just after the August stock market volatility and during the mortgage market turmoil. Kurtz notes, “These factors, together with a weak housing market, may have had a negative influence on the survey respondents” with the lower levels of the Affluent, meaning that marketers need more than ever to focus on the Super Rich.

The group Kurtz surveys has an average Net Worth of $3.1 million – solidly in the Middle Class Millionaire segment. The Average Household Income is $256,000, and among the segments he breaks out are respondents with a Net Worth of $6 million + (they have a Median Household Income of $557,000), and those with a Household Income of less than $200,000 (their median is $142,000). These two groups represent the richest and poorest of Kurtz’s survey, providing a good contrast into purchasing behavior from the top segment; $6 million + Net Worth would be the lowest end of Elite Traveler’s readership (91% of Elite Traveler readers have a Household Income of over $400,000). The $200,000 and below segment is comparable to the core readership for publications such as Town & Country, Robb Report, Departures, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, etc.

With some 12 hours to pass on a very nice Japan Airlines flight between Tokyo and New York, I had a chance to read through some 150 pages of data and charts.

Here are a few sound bites:

• The Lows (HHI under $200,000) plan to cut back on spending (compared to the previous 12 months) on cameras/photographic equipment by a 4 to 1 margin while 73 % of The Highs (Net Worth $6 million +) will spend the same or more.
• The Lows plan to cut back on spending on collectible antiques, art, vintage wines by a 12 to 1 margin while 71% of the Highs will spend the same or more.
• The Lows plan to cut back on designer apparel by a 12 to 1 margin while the 78% of the Highs will spend the same or more. By contrast, 87% of the Lows will spend the same or more on non-designer apparel.
• The Lows plan to cut back on golf, boating, skiing by a 2.5 to 1 margin whereas 84.1 % of the Highs will spend the same or more.
• The Lows plan to cut back on spending on watches and jewelry by a 17 to 1 margin whereas 65.1% of the Highs will spend the same or more.
• The Lows plan to cut back on spending in upscale restaurants by a 3 to 1 margin whereas the 90% of the Highs plan to spend the same or more.
• The Lows will increase spending on domestic travel by a 2-to-1 margin but will cut back on international iravel by a similar 2-to-1 margin. The Highs plan to spend more money on both domestic and international travel with an increase in domestic travel by a 4 to 1 margin and international travel by a 1.5 to 1 margin.
• The Highs are 300% more likely to buy a powerboat or sailboat in the next 12 months than the Lows.
• The Highs are 250% more likely to buy a vacation residence than the Lows.

Does Elite Traveler work? A reader booked the Presidential Suites at The Mandarin Oriental, Washington DC directly from the pages of Elite Traveler.

 

4. North Las Vegas Airport Adds Private Jet Capacity to McCarran

These days when you travel to Las Vegas, one thing is apparent: there are literally hundreds of private jets parked among the multiple FBOs (Private Jet Terminals) and corporate hangars. Of course, there are even more private jets descending on Sin City. Recent reports show North Las Vegas Airport is doing a good job taking care of McCarran International Airport’s light work. Officials say it is serving its purpose by preventing private jets from clogging up the runways at one of the nation’s busiest airports.

Managed by the Clark County Department of Aviation, North Las Vegas Airport was a conduit for more than 229,000 takeoffs and landings in 2006, making the general aviation facility the state’s second busiest airport in terms of flight volume, behind McCarran.

The Aviation Department’s plan for general aviation airports, which also include Henderson Executive Airport, is to route as many general aviation flights through them as possible. This leaves McCarran’s runways free for larger commercial flights as it posts more than a 4 percent increase in total passenger traffic for the year to date. “That’s really our mission in life,” said Doug McNeely, general aviation manager at North Las Vegas Airport.

According to Aviation Department spokesman Chris Jones, more than 10 percent of the 619,486 takeoffs and landings that McCarran handled in 2006 were general aviation operations.

Although the county would prefer to relegate more private jet travel to the Henderson and North Las Vegas airports, it can’t mandate it under Federal Aviation Administration guidelines. Thus, the Aviation Department has to sweeten the deal to lure those operations away from McCarran, Jones said.

Among the amenities offered at the North Las Vegas facility’s 15,600-square-foot terminal are a pilot lounge and weather station. Services often are cheaper at the North Las Vegas facility as opposed to McCarran, McNeely says. And to counter its lack of proximity to the valley’s core, the airport offers complimentary, one-way shuttle trips to Strip resorts.

Besides transient flyers, North Las Vegas Airport has 685 airplanes based in its 259 total hangars, 66 of which were built through public-private partnerships in the last two years.

As an indicator of how general aviation helps the economy, bought by the county in 1987 for $16 million, the airport had an estimated $136 million economic impact last year. It employs 29 county workers and is responsible for a total of more than 1,700 private sector jobs.

Of course both McCarran and North Las Vegas are among the more than 1,000 airports in over 90 countries serving private jets where Elite Traveler is served up to the Super Rich!

Does Elite Traveler work? Elite Traveler delivers. Your leads are extremely qualified and we have closed a significant amount of business from your magazine. Jared Cullop – President, VPI Marketing

 

5. The Sky’s The Limit Takes Off: A Book from Yours Truly

Copies of The Sky’s The Limit: Marketing Luxury to the New Jet Set are hot off the press. Authored by Russ Prince, former Merrill Lynch Private Bank Chief Marketing Officer Hannah Shaw Grove, Elite Traveler Chairman Carl Ruderman and myself, the book is based on research conducted with over 600 owners of private jets.

The book is full of great information on marketing luxury to the new jet set. Categories from automotive to home, fashion, jewelry, watches, travel and more are covered in depth in some 202 pages.

The book retails for $39.95 but if you got to this point in my bi-weekly newsletter, I am pleased to send you a complimentary copy of The Sky’s The Limit. Email me at douggollan@aol.com and provide your full name, title, company and mailing address and the book will be on the way to you!