More than ever private jet travelers, or elite travelers as we like to call them, are the most lucrative market for luxury brands and service providers. With readers spending $10,000 per hour to fly privately, the over 600,000 readers Elite Traveler reaches each issue provide you a great way to make sure your message is in front of consumers who have the money to be good customers. With our Asia Edition, Elite Traveler Superyachts, our over 60 Elite Traveler Destination Guides at Elitetraveler.com, our global database of private jet owners and our award-winning custom marketing team, we would welcome the opportunity to be of help to you in making sure you get a bigger share of our reader spending.

With a Net Worth of more than $25 trillion, I hope you will agree elite travelers should be a key target for your marketing! 

Follow Doug Gollan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EliteTravelerDG

 

In this edition:1. Insights from the 2013 Cap Gemini RBC World Wealth Report 2. Bali Targets Elite Travelers: Expands Parking for Private Jets3. Despite Recession, Private Jets Grow in Europe4. The Planes In Spain Are Flown By Super Rich Home Buyers5. Europe’s Drab Economy Doesn’t Impact Private Jet Show

 

1. Insights from the 2013 Cap Gemini RBC World Wealth ReportThe 2013 Cap Gemini World Wealth Report is out and it reinforces what I regularly write about: The rich are getting richer and the super rich are getting even richer. According to the report, the population of High Net Worth families (HNWs) worldwide has reached 12 million. To make the cut, one needs to have at least $1 million in investible assets not including primary residence, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables. Well, that means they aren’t poor, but certainly the entry point isn’t what I would call private jet rich.

The report then looks at Ultra High Net Worth consumers – where the price of entry is to have at least $30 million in investible assets. Here is the bullet point for companies looking for customers who can be premier league: While UHNW families are only about 1 percent of the total HNW population, they control 35 percent of HNW wealth. So even at the top (keep in mind, just to be in the top 1 percent of U.S. earners one needs a Household Income of at least $450,000), there is a huge division in money and spending power.

A couple other points of interest: There are about 250,000 families (2.1 percent of total) who are UHNW/near-UHNW – that means having at least $20 million in investible assets. A staggering 48 percent of the sample is under 49 years of age, including 20 percent under 40.

This ties in with Elite Traveler’s Median Reader Age of 41 and a stark contrast to the demos I see for other titles claiming to reach affluent consumers – all of whose median household incomes topping out at $200,000 and reader age hovering around 50.

Watch and jewelry marketers may want to pay particular attention to where they are directing their media dollars: The researchers found with ‘investments of passion’ becoming more important, watches and jewelry make up 31 percent compared to 17 percent for art. Of course passion investing still remains a minor part of the rich family portfolio, however clearly the UHNWs with the deep pockets have more money to invest in collecting. With that information, it’s good to know that Elite Traveler is the only lifestyle magazine with dedicated editorial columns on collecting watches and jewelry in every issue.

“Elite Traveler is a key media source for us with well over $200,000 in sales we can track directly back to our ads in your magazine over the past year.” – Charles Krypell, Owner, Charles Krypell

2. Bali Targets Elite Travelers: Expands Parking for Private Jets

The management of Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport is planning to build an apron to accommodate more private jets, according to local reports. Efferson Siregar, operational manager of state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, said that a special parking space was needed considering the airport received an average of 500 private aircraft every month.

“Many VVIP guests and delegates arriving by private aircraft” are driving the move.

The additional apron space for chartered and private aircrafts would allow more VIPs and high-end tourists to visit the island, said Bagus Sudibya, deputy chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) Bali chapter.

“It would be good for Bali to welcome more private planes, as they usually carry high-end tourists or VIPs that would spend a considerable amount of money during their stay on the island. We need to attract that kind of visitor.”

“From the Summer Edition of Elite Traveler Superyachts, as well as the Asia Edition including the May/June issue we are happy to report sales ($437,000) of the timekeepers we advertised” – Patrik Hoffmann, CEO Ulysse Nardin

3. Despite Recession, Private Jets Grow in Europe

According to newspapers in the UK, the fleet of private planes in Europe “have picked up during the downturn. Moreover, cash-strapped Britain has taken delivery of more such planes – both jets and the turboprop variety – between 2007 and 2011 than any other European country.”

Figures from Beechcraft Corporation, the maker of the King Air turboprop, show that 232 aircraft were delivered to customers in Britain over the period – up 47 percent over the so-called 2002-2006 boom years.

The UK now boasts the second largest registered fleet of business aircraft in Europe, with a total of 503, split between 369 jets and 134 turboprops. Germany, which had the second largest number of business aircraft deliveries between 2007 and 2011 – up 69 percent to 206 – has the biggest European fleet at 621.

Figures show that the fourth busiest European airport for business aircraft last year was one famously associated with the cockney actress Lorraine Chase: Luton Airport. It handled 12,371 such flights, about half as many the market leader Paris-Le-Bourget, with 24,412. Geneva Cointrin was second with 17,824 flights and Nice third at 14,091.

“Despite the economic problems facing Europe, our research shows that it remains a big market for business aviation and it continues to grow,” experts said.

ONLY ELITE TRAVELER – Elite Traveler is the ONLY global publication targeting and reaching private jet travelers to have its circulation successfully audited. View our BPA statement here.

4. The Planes In Spain Are Flown By Super Rich Home Buyers

The property market in Spain might be deep in the doldrums but the super-rich still identify with owning homes here. Barcelona and Madrid are now high among ‘core European targets’ within the elite Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) ranks when it comes to owning luxury properties in key locations, according to Spanish newspapers.

Barcelona and Madrid are particularly hot as it is a buyer’s market: And America’s super-rich are facing stiffer global competition from buyers in China, Hong Kong and South America “as they skip around the world on private jets scouring for trophy properties,” reports the New York Times.

Russians also seem to be everywhere with Vladislav Doronin, the Moscow-based real estate developer who dates UK model Naomi Campbell and who already has a Spanish base in Ibiza, at present splashing out more than $20 million (€15.3m) to renovate a Miami property.

The ultra-prime housing markets collectively witnessed more than 300 residential real estate transactions last year where the price was over $15.5 million (€11.83m), according to latest analysis from international real estate advisor Savills.

And these are expected to grow to 400 per year over the next four years. And for the rich, cash is king, with many of the biggest deals brokered without involving banks.

“Again this year Elite Traveler continues to be our #1 source for reservations generating close to $1 million in bookings from your readership of private jet travelers” – Sean Emmerton, Villas del Mar

5. Europe’s Drab Economy Doesn’t Impact Private Jet Show

As EBACE2013 concluded, organizers reported that 12,353 delegates attended the event, a figure on par with attendance figures for recent years. EBACE attendees had an opportunity to visit 460 Exhibitors – a count comparable to that for 2012, and the third-highest number in the event’s 13-year history. The EBACE2013 Static Display of Aircraft, which showcased 52 aircraft, had more square footage than ever, and was sold out with a waiting list.

As always, the show was also viewed by Exhibitors as a premier news-making venue: About 30 press conferences were held during the show’s three days, and more than 400 reporters, from news organizations around the world, were registered to attend and cover the news Exhibitors made at EBACE2013.

“Recently we had an American customer who walked in with a copy of Elite Traveler and booked two suites that been directly featured in the magazine. The value of the booking was in the region of $200,000.” – Tony Potter, Corinthia Hotels

 

All the best,

Douglas D. GollanGroup President and Editor-in-ChiefElite Traveler, the private jet lifestyle magazine Elite Traveler Superyachts, the superyacht lifestyle magazineElite Traveler Asia, Asia’s private jet lifestyle magazineElitetraveler.com, the private jet lifestyle onlineElite Traveler Update, our weekly e-Newsletter to private jet owners worldwide

Elite Traveler (audited by BPA Worldwide) is the only audited publication delivered to global locations for private jet travelers. We have global distribution in over 100 countries aboard private jets and in private jet terminals. Each issue is read by over 630,000 Ultra Affluent consumers with an Average Household Income of $5.3 million (Source: Prince & Associates, 2011)

Doug.Gollan@elitetraveler.comElite Traveler Magazine708 Third Avenue, 10th FloorNew York, NY 10017   USA