Last week was the week we realized we didn’t need three Starbucks on every block of Manhattan and frankly I’m relieved. The idea of flooding the market with any product is a flawed strategy; it all reminded me of that first dot-com bubble, the one that burst in the nineties, when companies that didn’t really have a business plan or sell anything tangible were being announced daily and piles and piles of money were being flowed into them in the hopes that one would be the next Google or eBay.

The desire for excess is a human trait, however, and I’m sure we’ll see it all happen again with other retail models that become, at least for awhile, a darling of Wall Street. The message for luxury travel advisors is this: Be wary of becoming too large, too quickly. Don’t be afraid to grow, but don’t try to grow for the sake of becoming larger. Grow with the purpose of becoming better.

Of course, a message of growth might seem almost moot in the wake of all the financial news coming our way, for, in fact, last week was also the week we were told that we really are in a bear market, which is not exactly a time for expansion for many companies. The funny thing is, with all of the economic travails the U.S. has endured this year, I’ve yet to meet a luxury travel advisor who has said their business has slowed down one iota. If anything, high-net-worth individuals are traveling more than ever, demanding the top suites and the best seat in the house at Michelin-star restaurants. They’re flying around in private jets, living the high life and enjoying life just fine despite reports of what’s affecting the rest of us earthlings.

In fact, this may be the time for luxury travel advisors to take the level of their services up even higher; if luxury travel is a sector that is still growing, why not strengthen your expertise in that niche even further? Expand your ability to create unique, customized experiences and spend quality time trying to think of ways to “wow” your wealthy clients.

Don’t be brought down by the bear market, in fact, while others are resting back on their heels this may be the time for you to develop your business intuitively and insightfully, with an eye toward quality and not toward quantity.

— Ruthanne Terrero

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 1:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.