Who is the new ultra-luxury traveller? Reports and trends pieces abound, and with them, confusion and contradiction. 

Just eighteen months ago, The New York Times was heralding the ubiquity of ‘quiet luxury’ and ‘stealth wealth¹’, in which ultra luxury status is coded and telegraphed almost invisibly. In 2025, we’re seeing feverish talk in the Financial Times of the ‘Dark Mode Shift’ and ‘Masks Off’², signalling a shift away from subtlety and towards luxury goods and services being flaunted as overt status symbols. 

Are we on the cusp of a more ostentatious era? Is the cultural pendulum swinging back from so-called ‘experiences’ to overt displays of economic power? 

The answer is… it’s complicated. Ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) travellers’ preferences are personally nuanced and contextually dependent. 

So how can luxury travel and hospitality brands better understand today’s UHNW customers? 

How to understand and engage UHNW guests 

Investing in insights creates both a foundational understanding and continually renewed source of inspiration.  But generic approaches won’t work. The ultra-luxury customer is too busy for surveys and too private for focus groups.  

Accordingly, we take an imaginative and powerful three-part approach to decoding and engaging UHNW individuals: 

First, we go wide – using semiotics to map the nuanced cultural landscape in which UHNW customers live, work and play.  

Then we go undercover, tracking their digital footprints to uncover unarticulated behaviours and mindsets.  

Finally, we go deep, speaking directly to individuals not simply to understand, but also to co-create with them. 

Let’s dive further into each method: 

1. Semiotic analysis: Understanding cultural shifts 

To stay ahead, brands must not just track trends, but also decode the deeper cultural forces shaping global luxury travel. Semiotic analysis identifies the symbols, codes and meanings that define ultra-luxury, whether it’s the rise of holistic well-being or the evolving aesthetics of discretion. 

• Example: Years before “longevity clinics” became a staple of ultra-luxury wellness, semiotic analysis revealed a shift from traditional spa experiences to a scientific, medicalised approach to well-being. Rejuvenation is replacing relaxation. Bathrooms are evolving into “well rooms,” blending high design with integrated health technology. In cities like London, ultra-premium urban saunas are emerging as alcohol-free social hubs for the elite. Brands that recognised these shifts early – along with the creative codes that signalled them – gained an edge in a wave that is only now reaching its peak. 

2. Digital intelligence: Gaining a window into their world 

Ultra-luxury guests don’t participate in surveys, but they do leave digital footprints. Social intelligence is our tool that allows us to analyse their online interactions with brands, content, and communities, revealing hidden patterns in both mindsets and behaviours alike. 

• Example: By observing the brands and type of content that this audience is engaging with online, luxury brands can confidently select partnerships that they know dovetail exactly with their customers’ interests. For example, you can see that your UHNW audience is four times more engaged with F1 Paddock Club content and six times more engaged with Lamborghini Sian Roadster content than the general population. This method also reveals the style and tone of content that connects with this audience, for recent projects this has unveiled a number of different angles ranging from detailed craftmanship to ambitious thought leadership. If you know what your audience is reading elsewhere, you can create more powerful emotional hooks with the content and tone of voice of your own comms. 

3. In-depth engagement: Co-creating the future of luxury travel 

To build meaningful connections, brands should not just be listening to ultra-luxury travellers, but co-creating with them. Don’t just guess at what is important, ask them to draft or draw it. This means offering a role in shaping the future of luxury through in-depth conversations, immersive research and personalised collaborations. 

• Example: For a leading luxury hotel group in the Middle East, we moved beyond traditional desk research and focus groups, opting instead for discreet, one-on-one discussions with UHNW individuals to gain deeper insight into their travel needs. These conversations provided a rich window into their worlds – where they are being wowed and where they are being underserved; insight that desk research simply cannot provide. From here, there were clear recommendations for how to win with this audience across multiple facets of the brand, from guest experience, service culture, interior design and activity programming through to comms. 

From insight to execution: Embedding intelligence into brand and experience strategy 

Understanding the ultra-luxury traveller is just the beginning. True differentiation comes from embedding insight into every aspect of a hotel or travel brand’s strategy, service design and customer experience. 

• Brand strategy and positioning: Crafting a narrative that aligns with the emotional and cultural drivers of this audience. 

• Service and experience design: Recruiting and training staff who have the “hospitality gene” and understand the art of intuitive service and immersive experiences. 

• Partnerships and collaborations: collaborating with brands that already resonate with ultra-luxury consumers to create seamless, cross-industry experiences. 

Why insight is the ultimate competitive advantage in luxury hospitality 

The world is evolving quickly, but rushing past the insight stage is a mistake.  Going to market with something that misses the mark and requires redevelopment is a false economy.   

In contrast, rich insights into the world of today’s UHNW customer can create a sustainable and long-lasting foundation for commercial and creative success. 

The future of ultra-luxury belongs to those who anticipate, not chase, and anticipation begins with understanding.  

Are you investing in the right intelligence to secure your brand’s place in the next era of ultra-luxury travel? 

1.  The New York Times, July 2023  ↩︎
2. Financial Times, February 2025  ↩︎