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M&C magazine is the definitive resource for meetings industry news featuring issues and trends, practical how-to features and destination guides for more than 70,000 meeting professionals who plan and book over one million meetings annually. Monthly, 13 issues per year (including the annual Gavel issue).

On the Cover: Reinventing Elegance

The whole idea of luxury has undergone a sea change as consumers -- planners and attendees among them -- have become more discriminating and competition has grown. In this special M&C roundtable, top movers and shakers in the meetings business discuss the new parameters of luxe

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Reinventing Elegance:

Top hotels and travel companies are ratcheting up service and quality to put more substance into luxury

Luxury. It’s a descriptor so overused in the hospitality industry, by all rights it should have lost its meaning years ago. When every steak, pillowcase and miniature bottle of shampoo in the United States is being called luxury, it must be time for a new term.

Yet the word persists -- and travelers still seem to recognize the difference. Consider these statistics: In the first six months of 2006, the average daily rate for luxury chain hotels in the United States was $271.68, fully 80 percent higher than the $151.28 average of the upper-upscale market segment, according to Hendersonville, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research. That luxury rate is up 9 percent from the year prior, and occupancy is up a few points, as well, to 72.3 percent. Clearly, individuals and corporations are willing to pay a premium for the luxury experience.

Those who can afford luxury, however, require more than just a pleasant stay. The needs of these travelers -- including attendees seeking a topflight experience outside the meeting room -- are the most exacting of any, which means luxury brands that want to thrive among strong competition must also work constantly to improve their product. M&C spoke with some of the youngest, smartest luxury travel brands around -- along with meeting planners who appreciate what they offer -- to find out what luxury is and where it’s headed.

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