Luxury or elite tourism is not officially categorized as a specific type of tourism; however, it differentiates from other types in a way that it includes luxury services and content purchased by higher profile tourists who will spend more. It can be considered as a “higher class” of any existing touristic product in the market, even though standard conditions have not been met including the five-star hotel and resort accommodation. Influenced by the globalization and technological development, new generations create the demand for new experience rather than for material goods and services, bringing the luxury tourism market to paradox – demand for originality and thematic trips grows faster than the demand for luxury hotel accommodation and top gastronomic experience.
Package tours for relatively unaffordable destinations have become an integral part of offers of elite travel. Luxury tourism is now defined primarily by demand and adjustment to customers who by availability of communication channels (media, social networks, general online content) have amazingly enormous amount of information available and thus increasingly complex demands for the market.
Luxury tourism is completely opposite of mass tourism, and is a separate part of tourism industry which is largely focused on demand. It is evident that this type of tourism is in steady growth. In the existing touristic market, this specific segment stands out as a segment of consumers with high purchasing power. These consumers are ready to spend their money. Generally, in the age group between 25 and 55, luxury customers are ready to pay more in order to benefit from unusual experience, relaxation, adventure. They are usually owners of private companies or they hold high positions in large corporations. Luxury tourism includes any category of clients for whom the utilization of touristic services is not conditioned by price, as they have more than enough money. Although the demand for luxury tourism is significantly lower than that for the mass tourism, it is still profitable due to high price of services.
Currently, according to the publicly available data, less than 10 well-known foreign touristic agencies offer travel arrangements in luxury tourism in the Federation BiH and include exactly the offer which follows this touristic trend – what people expect you to offer them – adventurous experience of authentic activities and private exclusive trips. With 12 % increase in visits in 2019 compared to 2018, BiH is one of the global destinations which records the highest growth of tourists as reported in the Tourism Development Strategy FBiH; therefore, according to these figures there is a prospect of growth of the luxury tourism as well.
It is an ongoing trend for people to make an effort to continuously and positively influence the places and people visited by high profile guests – that is what is called luxury nowadays. If you follow trends one step further, offers which need further promotion and expansion in FBiH in order to attract wealthy guests are eco resorts and stress relief environments, wellness practices which include personal transformation. There is a demand for journeys created as ecological trips with an addition of adventure, escape from reality aspect, or another experience to challenge one’s physical and psychological strength. There is also a new wave of increase demand for destinations which offer inner peace, mental and bodily wellness, meditation and spirituality. The creating of the top services of a future – which is in its initial phase in FBiH – necessarily includes the offer of the luxury accommodation. We cared more about the number of visitors, but this topic explores luxury tourism in order to attract high profile tourists who spend more money on their trips.
The head of tourism study department at Džemal Bijedić University in Mostar, Amela Piralić, Ph.D., says for our magazine that, if the above topic was covered from our aspect, the luxury tourism would be what most of us would say, and it is travel, stay and consummation of high luxury touristic products.
“Nowadays, a significant part of the offer of accommodation capacities, regardless of their categorization, provides such comfort which in certain segments can be called luxury. Also, touristic programmes themselves tend towards higher level of luxury” says professor Piralić.
As she says, all aforementioned is significant for the development of tourism, and without such capacities, tourism industry would stagnate. However, in her opinion, current luxury and development of new trends strive to achieve mental contentment and peacefulness of consumers with offers including untouched nature.
“It is not uncommon that luxury is clean spring water, waking up by the river murmur in the highlands; luxury is to have traditional, non-modified food products for breakfast, to feel the breath of past of the area visited without getting far away from the present. Luxury means to visit the destination and to feel safe. Safe in a sense of not being afraid of theft, any kind of felony, availability of illicit products. Feeling confident that what was promised in the offer will be provided, feeling confident that what was paid will be consumed. I think that trends of our luxury tourism should move in that direction”, says Piralić.
As for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the professor underlines that we do have potential for the development of such segments of the luxury tourism.
“Rich in natural resources, our country maintains a high level of offer which includes non-modified original home-made food products; our country has a rich history, strong potential for the development of luxury tourism. It is true that the development of luxury tourism in BiH has recently been directed towards the building and creation of luxury accommodation capacities, which we do lack, however their development and promotion is also being done”, concludes Piralić.
A tourist expert, former manager of the well-known Belgrade hotel Moskva and a long-year manager of the hotel Maršal on Bjelašnica, Zahid Bešović, says that the term luxury tourism means now and used to mean twenty, thirty or more years ago, relatively different touristic products.
“Nowadays we have a phenomenon, and all experts and tourism specialists will agree, that the demand for originality and thematic trips grows faster than the demand for luxury hotel accommodation”, says Bešović for our magazine.
Luxury used to mean a stay in an exclusive hotel and consuming good food and expensive drinks. On the other hand, now luxury can mean a challenging adrenaline stay in nature, in an area not accessible to an ordinary person, for which individuals pay enormous money just to feel the adventure and pleasure.
Necessary promotion
“It is necessary to develop luxury in tourism which is not always and everywhere measured by the number of stars. The most significant thing in this segment may be exactly the need to promote luxury already available in our country. The promotion should definitely be incorporated in the legislation applicable to safety in all fields, from population protection to tourists protection so that they can benefit from the luxury offer available in our country”, considers professor Piralić.
Creating new services
“It is clear to us that the luxury tourism is nowadays defined by the demand and also by the possibility and way of adjustment to tourists who have money, and who also have all modern communication channels, media, social networks, which means that they have enormous amount of information available and increasingly complex demands for the market. In that sense, it is necessary to continuously create new services and improve the existing touristic products which can attract guests with deep pockets”, says Bešović.
(Project “Branding Luxury Tourism in FBiH” is co-financed by the Government of the Federation BiH)
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