But just five countries make up the core source markets for almost half of all luxury hotel bookings made globally.
The findings are the result of a new luxury travel trends report published by International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) in Cannes last week.
The report, created in association with Euromonitor, highlighted that US (16%), China (12%), Mexico (10%), Italy (6%) and France (5%) accounted for 49% of all luxury hotel sales in 2014. The report said that while luxury and budget hotel segments have been performing well, it is the mid-price segment that seems most challenged, particularly from the boom in private rentals.
Alison Gilmore, senior exhibition director, ILTM Portfolio said: “This ILTM report spells good news for both luxury travel and luxury spending. More than a billion extra people will be travelling in 2030 and over five billion consumers will be living in cities – travel infrastructure and mindsets will need to change as the luxury industry evolves.”
The number of affluent households – those with an annual disposable income of more than $300,000 - is expected to grow over 2015-2030, with Australasia and North America posting growth of 86% and 80% respectively over that period.
London, Tokyo, Toronto and Paris are the cities of the developed world that are predicted to see the highest rise in households in this bracket and the report calls $300,000 the “tipping point for outbound luxury travel”, or the point where luxury travel starts to form part of households’ annual expenditure.
Although North America will continue to have the highest number of affluent households and despite its economic slowdown Asia Pacific is the region expected to see the fastest increase, posting 113% growth over that period. By 2030, there will be three million HNWIs in China, up from one million currently.
GDP, arrivals and incoming receipts are all predicted to show relatively steady growth over the next five years as travel continues to expand globally.
The report also said that Germany and the UK are forecast to provide strong demand for departures, with these two countries remaining the top source markets from Western Europe.
Despite “another challenging year for the personal luxury goods industry” in 2015, sales exceeded $317 billion worldwide and the number one largest markets remain Japan, US and China and the desire for luxury goods shopping will further fuel for travel and tourism, with Hong Kong the number one shopping destination globally, according to Euromonitor.
India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Canada were recorded as the five top growth markets for luxury goods purchases.
