The affluent have become emotionally weary, waiting for the economy to catch up.

• Many affluent travelers’ social consciences are stronger than their pampered egos. The well-to-do were quick to cut back in solidarity with their less fortunate companies and countrymen.
• When affluent travelers cut back, the value they found at a lower price range was not lost on them. Their value-for-money meters have been reset.
• A good part of sky-high luxury hotel rates was based on status ‒ showing up the Joneses ‒ but that particular bucket doesn’t hold as much water as it used to. At least, not yet.

With these lessons in hand, fine hoteliers are offering fewer $10,000-per-night suites to guests (exception: rock stars) and many more luxury suite options in the $800-$1,000 range. Some of these are the same suites that went for three or four times their present rate prior to the economic loop-de-loop.

Weary of Waiting for Better Times

Even though the affluent market is not generally paying luxury rates where they don’t perceive real value in the price, there is a growing trend toward ending the pattern of economic self-denial and returning to normal ‒ within reason. Upscale travelers, weary of deprivation, are ready to revert to the “suite life” again ‒ but they’re not prepared to be gouged for it.

Hotels get this, as expressed by new rates, which some properties are still a little reluctant to advertise. So, next time you’re planning to stay at a fine hotel, call them to press for their best rate, which might not be listed on their website.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal will open its own travel agency, WSJ Travel. Reportedly, the new venture will offer trips to about 50 destinations per year, coinciding with the topics of travel articles that will appear in the paper. Itʼs an effort to bring additional revenue into the newspaper.

There are questions yet to be answered, of course.

1. Is it possible for any newspaper to write objectively about something itʼs trying to persuade readers to buy?
2. Does a newspaper really have the behind-the-scenes expertise to be successful in a totally different retail business?
3. If it makes sense to sell travel today, then why not diamonds, power tools, or laptops tomorrow? What business is the company really in?

Glamorous as it is, the retail travel business is struggling in this economy every bit as much as the advertising-based publishing industry. Itʼs unexpected to see a company enter the travel industry right now. The new venture might seem more logical on its surface if travel were a principal thrust of the Wall Street Journal; but itʼs actually the lighter fare offered to offset weightier topics in deeper areas of expertise.

Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. We certainly want the Wall Street Journal to succeed as a business enterprise; but we think it will take more than competing against travel agents to do so. Travel planning for the affluent is a high-touch customer service business with a complex back end; and even for those who have decades of experience in the field, it is still a high-wire act.

With luck, they’re subcontracting the business to those who know a lot about it. That would make sense for the travel part of the business, but what direction will be given to the editorial part of the business? How will readers be able to tell what is reporting, and what is sales?

We’ll all know more after the big unveiling on Thursday, and after a year of early adopters give it a try. If those travelers are happy, then weʼre pretty sure youʼll read about it in the Wall Street Journal. And if they are not, well then, there is still time for the newspaper to gear up its sales engines for home improvement products, fishing gear, and cell phones.

Peg Prideaux, CTC
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