Northern light
Jennifer Zhang, CEO of a financial service company, will embark on a 16-day luxury trip to South Pacific in November. She will wake up in top-end cruise suites, enjoy seafood feasts cooked by her private chefs at resorts, take a helicopter tour above the ocean and a submarine tour underwater. Most importantly, she'll also visit destinations less frequented by others in this customized trip.
"For me, travel is not about money, but about quality and off-the-beaten-track experiences," said Zhang, who is in her 40s.
So far, she's visited Antarctica and taken a 86-day cruise tour around the world — she paid over 100,000 yuan ($16,129) for the former and more than 200,000 yuan for the latter.
From transport and dining to accommodation and service, she cares about every part of a trip.
"The number of hotel stars is proportional to the level of comfort, while an outstanding tour guide can make a journey full of joy, even when a force majeure is encountered.
"Moreover, I prefer destinations that are difficult to reach, and slow pace trips that allow me to experience local living," she said.
Luxury travel is increasingly gaining popularity among deep-pocketed Chinese like Zhang.
"There has been a big change in Chinese people's mindset about tourism," said Liu Deyan, associate professor of the Shanghai Institute of Tourism at Shanghai Normal University.
"In the past, they highlighted sightseeing and believed accommodation and dining were things that could be compromised. But now, they believe transport, hotels and dining are important parts of a perfect trip, and these are closely related with the quality of the tour," Liu told Shanghai Daily.
The concept of luxury travel took hold around 2012 in China when trips to the less visited Arctic and Antarctic regions emerging in China, luxury trip operators said. That year, the number of Chinese multimillionaires surpassed one million and many wanted to pour money into luxury trips.
Most of those who take luxury trips are wealthy middle-age or older people who have strong consumption power and rich travel experience, according to Ma Wenting, vice president of Magic Travel, a luxury tour operator under Beijing UTour International Travel Service Co.
They were no longer satisfied with common itineraries and started pursuing exclusive and uncommon destinations, said Ma.
Extravagant accommodation and food are not the only features of a luxury trip, she added.
