Everyone wants high-value travellers, but few agree on what “high value” really means, writes Evan Saunders, SVP of Sales and Strategic Partnerships, Azira.
Airlines are adding more premium-economy seats. Luxury hotel chains are launching cruise ships. Michelin has expanded beyond restaurants into a hotel guide celebrating “exceptional stays”. Entire countries are raising tourist taxes to attract the “right” type of visitor and reinvest in strained infrastructure.
The old playbook is broken
The traditional view is simple and outdated: someone wealthy, likely older, with brand loyalty and a taste for luxury. They stay in five-star hotels, fly business class, and spend freely.
But research from Azira, combined with data from Roy Morgan and Tourism Research Australia, reveals high spend doesn’t always equate to high income. A frequent flyer who books business class but stays in modest accommodations may deliver as much value to a destination as someone spending US$1,000 per night at a luxury hotel.
A backpacker who extends their stay by a month and disperses to regional areas may contribute more to local economies than a weekend visitor dropping five figures in a capital city.
“We see a strong connection between higher income households and travel incidence,” Roy Morgan head of travel & tourism Adele Labine-Romain said. “But what luxury means differs across groups. There can be a cost threshold, but in some cases luxury reflects the investment of time needed by the traveller to reach special places and remarkable experience.”
Value, it turns out, is less about what travellers can spend and more about how and why they choose to spend.
This matters because destinations are making billion-dollar decisions in an era of rapidly evolving traveller behaviour. Many destination leaders recognise the importance of attracting high-value travellers, yet as research and insights evolve, many are still navigating how to translate that understanding into infrastructure, campaigns, and policies that effectively engage and serve this audience.
Why destinations are rethinking everything
Australia offers a compelling case study. Distance and cost make it nearly impossible to compete as a high-volume destination. That geographic challenge has turned into a strategic advantage.
“Our country battles both distance and cost challenges, which makes it almost impossible for us to become a high-volume market for international tourism,” Tourism Research Australia data innovation and partnerships manager Rod Battye said. “Therefore high-value, and often high-net-worth travellers are important for us because they may stay longer, participate in more activities, and disperse to more locations.”
The emphasis here isn’t just on wealth, it’s on behaviours. Staying longer matters. Dispersing to regional areas matters. Participating in experiences that benefit local communities matters. These behaviours can’t be predicted by income brackets alone.
Balancing access and exclusivity
Hawaii has taken a similar approach, deliberately focusing on “value over volume” to preserve their natural resources.
“Limited supply and sustained demand have supported higher prices,” Hawaii Tourism Authority interim CEO Caroline Anderson said. “Our approach has been deliberate, focusing on value over volume and ensuring growth shows up in the right places: resident well-being, visitor satisfaction, and economic yield per visitor.”
Even individual attractions are recalibrating. Suzie Baker, Head of Brand, Marketing, and CX at Taronga Zoo Sydney, notes that the zoo aims to “focus on this high-value traveller, someone more likely to invest in quality experiences when they arrive.”
I recently visited Bhutan, which represents perhaps the most extreme version of this recalibration. The country requires tourists to hire a licensed guide and pay an additional US$100 Sustainable Development Fee per person, per day. It’s an intentional barrier designed to protect natural and cultural heritage while ensuring tourism dollars flow into the broader economy.
Destinations worldwide are moving from chasing volume to curating quality. But quality is harder to measure, and it requires precision that most marketing strategies weren’t built to deliver.
Marketing by precision, not assumption
Take my quiet street near Boston, USA, for example. I live next door to two other families. To my left are parents whose kids just graduated from university. To my right, grandparents enjoying their retirement. My wife and I have two young children. We all live in the same block, yet we couldn’t be more different as consumers or as travellers.
Marketing the same destination message to all three would be a waste of resources. Yet this is exactly how most tourism campaigns still operate, with broad demographic targeting based on income, age, or geography, with the hope that the right message finds the right person.
Modern data tools have made this approach obsolete. It’s now possible to integrate mobility data with household-level survey research to identify travellers whose natural patterns align with a destination’s offerings.
“With the expense associated with getting to Australia, driving tourism among high-value travellers to Western Australia remains a great opportunity and priority, but so does creating experiences and products that cater to this market,” Tourism Western Australia insights and strategy manager Elyse Cope said.
What ‘luxury’ actually means now
At Raffles Boston, where rooms often exceed US$1,000 per night, general manager Carlos Bueno observes a shift in what draws guests.
“Today’s most discerning travellers seek more than indulgence; they seek meaning,” Bueno said. “As travel becomes increasingly intentional, luxury travellers are drawn to experiences and brands that inspire genuine connection and authenticity.”
Travellers increasingly measure value not in amenities but in the depth of connection they feel to people, place, and experience.
A guided hike through Tasmania’s wilderness can deliver more perceived value than a private jet. A family reunion in regional Queensland can matter more than a suite at a flagship hotel. A rail journey through the Red Centre can be the trip of a lifetime, regardless of what was spent.
It means high-value travel is no longer the exclusive domain of the ultra-wealthy. It means destinations don’t need to choose between accessibility and sustainability. And it means travellers across income levels have the potential to be the kind of visitor every destination wants.
The future of ‘luxury’
As over-tourism strains ecosystems and rising costs reshape access, destinations face a choice. They can continue marketing to outdated archetypes, hoping volume eventually translates to value. Or they can get specific about who they’re trying to reach and why, using the tools now available to identify and engage travellers who will stay longer, tread lighter, and connect more deeply.
The most valuable travellers aren’t always the wealthiest. They’re the ones whose values align with where they’re going. In a world where travel is both more expensive and more intentional than ever, luxury is now measured by depth, not just dollars.
- Evan Saunders is Senior Vice President of Sales and Strategic Partnerships at Azira, where he helps destinations and hospitality brands leverage data to understand and engage high-value travellers. He was recently invited to Canberra by Austrade to present on data-driven tourism strategy and has served on Austrade’s Industry Data and Expert Analysis Working Group for two years. He previously won the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association’s Top 25 Minds award for his work engaging affluent Chinese travellers. This article draws on Azira’s proprietary research and interviews with tourism professionals across Australia and the United States.
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