Economic Impacts on Luxury Link?

[curtiejoe]

Hi mountie



It'd be very interesting to see what the nationalities of"visitors' and 'buyers" that are attracted to LL. Could be LL will one day set out this sort of demographic data in its newsletter. Nevertheless,it's likely most of those who frequent this websiteare Americans, yet there may be an increasing number of foreigners who find the offerings on LL attractive. and, with the weakening of your currency vis a vis others like the British Pound and the Euro, perhaps LL will seek to market itself to people in places outside the USA.

BTW I don't feel "condescended" by your remarks, just a bit surpised at the choice of words and the tone used.



Curt

[imbues]

More options every where would be great.

[travel2fun]

imbues, what type of options are you suggesting? More destinations, or types of hotels, or pricing? What did you have in mind?

[imbues]

travel2fun, I just thought that more options every where would be good around. Then all bidders could find something closer and less costly with airfare.

I'm actually only looking for places I can drive to because my husband won't fly. I came across this place looking for information on Italy. I'm planning a trip with my mother next fall. I've stayed around because I've learned a bit from all of you about travel. You're all amazingly well traveled and have a lot of good tips. I love the blog.






Message Edited by imbues on 09-07-2007 07:13 PM

[Mountie]

curt, I'll bet within the next month or two we will see some major changes in this web site. If I am correct in my assumptions regarding the geographic demographics of the luxury link customer and prospective customer, the weakening dollar against the Euro will dictate changes. I don't expect to see the prices of the European destination lowered, but I do expect to see more choices in Central and South America and I think there will be more affordable categories.

[kyshel]

I noticed some recent price increases--such as WaterSpa Villa in Bali--the initial bid is $200 more than previous price (nearly 10%) There are a few others--I can't recall the exact differences, but 5-10% average.
Ouch.

[curtiejoe]

Hi mountie



It'll be very interesting to see if your predictions come true over the next few months. Personally, I'm not convinced that things'll change very much as far as the prices of most offerings on LL are concerned. The relative value of world currencies such as the euro, pound and U.S. dollar is always in a state of flux that reflects numerous factors today such as national economic heakth, the price of crude oil, the state of theNYSE and other leading stock markets,the War in Iraq,the rate of economic growth in China, and the threat or perceived threat of terrorism around the world. Given the dynamic nature of the global economy and the cyclical nature of financial markets, one may expect the value of various world currencies to change considerably vis a vis each other quite dramatically over any given time period.. However, I don't see the value of LL travel offerings changing as dramatically. But, that's my opinion and I'm sure everyone on the LL Community has his or her own opinion on this matter.



Curt

[Mountie]

curt, just keep your computer tuned to this web site and by late October or certainly no later than the middle of November you will seeing some major changes. Remember, you heard it from me!

[Mountie]

curt, are you looking at the currency exchanges?? Your loonie is on par with the dollar (first time since 1976) and the Euro hit 1.40 vs. the dollar. Watch forupcoming changes with the newly revisedluxury link web site. You will see changes because the predominance of US customers are looking for better deal, regardless of their level of affluence. Changes are on the way to meet market demands!

[travel2fun]

curtiejoe wrote:

Hi mountie



It'd be very interesting to see what the nationalities of"visitors' and 'buyers" that are attracted to LL. Could be LL will one day set out this sort of demographic data in its newsletter. Nevertheless,it's likely most of those who frequent this websiteare Americans, yet there may be an increasing number of foreigners who find the offerings on LL attractive. and, with the weakening of your currency vis a vis others like the British Pound and the Euro, perhaps LL will seek to market itself to people in places outside the USA.

BTW I don't feel "condescended" by your remarks, just a bit surpised at the choice of words and the tone used.



Curt

curt and mountie, luxury link has been veryclear in disclosing their audienceprofile. If 70% of their prior business has been generatedfrom residents of the US, regardless oftheir income and networth, thisaudienceis certainly being adversely affected by the weakened US Dollar when considering foreign travel. It is doubtful those individualslisted on the recent Fortune Magazine top 400 Billionaires in the US spend time crusing the luxury link web site and bidding on auctions.I have to believe luxury link will be making changes to continue to entice business from the 70% indicated in theirpublished demographics.




Our users are a unique audience who:

Represent an affluent, well educated, professional demographic

Come to the site predisposed to buy

Spend 4 times more online than the average Internet user
* as reported by Comscore/Media Metrix April 2005

Have an unparalleled demographic:

o 63% of buyers exceed HHI of $150,000

o Median age is 47

o 80% are managerial/professional

o 70% U.S., 30% international

o 96% take 3 or more leisure trips per year