May 2016, Singapore / Hong Kong – In spite of an economic down-turn, Lightfoot Travel continues to experience continued growth, demonstrating the stability and resilience in the tailor-made, luxury travel industry in Asia.

“Whereas traditional travel agencies are suffering with the advent of online booking and global markets might affect airlines and hotels, there is a fast growing demand for tailor-made services not available when booking online. By focusing on affluent and HNW clients we often find that even when times are tough our clients will not forsake their luxury family holidays - although of course they may look for more value for money”, explains Simon Cameron, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Lightfoot Travel.

Two big trends have been noticeable: fluctuating currency rates affecting demand for certain destinations and the increase in demand for experiential and transformational holidays.

With the weakening South African Rand, holidays to the rainbow nation have been around 20% cheaper, which explains the significant increase in enquiries coming through. The overwhelming demand for South Africa is creating capacity issues in the higher end properties, and travellers are being encouraged to either book well in advance to avoid disappointment or discover new, lesser explored regions of Africa such as Namibia and Uganda. A similar situation has been observed in Japan with the weakening of the yen.

Asian travellers are becoming well-seasoned meaning that they are now more interested in seeing the unexplored parts of the world and indulging in unique experiences. This means heading to destinations that are not that easily accessible, such as Antarctica and Latin America or that will offer a truly authentic insight into a country's way of life, like Cuba.
To truly make the most of their escape to such far-off destinations, multi-country itineraries are becoming commonplace, with travellers looking to experience more.

Breakout destinations for Q1 of 2016 are Antarctica (+50% growth in demand, year on year), South America (+122% overall and +1000% for Argentina, +800% for Chile), Caribbean (+100% for Cuba), Japan (+57%), Australia (+143%). Destinations such as Europe, particularly Italy, and Indochina continue to attract travellers though demand has decreased slightly in favour of more off-the-beaten-track destinations.

About Lightfoot Travel, artisans of luxury travel
Lightfoot Travel is a luxury tour operator with offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai, specialising in designer holidays to countries spanning six continents around the world. We take pride in the originality of our trips, and a holiday with Lightfoot Travel is guaranteed to be inspired, inventive, and perfectly tailored to suit your needs.

www.lightfoottravel.com

For further information or images, or to enquire about marketing opportunities please contact:
Vicky Pester – vicky@lightfoottravel.com +65 6438 4091
Nikki Pang – nikki@lightfoottravel.com +852 2815 0306