Americas: mystery trips
A drive to take the excitement of travel to the next level is fueling a rise in ‘mystery trips,’ especially for milestone holiday such as honeymoons and birthdays. In 2006 Luxury Link launched weekly mystery auctions where consumers bid on packages with an unknown destination, hotel name, supplier and inclusions. Bids start at $1 and travellers typically only pay 50% of the sales price. Suppliers benefit from selling excess capacity without undermining their brand. Meanwhile American Express launched Nextpedition where travellers take an online quiz and are assigned one of 20 travel signs. Specialists discuss consumers’ preferences and budget to create the mystery trip and receive a smartphone prior to the trip which unveils the itinerary day by day. Domestic trips for two start from US$ 1000, international trips from $2,500. Ellen Bettrigde, vice president, American Express, US Retail Travel Network explained that the idea was to “bring that element of the surprise back” for a generation that has spent most of their lives online. According to Euromonitor, travellers aged 20-34 offer strong growth opportunities for mystery trips as their average gross income increases and the 30-34 segment grows its share of the population.
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