Inside the Exclusive-Access Boom in Luxury Travel, From Islands to Palaces

Detailed summary

For discerning adventurers with the wealth to match their wanderlust, exceptional hotels, villas and cabins are just the beginning. Intimate, personalised experiences in enviable…

For discerning adventurers with the wealth to match their wanderlust, exceptional hotels, villas and cabins are just the beginning. Intimate, personalised experiences in enviable corners of the globe are the new ultimate way to travel.

There’s a scene in Christopher Nolan’s 2010 sci-fi film Inception when Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is presented with a conundrum — how to stage one of his trademark dream heists on a wealthy target aboard a flight, without arousing suspicion.

“We’d have to buy out the whole cabin, and the first-class flight attendant,” says one of his team, ruefully. The billionaire energy tycoon who’s financing the operation interjects. There’s no need — he’s taken the liberty of acquiring the entire airline. “It seemed... neater,” he smiles.

It’s a flamboyant flex that would surely resonate with the deep-pocketed individuals powering one of the fastest-growing trends in luxury travel right now — exclusive access.

Entire islands or wildlife conservancies all to oneself; buyouts of yachts, trains or country-house hotels; invitation-only dining; after-hours access to the world’s most sought-after museums, galleries and other cultural attractions. The types of experiences may be endlessly varied, but all share one crucial feature — a ruthless filleting of the ‘riffraff’ and thus an illusion, if only temporarily, of ownership.

Such opportunities don’t come cheap, of course. But, if that’s something you’re likely to lose sleep over, this really isn’t the world for you. Emily Rutter, head of product at ITC, a collection of brands specialising in luxury travel, says that such experiences can easily reach six figures, before you even get to the cost of getting to whichever coveted corner of the globe your curated experience is being staged. This hasn’t stopped demand surging.

Rutter gives the example of Ithaafushi, an exclusive-use island available through ITC’s client, the Waldorf Astoria Maldives.

Another is the Maltese Falcon, the private superyacht charter…

Opening of the article, excerpted from National Geographic. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.