Flywire Corporation (Nasdaq: FLYW), a global payments enablement
and software company, has released its third annual report on
luxury travelers' preferences, finding 90% of their vacations will
be longer than ones they took a few years ago. 87% of the same
group also plan to spend more on travel in 2024 than they did last
year; this number jumps to 95% when looking specifically at Gen Z
and Millennials.
Flywire’s annual luxury travel report
surveyed approximately 675 luxury travelers in the U.S. to
understand how their preferences and plans could impact the travel
industry in 2024. The report explores topics around AI in travel,
sustainability, hybrid work’s influence on luxury vacations,
payment security and more.
“From our third annual report, we learned that luxury travelers
are as motivated as ever to invest in unique high end experiences
around the world, and plan on spending even more than before
to embark on once-in-a lifetime adventures,” said Colin Smyth, SVP
and GM of Travel at Flywire. “Our data shows a few notable spikes,
including an accelerated interest in ocean experiences, such as
luxury cruises, and in group travel across generations. Overall,
these trends are positive indicators for travel providers who cater
to the luxury market.”
Luxury travelers still value personal interaction and
rely on advisors for true luxury experience
Even in the age of AI, luxury travelers prefer working with
people. In most instances, they still want to use a travel agent or
advisor to help plan their trips. In fact, 96% of luxury travelers
have used an agent or are likely to use one in the next 18
months, and this number is increasing year over year.
About nine in ten travelers say working with a travel agent is
the best way to manage their itinerary in real time or make changes
as necessary. Respondents say their top reasons to use an agent are
providing peace of mind, making sure they know about relevant
travel restrictions and solving problems when they happen. More so,
85% of luxury travelers say working with a travel expert or agent
is the only way to have a truly luxury travel experience.
Group-based trips and ocean experiences lead the next
wave of luxury travel
According to the data, group travel will increase in 2024,
particularly with Baby Boomers as well as Gen Z and Millennials.
When looking at what group travel means to them, 33% of respondents
see it as a group of friends while 22% interpret it as a trip with
extended family – another 22% view it as a couples’ group
trip. 93% of luxury travelers surveyed would pay more to travel
with a private group for unique experiences.
In terms of the types of experiences luxury travelers are
seeking, there are a few notable increases year over year. Interest
in luxury cruises increased nearly 70% over last year, and
adventure trips increased nearly 30%. More than 80% of those
surveyed are likely to combine vacations with special events.
Payment simplicity and security is a top
concern
Almost all luxury travelers (94%) agree it should be easy for
them to pay for all parts of their trip at once to streamline the
process. Travelers also increasingly prefer to pay their travel
agent for major trip components while covering their own meals and
incidentals themselves – a 73% increase from last year.
Additionally, travelers look to avoid certain pain points when
paying for their experiences, such as unexpected fees and/or
exchange rate confusion (45%), the inability to use their preferred
credit card (27%) and the inability to pay in their local currency
(20%). And security remains top of mind, with 68% of those surveyed
concerned about the security of their payments.
To view the full report with additional data points and key
takeaways, please visit: Flywire's annual luxury travel report.
About Flywire
Flywire is a global payments
enablement and software company. We combine our proprietary global
payments network, next-gen payments platform and vertical-specific
software to deliver the most important and complex payments for our
clients and their customers.
Flywire leverages its
vertical-specific software and payments technology to deeply embed
within the existing A/R workflows for its clients across the
education, healthcare and travel vertical markets, as well as in
key B2B industries. Flywire also integrates with leading ERP
systems, such as NetSuite, so organizations can optimize the
payment experience for their customers while eliminating
operational challenges.
Flywire supports more than 3,800
clients with diverse payment methods in more than 140 currencies
across 240 countries and territories around the world. Flywire is
headquartered in Boston, MA, USA with global offices. For more
information, visit www.flywire.com. Follow
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Safe Harbor StatementThis release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not
limited to, statements regarding Flywire’s expectations regarding
the travel industry, Flywire’s business strategy and plans, market
growth and trends. Flywire intends such forward-looking statements
to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking
statements contained in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms
such as, but not limited to, “believe,” “may,” “will,”
“potentially,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,”
“could,” “would,” “project,” “target,” “plan,” “expect,” or the
negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to
identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking
statements are based upon current expectations that involve risks,
changes in circumstances, assumptions, and uncertainties. Important
factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those reflected in Flywire's forward-looking statements include,
among others, the factors that are described in the "Risk Factors"
and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations" sections of Flywire's Annual Report on
Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is on file
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and available on
the SEC's website at https://www.sec.gov/. The
information in this release is provided only as of the date of this
release, and Flywire undertakes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of
new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by
law.
Media ContactsSarah Kingmedia@flywire.com
Investor Relations Contact:ICRflywireir@icrinc.com
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