Here's advice I give constantly that shocks people coming from me, a person who built a luxury travel brand: take the word luxury OUT of your marketing. Luxury isn't a compliment you pay yourself, it's a contract your guests will audit. I've seen travelers complete a gorgeous ten-day trip, then demand a refund on the grounds that it didn't feel luxury. Not that anything failed. That a word over-promised.
“It's not about being a luxury brand. It's about being a profitable brand.”
What the word obligates you to
- Luxury attracts a different kind of person, a scorekeeper. Every transfer, thread count, and pour gets measured against the finest thing they've ever experienced, and the gap is your fault.
- The audit reaches the wine list: real champagne or sparkling wine? Recognized labels or the house pour? If the answer is "perfectly nice," the word luxury is writing checks your budget isn't cashing.
- "Elevated" and "upscale" sell the same aspiration without the audit, beautiful hotels, thoughtful details, room to over-deliver. Under-promise lives in the adjective.
Claire's own numbers
The framework, step by step
- 1
Luxury attracts a different kind of person — a scorekeeper
Every transfer, thread count, and pour gets measured against the finest thing they've ever experienced, and the gap is your fault.
- 2
The audit reaches the wine list
real champagne or sparkling wine? Recognized labels or the house pour? If the answer is "perfectly nice," the word luxury is writing checks your budge
- 3
"Elevated" and "upscale" sell the same aspiration
without the audit — beautiful hotels, thoughtful details, room to over-deliver. Under-promise lives in the adjective
Claire's own framework from this essay, in the order she teaches it.
Source: Claire B. Soares, from her own travel business and live trainings.
The sentence that settles it
When a client I coach agonizes over whether her brand qualifies as luxury, I give her the line that ends the conversation: it's not about being a luxury brand, it's about being a profitable brand. The word is a positioning tool, and if it attracts refund-seekers instead of superfans, it's a badly performing one. Call yourself what you can over-deliver against. Your reviews, and your margins, will thank you.
Common Questions
Should every upscale travel brand call itself luxury?
No. Luxury is a promise clients audit line by line, and it attracts scorekeepers. Elevated and upscale sell the same aspiration while leaving room to over-deliver.
What does the word luxury obligate you to?
Everything from the property tier to the wine list. If the honest answer is perfectly nice rather than exceptional, the word is writing checks the budget will not cash.
How do you choose your positioning word?
Pick the one you can over-deliver against. Positioning that attracts refund-seekers instead of superfans is a badly performing word regardless of how it sounds.
Written By
Claire B. Soares
6× Condé Nast Top Travel Specialist, Certified AI Consultant, and founder of Travel AI University. $3.4B+ in enterprise travel software sold to Google, IBM, Boeing, the federal government, and the DoD; $16M+ in luxury travel sales with Up in the Air Life.
About Claire
