Wealthy jetsetters and the recession – All work and no playboys?

by Annie Scott on

I recently attended a presentation hosted by Dr. Jim Taylor, vice chairman of Harrison Group and Cara David, senior vice president of corporate marketing and integrated media of American Express Publishing, to hear about how the wealthy have been affected by the economic downturn.

The “Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America,” as the yearly presentation is called, culls information from a group of Americans (1,300 this year) representing the country’s highest earners; all respondents pull in a minimum of $100k in discretionary income (income after tax, mortgage, home maintenance and child education). If you want to read about how they’re spending that money now that the market’s tanked, read my article on our sister site, Luxist: “How The Wealthy Are Spending Their Money This Year.”

On to more important things: How the wealthy are traveling.

Of these 1,300 affluent Americans, 78% of whom say that the crisis has affected their sense of financial security, only 19% anticipate that their weekend getaway spending will increase. But guess what? That’s exactly how many of them said it would decrease. 62% of respondents said that their weekend getaway spending would stay exactly the same. What’s more, “increasers” have been increasing steadily since quarter 2 of 2008, when just 9% anticipated spending more. Rich people: 1, Recession: 0.

Slightly fewer, but still 55% said that their vacation spending wouldn’t change this year in general, but a whole 27% said that it would decrease, on the whole. I smell fear. Point for the recession. A few more, 29% said they planned to decrease their spending at fine hotels and resorts. Rich people: 1, Recession: 2.

In an interesting development, though a full 44% said “My personal travel will be pretty much the same as in recent years,” a winning 46% said “I will stay in the same tier of hotel, but expect to find better deals.” That means the wealthy are being pickier, and when they’re not just spending willy nilly? It’s a consumer’s market. Point for rich people. Frankly, a point for all consumers.

While we’re looking at this data, we must note that only 54% of the affluent Americans surveyed had taken a vacation to a resort destination in the last year … maybe that’s why they have money. They’re working, not jetting off to Spain (only 9% have been there in the last three years). Wanna see where the wealthy are going? Behold their data, courtesy of The Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, presented by American Express Publishing and Harrison Group:”

The right hand column there is first “Upper Middle Class (UMC) to Super Affluent” responders, and the “Wealthy” percentage refers to those with a discretionary income over $500k. And still, only 18% want to go to Spain. Why doesn’t anyone want to go to Spain?

Also note the low numbers for Australia and South America. Why? Because if you’re not wealthy, you can probably go there for cheaper right now. And if you are wealthy, you can probably get a better deal — it’s a good time to go!

What does the rest of this information mean for all of us? It’s generally good news. The travel plans of the rich aren’t changing that much, so though the recession is tough in all kinds of ways, the travel industry isn’t getting hit too hard — as long as they’re coming up with good values. No one’s saying they’re not gonna travel, but they’re willing to wait longer for better deals. That’s good for everybody. Maybe the vacation that was just out of your reach last year will be within your reach this year.

Oh, and if you’re trying to look wealthy to your friends? Talk about how much you can’t wait for your next Caribbean or West Indies vacation.

Happy Friday, everyone! Don’t forget to stop by The Goose Island Clybourn Brewpub tomorrow if you’re in Chicago — the Gadling team (darn near everyone but me, typing away in New York) will be there! Read “THEY DO EXIST! Meet Gadling next weekend in Chicago” for more info.

Survey of most annoying passengers says – don’t kick my seat

by Scott Carmichael on

British Airways recently surveyed a large number of their European customers, and asked them what the most annoying behavior is from their fellow passengers.

The results are not exactly a surprise, and probably very much in line with the kind of stuff that annoys us all.

Here is the top 5 of most annoying in-flight passenger behavior:

  1. Fellow passengers who kick the back of your seat.
  2. Parents who can’t control their kids.
  3. Passengers who constantly whine and rant during the flight.
  4. Passengers who fully recline their seat.
  5. Impatient passengers who get up as soon as the plane gets close to the gate.

So, this got me thinking about things fellow passengers do that annoy me – I could only think of 3 that were not already in the list above.

  • Passengers who get out of their own seat by holding on to the back of my seat (usually waking me).
  • Anyone who thinks of themselves as an “elite flier” and constantly wants others to know how important they are.
  • Any passengers that feel the need to clap when the plane lands. Seriously, just don’t do it.

I want to know what kind of behavior from your fellow passengers annoys you the most – leave us a comment and we’ll see whether the British Airways survey was in line with our own annoyances.

Expedia survey rates the world’s worst tourists

by Abha Malpani on

The French, Indians, and the Chinese have been voted as the world’s worst tourists by a group of 4000 hoteliers, in a survey conducted by online travel search engine Expedia. On the other hand, the best tourists are 1) Japanese 2) British and Germans.

Yup, looks like the annoying and continuous photo taking of everything in sight by the Japanese, and the drunken stag parties of the British and the Germans do not lay room for complaint, thanks to their wonderful behavior, manners, generosity, willingness to integrate themselves into a new culture — criteria on which the nationalities were rated.

Interestingly enough, a similar survey was conducted by Expedia 6 years ago and it tagged the British, Danish and Irish as the worst. The British were voted as the “rudest, worst-behaved, most linguistically incompetent and least adventurous holiday makers.” Ouch. What’s for that drastic change from best to worst?

Anyway, I hate such generalizations because I think an entire race can’t be blamed for the misdoings of a bunch of people. Surveys like this are interesting insight, but nothing more.

Global sex report: Indians are sexually frustrated

by Abha Malpani on

According to a Durex global survey, Indians are not sexually satisfied — only 46% of them manage to orgasm. Not quite what you’d expect from the land of Kamasutra and erotic sculptures.

India today is strongly influenced by Western culture, however it is not yet free from its traditional shell, something that gives rise to much hypocrisy. For example: India wanting to ban cheer leaders in a cricket tournament because they are vulgar, but then Bollywood film songs are provocative enough to be classified as erotica.

Sex is still a taboo subject in the country (it’s almost synonymous to porn), there is no sex education in schools (culturally immoral?), and anything to do with the word is suppressed. Not being able to enjoy sex stems from inhibitions and ingrained conservative cultural beliefs, all that rise from tradition and severe lack of openness in society.

Or could all this be rubbish and it really has to do with the fact that the “thingis” of Indian men are too small?

Oh well, at least India has scored higher than the Japanese and Chinese who with only 27% and 24% (respectively) managing to reach orgasm, have been pronounced the countries that have the worst sex. Italians, Spaniards and Mexicans have the best sex lives with 66% of them reaching orgasm.

Most popular US Halloween costumes

by Abha Malpani on


Here in Madrid, Madrileños don’t seem to give a rats about Halloween. It’s a pity really.

So I suppose I will not have the privilege of “trick-or-treat” knocks from little witches, nor will I see many vampires or ghosts parading the street unless I hang out around a guiri club that is celebrating Halloween.

The Economist has just published a survey indicating how many people in America are going to dress as what.

The top 10 costumes for this year are:
1) Witch
2) Princess
3) Pirate
4) Spider-man
5) Fairy
6) Vampire
7) Cat
8) Star Wars Character
9) Ghost
10) Monster

The list also mentions ‘Athlete’. Why would you want to dress as an athlete on Halloween? Unless I suppose you go as Mike Tyson! :) Does any costume go, as long as it’s a costume?

When I lived in the UK, I faintly remember dressing as an Indian girl for Halloween. Not sure what my mum was thinking, but I did kind of stand out amongst my friend zombies and ghosts.