Blankets, bathtubs and butlers: Luxury Travel & Hospitality industry gathers for ILTM

As well as receiving a specially commissioned report from The Future Laboratory on the future of luxury travel, attendees at the opening forum heard insiders discuss luxury travel and the way in which the world is heading.

In an interview with The Future Laboratory co-founder Chris Sanderson – who also presented at the leaders’ forum earlier in the day – Silvio Ursini, the executive vice-president of luxury hotelier Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, commented on experience: ‘Sitting in a bathtub looking at 10 square metres of onyx that costs £5,000 [$8,060, €6,165] per square metre – to me, that is an experience.’

John Andrews, consultant editor of weekly publication The Economist, described the rise of Asia’s new tigers – Indonesia and the Philippines – and forecast that the US Congress would make a grand bargain to avoid the fiscal cliff which would, should the country fall off it, lead to a 5% reduction in GDP.

Nicholas Coleridge, president of media brand Condé Nast International, shared his views on what is good and what isn’t in luxury travel. His likes include blankets and not waiting longer than 20 minutes for anything. His dislikes include personal butlers, complicated lighting and electronic keys. ‘Luxury,’ he said, ‘is a metal key with a tassle.’

LS:N Global editor James Wallman is at ILTM this week. A full report will follow in our Insight section. Until then, follow our live coverage on Twitter