The typical luxury traveler is older, more mature and uses a travel agent, while the younger travel set turns to the internet, right? Wrong...
...or so says Maurice Bonham-Carter, president of Island Destinations, a portfolio of international luxury hotels that have been vetted as the best of the best. "In the last 10 years, there has been an influx of younger people into the travel industry and they are bringing their friends with them," Bonham-Carter tells Luxury Travel Advisor.
Seeing a new niche in the industry, Bonham-Carter and his team decided to launch a new portfolio of vetted hotels, for the younger travel set, most of whom are taking their young children along with them. He calls this program IDx.
"IDx is a sort of Generation X," says Bonham-Carter. "It's a design to appeal to a more relaxed form of travel."
In Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, there are approximately 250 of these "mega resorts," all of which are larger, full-service properties that are trained to offer more or less the same thing. They have lovely rooms with a variety of restaurants, children's programs and more. What
IDx sets out to do is select the ones that provide the best experiences for a younger luxury traveler.
The IDx portfolio has about 75 resorts, which they believe have this type of experience. "In the same way as with Island Destinations, if you book one of these places it is going to be superb," says Bonham-Carter.
One of the resorts being touted in the IDx portfolio is the Blue Diamond in the Riviera Maya, which is part of the Riviera Mayakoba complex. The property used to be a Mandarin Oriental facility but it is now a 128-suite, adults-only, all-inclusive resort and it is one that the IDx staff has absolutely fallen in love with.
Each of the properties is personally inspected by Island Destinations and it is through their judgment that the properties pass for a seal of approval. Luxury travel advisors should know that with IDx there is the same commission protection and free travel insurance that clients have come to expect from Island Destinations.
For more information visit www.islanddestinations.com.