Travel has come a long way. Until the 1880s it was an uncomfortable experience: It meant hours on bumpy wagons or horseback, or days on cramped train cars or ships. The notion of luxury travel, or travel for travel’s sake, began on June 5, 1883, when the Orient Express first left Paris for Vienna. Since then, humanity’s desire for seeing the world in comfort has increased exponentially as modes of transport have become more readily available, and as luxury liners covering vast distances gave way to non-stop flights crisscrossing the globe. Our desire to travel in style became just as important as the mode of transit. This is how modern luxury travel was born.
The natural outgrowth of this new mode of luxury travel was of course the advent of the luxury brand–many of whom are still in existence and exude the highest forms of lavishness. Louis Vuitton started in 1854 as a high-class purveyor of water-tight steam trunks. In 1856, Burberry introduced gabardine, an elegant but tough, water-resistant yet breathable fabric, ideally suited for travel. And in 1880 Girard-Perregaux created the first commercially available wristwatch.
Of course getting somewhere is one thing. Where one stays in an entirely different matter. Luxury hotels are defined as having features such as personalized service, high-end room finishings, spas, swimming pools, fine dining, and prestige products. According to a September 2016 Allied Market Research report, by 2022, the global luxury travel market is expected to reach USD 1,154 billion with the majority of money being spent by baby boomers in Asia. And the global luxury hotels market was valued at is expected to reach approximately USD 194.63 billion by 2022. So perhaps it is no coincidence that as incomes in Asia have risen, so have the standards of excellence in hotels.
One such hotel is The Venetian Macao®– the largest integrated resort of its kind in Asia. The Venetian Macao marked the beginning of a visionary new development of luxury. Since opening in 2007, the hotel has become synonymous with innovative thinking, exceptional service and unparalleled amenities. The 3,000-suite integrated resort boasts stunning replicas of the famous canals and architectural icons of Venice, Italy. The hotel features the 15,000-seat Cotai Arena, the luxury Venetian Theatre, and one of the largest convention, meeting and exhibition centers in Asia. And just as European luxury brands sought to furnish and style their customers two centuries ago, the shopping experience at The Venetian Macao is a luxurious one-million-square-foot indoor mall with more than 350 stores featuring world-renowned brands and the best boutiques from New York, Paris, London and Milan.
As long as global wealth increases and humanity’s need to explore new destinations remains, luxury travel will only become a bigger industry. Resorts like The Venetian Macao are redefining luxury accommodations. If you don’t have time to travel 10,000 miles this year, come experience all Venice has to offer in one of the world’s greatest venues, right here in Macao.