Premium Is Becoming Table Stakes for Travel. Now What?

Premium travel is booming, but the opportunity is becoming much bigger than luxury. In this special episode of the Skift Travel Podcast, brought to you by ZS Associates, Jeremy Kressmann, Vice President, Skift Studio, sits down with Alex Trusca, Associate Principal, ZS Associates, to unpack why premiumization is emerging as a broader commercial strategy across travel. They discuss why premium spending can extend well beyond high-income travelers, how brands can use services like late checkout, early check-in, priority access, and personalized offers to create incremental revenue, and why simply charging travelers for something they previously received for free isn’t a premium strategy. The conversation also explores how travel brands can use personalization to capture different willingness-to-pay across the same customer’s trips and occasions. Jeremy and Alex also look at the next generation of premium travelers, what luxury brands need to do before younger consumers’ preferences lock in, and the question commercial leaders should be asking as they build their 2027 strategies.