What a luxury vacation has to do with sustainability

Luxury hotel, luxury resort, luxury brand, luxury you don’t need and luxury you ought to have – we use the word luxury a lot – but have you ever thought about what it really means?

What do you consider a personal luxury?

Traveling is a luxury

Luxury is a very important topic in the travel industry – after all, traveling is a luxury that not everyone can afford. In Germany, for instance, about 20 percent of the population cannot afford a one-week vacation. According to RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland 2023. Yet Germany is the fourth richest country in the world in terms of total wealth (it ranks twelfth in terms of gross domestic product per capita). In other European countries, such as Romania, Croatia and Greece, more than 50 percent of the population cannot afford a vacation, according to Statista. And what about the rest of the world?

Nachhaltig Reisen in Thailand im nachhaltigen Hotel Keemala: Kap bei Sonnenuntergang — ©Keemala

Old luxury, new luxury

According to the Oxford Dictionary, luxury is:

“an expensive, lavish, excessive, and self-indulgent expenditure of money or time on things considered pleasurable or enjoyable”.

This is the conventional (old) definition. The word luxury itself comes from Latin and means (according to Langenscheidt) extravagance, splendor, debauchery. Historically, luxury was something that the nobility possessed. And the term has always been strongly associated with consumer goods and material wealth.

Luxury goods in a state of flux

What nobility is able to afford has changed a lot over the centuries. For example, chocolate used to be a luxury, but now you can find it in every supermarket – sometimes for just a few cents. If you want “luxury chocolate,” buy handmade organic chocolate from a local producer using Fair Trade cocoa. The luxury here is not necessarily that such chocolate is a few dollars more expensive, but that social and sustainable aspects are also taken into account. By buying this chocolate, you are supporting fair working conditions on the plantations, organic farming, and handicrafts in your region. Shorter transportation routes also mean fewer negative emission.

And with this illustration of chocolate, we have reached the new luxury.

But it goes further.

Intangible values are part of the new luxury

Keemala - Yoga in den Bäumen des Resorts auf Thailand Phuket — Many people consider it a luxury to be able to enjoy nature in peace and quiet. ©Keemala

New luxury is linked to the post-materialist perspective. It suggests that in modern societies, the material needs are so well met that immaterial needs become more important. One indication of this is that political parties increasingly represent “interests” and “values.

Luxury and sustainability

The myth that sustainability and luxury cannot go hand in hand is a persistent one, based on the idea that sustainability equals sacrifice,” explains Green Pearls® founder Stefany Seipp in an interview with Marrybylen, a sustainable wedding and event planning company. Fine dining can be local, a spa treatment can be relaxing with natural cosmetics, and amazing hotel suites can be built with eco-friendly materials.

Sustainable luxury vacations at Green PearlsⓇ accommodations

In our work with hotels and vacation rentals, we often hear that guests’ priorities have shifted and that they now value luxury differently. Here are some of the new luxury values and where and how they are being implemented:

Barefoot luxury

Luftaufnahme vom Eco Resort Zeavola auf Koh Phi Phi in Thailand — A fine sandy beach is the best place for barefoot luxury. © Zeavola Resort

Barefoot Luxury describes a vacation in a relaxed atmosphere in luxurious resorts. You are in touch with nature through the sand under your feet, but you have your own beach villa.

Zeavola in Thailand is dedicated to this new form of comfort and elegance. The eco-resort on the dream island of Koh Phi Phi Leh (about an hour by boat from Phuket) describes itself as a “barefoot resort”. Stay in natural and tastefully decorated villas and suites, and walk barefoot to the beach, dive shop, pool, Thai cooking class or restaurant. The resort is committed to protecting nature and corals.

Time as a luxury

Time is seen as a modern, intangible luxury and is perceived by many hoteliers from their guests. The whole slow movement with slow travel and slow food is part of the “time trend”. Travelers are looking for a balance to their otherwise stressful lives.

At the My Arbor Hotel in South Tyrol near Brixen, late risers can enjoy breakfast until 2 p.m., and all other hotel amenities can be arranged around their own time preferences. At Okelmann’s Eco-Hotel in the German village of Warpe, guests can relax during multi-day yoga retreats. The family-run hotel is also part of the Slow Food movement.

Enjoying nature as a new luxury

According to Lidewij “Li” Edelkoort (often referred to in the media as the world’s most famous trend researcher), enjoying nature is also part of the new luxury. Walking through wildflower meadows, climbing mountains, wading through rivers and eating hand-baked farmhouse bread are all part of people’s current desire to reconnect with nature.

An example of this is the Summit Lodges Pfunds in Tyrol. These are cabin-style vacation homes in the middle of the Austrian mountains

If you want to experience the Thai countryside, the “Villa Wonderland” Keemala has been built amidst the treetops of a tropical forest. The owners describe the forest as “magical” and you can walk through the plant world as if in an open-air greenhouse, enjoy waterfalls and watch birds.

Pleasure vacation

Culinary indulgence is also part of the luxury world. Gourmet travel is all the rage – although the classic “caviar and champagne” luxury is outdated. Instead, the buzzwords are creative, sustainable and local, and there is a growing demand for vegan alternatives.

The Paradiso Pure.Living on the Seiser Alm (South Tyrol) now offers a culinary concept by the vegan chef Aggeliki Charami from Greece, who is considered a real trendsetter for new tastes.

When it comes to a vacation of pure indulgence, the Birkenhof***** Spa & Genussresort in Germany’s Upper Palatinate Lake District is a top address. The hotel has five stars and a restaurant with two Michelin stars. While luxury and spoiling are the name of the game, the hotel is also committed to sustainability, generating its own green energy through a combined heat and power plant and solar panels.

Nachhaltiges Hotel Der Birkenhof ***** Spa & Genussresort — ⒸThe Birkenhof ***** Spa & Genussresort

Another hotel known for its culinary delights is the Waldhotel Fletschhorn in Saas Fee, Switzerland. This small boutique hotel has been known for decades for its exquisite – and regional – cuisine, and is popular with non-hotel guests as well. The large wine cellar is also renowned. Guests receive wine recommendations with each course of their meal.

Social commitment is a luxury

Being the ” helping hand ” is a privilege and part of the new value-based luxury. While we are critical of voluntourism, there are sustainable accommodations that are also socially committed and that you can support simply by staying there. For example, the Farmhouse Smiling Gecko in Cambodia. The Smiling Gecko project is a “help for self-help” project that trains local people in various trades, agriculture and hospitality. The Farmhouse Resort alone employs about 40 people at an above average salary. So here you can lounge by the pool and do good at the same time!

Tourguides vom Farmhouse Smiling Gecko — Experience Cambodia authentically with local guides and support social projects | ©Farmhouse Smiling Gecko

If you are ever in the beautiful German city of Freiburg im Breisgau, we recommend the Green City Hotel Vauban as a place to stay. This ecologically and brightly decorated hotel with a green facade employs people with physical and mental disabilities as an integration company. Thanks to its central location, you can reach all sights quickly and environmentally friendly by public transport.

Wellness hotels are the latest trend

Swim, sauna, steam, then relax in the quiet room. Maybe even a massage or a facial? For many, it means treating themselves to something special. Wellness is clearly a luxury, especially as clean, fresh water becomes an increasingly scarce and valuable resource worldwide. Sustainable hotels are careful not to waste excessive amounts of water in their spa areas and bathrooms.

The Hotel Luise in the Bavarian city of Erlangen takes a particularly sustainable approach. The “regenerative” rooms have “astronaut showers” that filter the water you use and pump it directly out of the shower head as new shower water. This way, you can take a shower without a guilty conscience.

For a truly expansive spa experience, look no further than the Lifestyle Hotel Zum Kurfürsten in Germany’s Mosel wine region. There are three pools and a natural swimming pond (no chemicals). The spa area covers a total of 4,000 square feet and includes several saunas, a forest infrared sauna, and steam rooms. There are also treatment rooms where you can be treated by TCM therapists.

LIFESTYLE Resort Zum Kurfürsten — Combining luxury and sustainability at Zum Kurfürsten Lifestyle Resort © Thomas-Haberland

Health

“Health is the new wealth,” they say. Healthiness and longevity are clearly among the immaterial trends also present in the travel industry. We owe the existence of “grand hotels” to the “spa hotels” that bourgeois families treated themselves to as a luxury in the 19th century. Today, however, it is no longer just the classic health spa guests who are doing something for their health, but a general trend.

One such sustainable health hotel is the OCÈANO Health Spa Hotel on the Spanish volcanic island of Tenerife. With fitness, thalassotherapy and healthy eating programs, you can enjoy a vacation while boosting your health.

In Germany, Hotel Klosterhof – Alpine Hideaway & Spa is a health-oriented hotel run by a practicing physician. It offers nutritional counseling, various fasting regimens, and is a popular place for babymoons.

The luxury to travel and see the world

Finally, we return to our starting point: Travel is a luxury in itself. Imagine, for example, a trip to Nepal. At our Green PearlsⓇ partner, The Pavilions Himalayas – The Farm, you will find yourself amidst the fantastic panorama of the famous Himalayas and can explore temples with local guides or go on a wildlife safari where you might even encounter a wild tiger!

This lodge is unique in that it was created to introduce local farmers to organic farming. The hotel is committed to the local community as well as the environment and groundwater protection, as organic farming does not use pesticides.

So here is another symbiosis of travel, luxury, and sustainability.

What is your personal definition of luxury? We would love to hear in the comments!

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What is luxury? A concept in flux – and in harmony with sustainability?

Traveling is a luxury