As a world-leading community for decision-makers in the travel industry, Connections Luxury is a data-driven luxury travel pocket toolkit. Sam Blunsdon, Head of Commercial and Tourism Promotion, provides us with a deep dive into the company’s success and partnership with Tourism Australia.
Q&A WITH SAM BLUNSDON, HEAD OF COMMERCIAL AND TOURISM PRODUCTION, CONNECTIONS LUXURY
Firstly, can you talk us through the origins of Connections Luxury, your founding mission, and the Connections Way?
Sam Blunsdon, Head of Commercial and Tourism Promotion (SB): Connections Luxury was founded in 2014 with a belief in the power of human-to-human interaction, servicing the luxury travel industry.
In 2000, scientist Eric Kandel was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering the role that memory plays in our brains, where nothing is remembered without emotions. We learned that creating a positive, shared emotion helps to fast-track meaningful, long-lasting business relationships and drive the success we all deserve. As a result, the pioneering Connections Way format was born.
10 years later, Connections Luxury is now a world-leading community for decision-makers in the travel industry, having run over 50 events globally across more than 30 destinations, connecting thousands of individuals.
Think of us as your data-driven luxury travel pocket toolkit. Our directory of over 3,000 luxury travel decision-makers – including vetted suppliers, buyers, media, charities, and destinations – unlocks countless opportunities for meaningful business to happen fast. Connections Luxury’s toolkit aims to achieve three core things: to connect, educate, and convert.
Our events are our most powerful tool for the industry and are unlike any other in the trade calendar built on the Connections Way; we combine one-to-one meetings with authentic, local experiences to create a positive, shared emotion that quickly builds the trust needed to do business in future.
Connections Luxury is a powerful and evolving year-round solution to communicate, educate, and inspire our industry.
How have you seen the luxury travel sector evolve since the company’s inception?
SB: This year marks our 10th anniversary, and we have seen the luxury travel landscape shift massively. Where luxury was once seen as materialistic with a focus on opulent accommodations and high-end amenities, over the years, there has been a shift towards experiential luxury.
Today’s discerning travellers seek unique and authentic experiences that allow them to immerse in the local culture and environment, focusing on personalisation, sustainability, and truly one-of-a-kind experiences. At Connections Luxury, our essence is about creating meaningful business relationships, so over the years, we have seen how the power of human-to-human connection has driven the success of luxury travel and our support for the industry.
Additionally, something that has changed in the last 10 years is the use of technology and social media within the luxury travel industry. Technology has significantly changed the way companies operate and engage with their clients.
In the case of social media, companies such as TikTok didn’t exist when we launched, but social media has allowed companies to elevate the story and meaning behind why we travel, adding to the need for more authentic and experience-based travel.
Similarly, artificial intelligence (AI) plays a vital role in how we conduct business. We are seeing new AI software in the market that can create bespoke itineraries or recommendations for places to visit and stay in a matter of seconds, meaning information is far more accessible, opening more destinations to explore.
As a key partner for many notable tourism boards across the world, how does Connections Luxury ensure success?
SB: It is important with any destination or partner to understand the client’s needs, strengths, and challenges, and how Connections Luxury can support them on their journey and share their story with our international community.
In essence, each tourist board wants to drive more luxury travellers into their destinations and showcase their unique products, services, and culture to the international market. Our success comes from gaining a deep understanding of this and their culture, understanding the minds of our community and luxury buyers, and bridging the gap so more effective business can be achieved. All our destinations have so many incredible products and services, and it’s really about working with them to unlock these secrets and what makes them unique, before promoting them to the world.
Could you also tell us how Connections Luxury incorporates the culture of each country when working with different tourism boards?
SB: At Connections Luxury, we believe the essence of luxury travel lies in authentic cultural immersion. To achieve this, we work with local companies and experts who advise us on what makes each destination unique.
A key component of our events is working with a local destination management company (DMC) partner. They have a breadth of knowledge about their destination and support us in finding those hidden gems we may not know about.
We also make sure to incorporate a mixture of unique venues as well as local and international luxury hotels as our event partners to spotlight the variety of products each destination enjoys. The final step is ensuring authentic, local experiences are injected into the event throughout one-to-one meetings, group activities, cultural performances, and event entertainment, working collaboratively with local artisans, chefs, experience providers, musicians, and cultural experts to create experiences that reflect the true spirit of the destination.
How has the community supported Tourism Australia, and how important is its presence in front of leading travel agencies?
SB: Tourism Australia has been a key partner of Connections Luxury for many years. Our partnership has been particularly crucial in strengthening their UK growth as a key market area for their development strategy. The main way our community supports Tourism Australia is through attending our Connections Luxury UK and Ireland flagship event, which welcomes over 100 luxury leisure travel buyers from the UK market, and being active in our annual community platform, home to over 3,000 global luxury travel buyers.
Our events connect Tourism Australia with leading luxury travel agencies to share valuable information and inspire our network as to why Australia is a special place to travel. It is an important tool for destinations to attend travel events as it connects them directly with key decision-makers in the market, expanding their portfolio of potential clients and driving business into the destination.
Additionally, attending overseas tradeshows also strengthens their destination’s presence in target market areas. Travel agencies are constantly developing and deepening their knowledge of destinations and product offerings to better service clients’ needs, so it’s imperative for destinations to attend these events. Hence, they stay front of mind and utilise the opportunities to educate the buyers and share what new and exciting products the destination has to offer.
Can you please expand upon your international community flagship events?
SB: Our events are unique as, unlike typical trade shows, we inject authentic experiences as part of delegates’ long, one-to-one business meetings to help forge meaningful business relationships around trust and emotion.
Whilst our events are smaller than others in the industry, this is deliberate as we aim to focus on quality. Bringing together quality, carefully selected delegates for productive meetings, elevated event production for a fun experience, and spending time on what matters, we are able to unite the industry in a way that creates a positive connection, accelerating business.
In the case of Tourism Australia, the event is powerful. Not only does the organisation spend quality time with relevant luxury buyers, but, like many of our destination partners, they have the opportunity to bring a unique experience relevant to their culture to the chosen venues and provide a taste of what the destination has to offer.
Additionally, we believe it’s essential to promote our clients and destinations to the wider community outside of trade events. Connections Luxury publishes its own luxury trade magazine showcasing our incredible community and destinations. This year’s edition will feature Tourism Australia, highlighting why Australia is a “bucket list” destination with so many places to explore and incredible experiences to take advantage of for the luxury traveller.
Looking ahead, how will the partnership between Connections Luxury and Tourism Australia evolve the country’s travel industry over the next five years?
SB: Currently, our primary work with Tourism Australia focuses on their UK strategy, whose market strengthened with the developments of direct flights from London to Perth in 2018, alongside further conversations of new direct flights from 2025. Naturally, with more accessible and shorter transport routes, we aim to see an increase in luxury travellers from this market, who bring higher spending into the destination, boosting their economy.
Over the next few years, we aim to expand our work with Tourism Australia, focusing on other key market areas such as the Americas and the Asia Pacific region to continue a positive trajectory of international luxury travellers visiting Australia, discovering its hidden gems and why it is a must-see destination.
