Luxury Escapes CEO: Why Fiji is still the top holiday spot for Kiwis

Luxury Escapes CEO Adam Schwab heli-skiing. Photo / Supplied

In 2013, Luxury Escapes was launched in Melbourne with the goal of offering premium travel experiences at exclusively low prices. Today, the platform has 9 million members, many of them Kiwis. Travel magazineeditor Sarah Pollok chats to the founder and CEO Adam Schwab, about where Kiwi luxury travellers are going and how to save big on luxe escapes.

What are the biggest shifts you’ve seen in how people choose and book holidays in recent years?

We’ve seen a marked shift to value holidays in the last year, with members wanting to have an incredible trip but not being willing to pay any price.

Medium and shorter-haul destinations have also been really popular, and Fiji remains the No 1 destination for our New Zealand members, while we’ve also seen Bali and Vietnam grow significantly this year.

There is definitely still a cohort willing to invest more in longer holidays, like our sold-out Private Charter through Europe in 2026, but generally speaking, we’ve seen travellers look closer to home, and more of a focus on domestic travel.

Destinations like Japan, Thailand and Bali have seen major growth in the past few years. Which emerging destinations do you think Kiwis will fall in love with next?

The big three have continued to grow – especially Japan with the weakening Yen, although hotel pricing in Japan has increased significantly in recent months, which is making travel slightly more challenging.

One super interesting destination is the Philippines, which feels like it’s finally about to break out after a few false starts, with some of the world’s most magnificent beach and dive spots.

Pulau is another destination that has come on the radar of lots of our members. Maldives continues to grow in popularity as well, being one of the few regions globally that is aggressively increasing the supply of luxury hotel rooms.

Luxury Escapes CEO Adam Schwab. Photo / Supplied

Customer experience is a major differentiator in the travel industry. What have you learned about what travellers really want and what do brands still get wrong?

It’s as if the big online booking platforms have given up on customer service entirely. It’s pretty much impossible to speak to someone at a large global online booking platform, and if you can somehow miraculously find a customer service agent, the chances are they aren’t well-trained and are based in a far-flung country.

By contrast, main street travel agents provide really high levels of service but tend to have fewer resources and can’t assist customers in the middle of the night (a problem when the customer is in a different time zone!).

We have intentionally over-invested in customer experience to use customer service as a competitive advantage. While we don’t get it right 100% of the time, our members know they can reach someone by phone, chat or email 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year.

We take a long-term view on customer retention and believe it’s much easier to keep an existing customer happy than to acquire a new customer.

The Blossom Hibiya. Photo / Supplied

Technology is rapidly reshaping travel, from AI to personalised trip planning. How do you see tech changing the way we research and book holidays?

Luxury Escapes is essentially a technology business, and everything we do is driven by how we can use tech to improve our customers’ experience.

The main areas we’re seeing huge gains in are chatbot technology, which allows customers to make their own changes without having to speak to someone (if customers want to speak to someone, they always can, but we find there’s a cohort of people who just want to make changes themselves really quickly).

Then there’s our AI-driven TripPlanner, which allows customers to use natural language to not only plan their trip but also prompt specific changes to elements of the trip, like changing a dinner booking or creating a personalised walking tour. We’ve been able to use new AI technology to massively improve TripPlanner; our new version is being released in the next few weeks.

Luxury Escapes CEO Adam Schwab on holiday with his son. Photo / Supplied

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, what’s the one travel trend you think Kiwis should keep an eye on?

The mingling of AI into travel planning is a huge one. Picking the best platform to find the best deals while not outsourcing everything to AI, which almost certainly doesn’t know you as well as your trusted travel agent.

What is one piece of advice you would give someone planning a luxury trip?

Book early! The best offers tend to be 6-12 months out. If you’re trying to nab rewards flights or get the best discounts, it’s always better to lock in the holiday in advance. The added bonus is that you have more time to look forward to your trip.

What is a luxury experience you’ve had in the past few years, and would recommend to fellow travellers?

I’ve been lucky to go heli-skiing a bunch of times and that’s still my favourite experience. It’s limited to dedicated skiers with a base level of fitness, but the experience in both the snow and the lodge is pure bucket list.