How do the world’s premium global brands tune in to the world’s most global people?

Global citizens, High Value Travellers, HNW, top 5%, cosmopolitan elite – the descriptions are many. However they’re described, they’re a market segment that is notoriously difficult to research. After all, they didn’t get to where they are today by giving their time away free to market researchers.

Whilst they’re hardly a conformist group, they share more than you would think. There’s a remarkable commonality of language, media consumption, material purchases, and of leisure and business interests. It’s fair to say that many have more in common with each other than with their fellow nationals – particularly where wealth differentials are more marked, such as in the developing world.

At BVA BDRC, we realised that one of the best opportunities to find them and speak to them is when they’re travelling. We’ve tapped into a unique channel that gives us access to 5,000 international travellers every quarter.

Each new quarter, another 5,000 new people. In research terms, it’s an omnibus, not a panel – a continually refreshed population, and an economical way to conduct research. You can ask your question (or questions) alongside other brands asking different questions of the same cohort. Of course, each participating brand only sees the answers to their own questions, alongside the standard (personal and business) demographic and travel questions.

BVA BDRC first trialled and refined this methodology with our Global Passenger Survey (GPS) in 2017. The Global High Value Traveller Omnibus is a GPS spin off, bringing the benefits of this research to a wider audience at a lower cost.

There is empirical evidence that travel really does broaden the mind. By interviewing travellers, we reach people who are more open to new influences; people who are more likely to try (and buy) new things.

Many of our findings were unexpected; Japan scored more highly as a tourist destination than a business destination, which was surely not the case a few years ago. London is globally considered a must-see city, scoring higher than Paris and second only to New York amongst First and Business Class travellers. Chinese leisure travellers have shed their “follow-the-flag” habits associated with tour packages, and are now actually the most likely of all travellers to select an active or adventurous holiday. Such unexpected findings were previously unobtainable from this notoriously elusive group.

Who wants to understand the purchasing habits and intentions of this open-minded, high spending, and well-travelled group? Financial institutions, luxury brands, technology firms, holiday and investment destinations, media owners and agencies, advertisers, hoteliers – the list goes on.

We’re giving our clients access to the opinions and preferences of hard to find, High Value Travellers. Within this group you’ll find the world’s leaders, business builders, opinion formers and high spenders. How can you resist asking them a few questions?

Drop us a line to find out how to take part, or find out more here.