From changing consumer expectations to new business models, contributors to Luxury People Magazine Issue 6 offer perspectives on the developments that could influence the next decade of luxury.
What will give luxury businesses a competitive advantage over the next decade? The answer may have less to do with entering new markets or adopting the latest technology, and more to do with understanding how customers’ expectations are changing.
Across the luxury industry, established assumptions are being tested. Premium pricing faces greater scrutiny, artificial intelligence is changing the possibilities for personalized service, and the boundaries between hospitality, wellness, real estate, and lifestyle are becoming less distinct.
In Luxury People Magazine Issue 6, industry leaders offer perspectives that, when considered together, point to several important developments for luxury businesses preparing for the years ahead.
The Luxury Premium Will Need Greater Justification
Luxury has traditionally commanded a premium through heritage, craftsmanship, exclusivity, and brand reputation. These qualities remain important, but consumers may increasingly expect businesses to demonstrate the value behind their pricing.
Anu Ruohosto, founder of Scentsophy, sees this development emerging in fragrance.
“Transparency won’t be optional; it will be essential. People want to understand what’s in their perfume and why those ingredients have been chosen.”
Her prediction extends to how consumers evaluate their choices.
“Rather than endless choice, there will be a greater appreciation for fragrances that are thoughtfully made and truly perform.”
A similar expectation is emerging in luxury sportswear. Ka Ho of HEAD Golf anticipates growing demand for smarter materials, transparent sourcing, and products designed for longevity.
“The boundaries between luxury fashion, performance apparel, and lifestyle products will continue to disappear.”
Together, these observations point toward a more demanding luxury consumer, one who may evaluate products not only by their brand identity but also by their materials, performance, durability, and relevance to everyday life.
For luxury businesses, the implication is significant. Product development, sourcing, and the ability to communicate tangible value could become increasingly important to maintaining premium positioning.
The Next Growth Opportunities May Cross Industry Boundaries
Some of luxury’s most interesting commercial opportunities may emerge where traditionally separate industries begin offering complementary services.
Luxury real estate advisor Jason Margetts identifies this development directly.
“I believe the intersection of luxury real estate, hospitality, wellness, and branded living presents the greatest opportunities globally right now.”
His perspective reflects growing interest in developments that combine residential ownership with hospitality services, lifestyle amenities, and wellness facilities.
The Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE, presents opportunities through major infrastructure investment and ambitious development programs.
However, the implications extend beyond property development.
Dan Lavender, CEO and President of Moorings Park Communities, anticipates a greater emphasis on personalization, wellness, and services that respond to changing needs.
“Over the next decade, I expect the senior living industry to become even more personalized, wellness-oriented, and experience-driven.”
Although Lavender’s experience comes from residential communities, his observations raise a broader question for luxury businesses: how can brands remain relevant to customers across different stages of life?
For hospitality groups, developers, wellness providers, and lifestyle brands, this could mean creating more integrated offerings rather than treating accommodation, health, recreation, and personal services as separate experiences.
The opportunity is not simply to enter adjacent sectors, but to identify where combining expertise could create value that individual businesses cannot easily deliver alone.
Personalization Will Become More Demanding
Artificial intelligence is expanding what luxury businesses can know about their customers and how quickly they can respond.
Vanessa Fukunaga, CEO and President of Engel & Völkers Snell Real Estate and Publisher and CEO of Ocean Blue World, anticipates substantial operational changes.
“Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly transform the way we communicate, market, analyze data, and serve our clients.”
Yet she also offers an important qualification.
“Technology should enhance the human experience, not replace it.”
The commercial implication goes further than the familiar debate between technology and personal service.
As AI makes personalized recommendations, faster communication, and detailed customer insights more accessible, capabilities that once distinguished premium service providers could become standard expectations.
Luxury businesses may therefore need to reconsider what genuinely exceptional service looks like when efficiency and personalization are increasingly available across the market.
At William Raveis, Co-President Ryan Raveis identifies “Vision and agility” as essential to success over the next five to ten years. The company’s investment in AI-supported technology illustrates how established businesses are already responding.
The challenge will be using these capabilities to deliver better decisions, more relevant experiences, and stronger customer relationships, rather than simply adding technology to existing operations.
Credibility Could Become Luxury’s Scarcer Resource
As digital platforms make it easier to produce and distribute content, luxury businesses face a different challenge: earning meaningful attention.
Rachel Walsh, who leads Marketing & Communications for Moët Hennessy UK & Ireland, emphasizes the importance of choosing cultural associations carefully.
“The strongest brands understand their own point of view and then find the cultural moments, communities, and occasions where there is a natural connection.”
Her observation suggests that greater visibility is not necessarily better visibility. For established luxury brands, participating in the wrong conversations or partnerships can weaken the identity that makes them distinctive.
Martin Betant, Head of Commercial & Partnerships at LUXE.NET, identifies a related challenge for luxury media.
“If I had to name the one thing that will shape luxury media over the next five years, it is trust, or rather, the growing scarcity of it.”
Meanwhile, Adam Busby of The Executive Magazine sees opportunities in premium print and physical events.
“People want to be in the same room again.”
Considered together, these perspectives suggest that credibility, carefully selected environments, and direct access to relevant audiences could become increasingly valuable.
For luxury marketers, this raises important questions about media investment, partnerships, and distribution. The size of an audience may become less meaningful than its relevance, the credibility of the platform, and the quality of the relationship a brand can establish with it.
Adaptability Will Need to Be Matched by Execution
Identifying opportunities is one challenge. Delivering on them is another.
Najeeb Amin Pardesi of Giga Group highlights the practical difficulties of executing ambitious projects amid inflation, economic uncertainty, and changing market conditions.
“Developments of this scale require more than vision alone. They require the ability to adapt, persevere, and execute consistently through changing circumstances.”
His observation has relevance well outside property development.
Luxury companies pursuing new markets, partnerships, technologies, or business models must also consider whether their organizations have the capabilities to support those ambitions.
The ability to manage complexity, maintain standards, and deliver consistently could prove just as important as recognizing emerging opportunities.
What Will Define the Next Decade?
The perspectives shared in Luxury People Magazine Issue 6 suggest that luxury businesses will face several simultaneous challenges.
They may need to demonstrate product value more clearly, explore opportunities across traditional industry boundaries, respond to increasingly sophisticated service expectations, and become more selective about where they invest their marketing resources.
These developments will not affect every sector equally, and the opportunities will differ by market, business model, and customer.
What matters is understanding the commercial implications before they become established industry expectations.
For luxury businesses, the next competitive advantage may come from recognizing which changes create genuine value, developing the capabilities to respond, and making investments that remain relevant long after the immediate trend has passed.
Explore the full interviews and industry perspectives in Luxury People Magazine Issue 6, published by the World Luxury Chamber of Commerce.
