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New booking data from global travel brand Luxury Escapes shows strong growth in luxury travel demand, with overall hotel bookings by New Zealand customers up 26 per cent year-on-year to October 2025.
While Australia and Fiji remain popular, the strongest increases in outbound bookings are to Japan, up 56 per cent, followed by Thailand (24 per cent) and Indonesia/Bali (14 per cent). Inbound travel is also rising, with bookings from Australian travellers to New Zealand up 70 per cent compared with the same period last year. The most-booked hotels by Australian visitors include Hotel Indigo Auckland, Gibbston Valley Lodge & Spa, QT Auckland, Kamana Lakehouse and Novotel Queenstown Lakeside.
Luxury Escapes co-founder and chief executive Adam Schwab says New Zealand continues to be a key growth market.
“We’re seeing strong demand for the exceptional-value, high-end packages we’re known for in places like Thailand, Fiji and Bali. More recently, Japan has surged, particularly at the premium end, showing that Kiwi travellers are eager to broaden their horizons, in style.”
The company has launched Société, its new rewards programme, in the New Zealand market. The programme offers free membership, status perks and the ability to earn and redeem Points across holidays, tours, hotel bookings, flights and experiences. Société was launched in Australia earlier this year and has grown to almost 900,000 members.
Adam says Société is designed to provide flexibility and genuine value.
“Société Points are real currency and not restricted like most travel programmes. Our customers can redeem their Points for absolutely everything on Luxury Escapes, from tours, flights and experiences to travel insurance and hotel rooms, whenever they want.
“Members can pay with Points, or a mix of Points and cash.
“We want to make sure we are rewarding our most loyal customers, not frustrating them by having a big bank of points they can’t redeem when they want or how they want. With Société, our members can and are redeeming Points even on the best Luxury Escapes deals to Fiji and Bali.”
Members earn Status Credits on eligible purchases, progressing through Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum tiers. Benefits include guaranteed room upgrades at the time of booking, airport lounge access at Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown international airports, private chauffeur transfers, priority support and access to exclusive offers.
Adam says Société has been designed “from scratch to offer genuine value and simplicity”, with the ability for members to “triple dip” by earning Société Points alongside credit-card and airline loyalty programmes.
