The Orpheum at Cremorne was the elegant setting for A Night at the Theatre with Travel Associates, Vogue Australia and Travel & Luxury, where industry leaders gathered to view the new Travel Associates film, A New Era of Couture Travel and discuss how luxury travel is evolving in an era defined by discerning clients and intergenerational wealth.
Hosted by journalist and luxury traveller Eleanor Pendleton, the evening brought together Edwina McCann, Editorial Director and Publisher of News Prestige and Condé Nast titles in Australia; George Epaminondas, Editor of Travel & Luxury Magazine; Gillian Woodley, luxury travel advisor and co-founder of Woodley & James Travel Associates; and Danielle Galloway, Global Managing Director, Luxury Brands, Flight Centre Travel Group.
Together, they explored the rise of “couture travel” and the emergence of a powerful new customer: the HENRY.
HENRYs — High Earners Not Rich Yet — are redefining the luxury space. Aged 30 to 50, they are career-driven, time-poor and increasingly willing to outsource the design of their holidays to experts.
These travellers are not chasing social media trends or “off-the-rack” packages; they want experiences as finely crafted as couture gowns, made to measure and impossible to replicate.
They turn to advisors as they would to financial planners, valuing expertise, seamless execution and the priceless gift of more time with their families.
Edwina McCann drew a striking parallel with haute couture, where every garment is hand-sewn in Paris ateliers and tailored to a client’s unique measurements.
Luxury travel, she said, now demands the same approach. It is about craftsmanship, detail and provenance.
Just as couture proves what is possible in fashion, travel advisors prove what is possible in experience: handpicking the villa, unlocking private access, or ensuring the small but vital detail is already in place.
For Danielle Galloway, this shift means travel advisors have become influencers in their own right.
Like sitting front row at Fashion Week, they preview new cruise concepts, under-the-radar destinations and just-opened hotels, then bring those opportunities directly to clients. “Luxury travellers value a designed holiday,” she explained.
“Trends are yesterday. Our job is to stay ahead and craft experiences that are truly bespoke.”
George Epaminondas agreed, noting Australians’ unique appetite for long, multi-destination itineraries. A villa in Italy, a yacht in Croatia, a wellness retreat in Cambodia: no other nationality travels quite like this. The exhaustion of “seen it all” destinations, he argued, has turbocharged the appetite for customisation and authenticity.
On the advisor side, Gillian Woodley emphasised that the modern luxury traveller seeks three things above all: time, truth and trust.
Time, because slow, present travel has replaced box-ticking bucket lists.
Truth, because clients want the story beneath the surface, not just the photo opportunity.
And trust, because only a human advisor can provide the reassurance technology cannot.
“The internet can’t pass a tissue to my client who’s travelling solo, not by choice,”
she said. “It can’t pat a client on the shoulder and say, you’ve got this.” Her words resonated as the panel acknowledged that while AI is transforming productivity and personalisation, it will never replicate empathy or emotional intelligence.
The verdict was unanimous: luxury travel’s future isn’t defined by glossy packages or hashtags. It belongs to HENRYs, those ambitious, time-poor high earners who value craft, expertise and the moments that money alone cannot buy.
For advisors, the magic lies in the details, a journey so well stitched together that clients simply enjoy the moment, without ever seeing the seams.
