Use of personal travel agents set to grow
According to a survey by private investment bank Barclays Wealth, abouttwo-thirds of people with liquid assets of at least £1.5m employ personaltravel consultants.‘The True Value of Wealth’ also found that the same proportion employpersonal shoppers and property agents, while nearly 80% have a private chefor a butler.A combination of rising earnings, bonuses and profits from property isexpected to result in a big increase in the number of individuals havingassets of £1.5m or more in addition to their homes over the next ten years.The Telegraph reports the new wealthy are revolutionising the luxuryservices industry as they buy up the most expensive brands.Henrietta Lloyd, director of luxury tour operator Cazenove and Lloyd, toldthe paper she had seen a marked increase in clients looking for holidayscosting up to £100k.‘Space and time are a great premium,’ she said. ‘They are not interested inthe flashiest holidays but in the most secluded, where they can get awayfrom people. ‘They are looking for a holiday where there are no complications and wherewe deal with absolutely everything.’The company has recently arranged for a customer to join a research teamtracking panthers in Brazil and for others to holiday on private islands,which can cost more than £100k per week.The report also found that more people were hiring private jets, with a 20%rise in the number investing in a Marquis Jet Card, which costs £60k-£200kfor 25 hours’ flying time.In addition, more than half of survey respondents in the US/Canada, Italy,Singapore and Portugal said they planned to fly privately rather than firstclass on traditional airlines.Contrary to the old adage the report found money contributed significantlyto people’s happiness.The proportion that believed greater wealth had brought them greaterhappiness increased with the amount of money they had, from 75% of thosewith less than £500k to 86% of those with more than £1.5m.However, more than a third of respondents thought people needed liquidassets of at least £5m before they were considered rich.