Private Travel Companies Team up With Luxury Hotels for Exclusive Globe-Trotting Adventures

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On a recent private jet tour that spanned the planet, a group of ultra-wealthy individuals gathered at 8:30 a.m. in Kokedera, known as the “moss temple” and one of Kyoto, Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
On this sunny day, they had traveled from the Aman Hotel in Kyoto, following a deer whisperer, who raised his trumpet shell in the middle of the field, took a deep breath, and let out a blare through the special horn. Suddenly, hundreds of deer streamed out of a forest, surrounding the group of travelers. It was time for breakfast. The group fed the deer special crackers, right out of their hands.
This wasn’t any kind of trip, but a specialized trip hosted by Remote Lands, which has an exclusive partnership with Aman Hotels. It’s a growing trend, with high-end tour operators partnering with ultra-luxe hotels—and offering private jet travel—for truly unique expeditions.
Luxury travelers can now hotel hop across the globe in chartered flights with upscale hotels, who are offering joint tours across their properties. Companies like TCS World Travel offer world tours by private jet for up to 52 passengers, while Four Seasons is starting tours with their private jet in 2024. On average, these companies charge anywhere between roughly US$19,000 to US$140,000 per trip.
“The popularity of these trips is driven by the pandemic—ultra-wealthy only want to travel by private jet and stay at the best destinations,” says Milton Pedraza, the CEO of The Luxury Institute, which studies the luxury industry.
“You’re being totally spoiled, it’s private jet travel that goes to any island, anytime,” he adds. “You’re staying at the best suites in that destination. It’s so exclusive and has such a variety.”
Kokedera, known as the “moss temple,” is one of Kyoto, Japan’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites Sen Lee, Unsplash
Exclusive Affairs
The deer whisperer gathering was organized by Remote Lands, which has been partnering with Aman since 2013. One of the purveyors—if not the first—to partner with a luxury hotel for a global expedition, its trips have focused on Asia but are now expanding to the Americas and the Caribbean.
An upcoming trip from the U.S. to the Caribbean in February is limited to 14 guests,and costs US$225,776 for a pair (US$112,888 each), or US$152,776 for individuals. The group travel in an Airbus 319, fit for 150 people, but has been retrofitted to seat 19 people with couches, lounge chairs, coffee tables, a bedroom, and an inflight shower.
“It’s a lounge feel, everyone facing each other, a party in the sky,” says Catherine Heald, CEO and co-founder of Remote Lands. “This is how billionaires travel, they don’t look at a seatback, they have a jet. Many of the people travel by their own, smaller private jet anyway.”
Upon landing at an airport, eight Mercedes Benz cars lined up ready to whisk away guests. “You jump in your own private car and do your own thing,” Heald says. “We are together at dinner parties, but you can do your own thing. You’re not thrown in a bus forced to do what others want to do. It’s private, not a group trip, besides the jet.”
Heald’s clientele ranges from CEOs to tech entrepreneurs, Hollywood celebrities to finance moguls. “They’re prominent, successful people, a lot of them have stressful positions, but what they like is they don’t have to think about anything, they just have to show up for the jet on time, otherwise, everything is done for them.”
Hotels are looking to reach a wider net of clientele, and private jet expeditions tend to target their ideal audience. The Four Seasons has a series of upcoming 2024 trips for their debut “Four Seasons Private Jet Experience.” One trip is called “African Wonders,” traveling through the Egyptian pyramids, Mauritius, Rwanda, and more, during the period after Christmas through New Year’s. “Asia Unveiled” is a 16-day trip through Bali, Tokyo, the Maldives, and Vietnam, among others. The trips cost $135,000 per person, based on double occupancy.
For the ultra-wealthy, these all-in-one trips are a chance to connect with their contemporaries. “On these kinds of trips, you spend a lot of time with people in your tribe,” Pedraza says. “Everyone has been isolated for the past two years—it’s delicious, and they’re willing to pay for it.”
One of TCS World Travel’s “Around the World” trips stops at Easter Island. Sam Power, Unsplash
Far Flung Destinations
TCS World Travel is a company hosting luxury trips for over 30 years and works with the Four Seasons as one of its hotel partners. TCS offers a variety of trips with special regions and themes, such a “Golf around the World” trip running Jan. 27 to Feb. 17, 2023, across Oceania, Asia, and North Africa is US$147,000 per person. Its “World Less Traveled” trip goes from London to UNESCO World Heritage sites in Dakar, Senegal, Salvador, Brazil, and Tunis, Tunisia, and costs US$105,000 a person, a trip of 52 guests.
Its most popular trips are those centered around UNESCO World Heritage sites. It’s Around the World trip, starts in Florida and visits the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and Easter Island. Guests also stop at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, and one of the world’s greatest wildlife destinations in the Serengeti in Tanzania.
“People love this trip because they fly direct between far-flung and hard-to-reach destinations,” says Jennifer Lew, director of product development at TCS World Travel, which hosts multiple trips a year, but most are waitlist only (TCS ise booking for 2023 and 2024). “It’s the ultimate excursion—plus, there’s something so adventurous about traveling all the way around the world in a single journey.”
“Even the wealthiest of people know they cannot escape the clock of time, for people who are generally older, they know life is short,” Pedraza says. “It doesn’t necessarily inspire fear, but the desire to live life—right now.”