EXPERIENCES MATTER! LUXURY TOURISM CONSUMPTION PATTERNS AND MOTIVATION OF THE CZECH AFFLUENT SOCIETY

The affluent society and its leisure lifestyle and luxury consumption can influence the future tourism trends. One key prerequisite shaping the future of luxury tourism is the shift in values from the material to the experiential purchases. It is related to the assumption that money spent on experiences can satisfy various people's needs. Moreover, the luxury consumption displays wealth and social status. This exploratory study, based on the questionnaire survey among clients of one of the Czech luxury tour operators, analyses the Czech luxury tourism market segment and reveals the luxury-driven attitudes and consumption patterns. In conclusion, the findings are compared with the results of similar foreign studies. The results suggest that Czech luxury tourists are both similar in a lot of cases (age group, motivation, type of accommodation, preferred destinations etc.) and different in comparison to the traditional European markets, especially regarding the financial possibilities. Most of the Czech tourists are willing to pay considerably lower amounts of money for luxury holidays. The frequency of their luxury holidays is also significantly lower. In this respect, but also for example in special interest (ecofriendly goods and services), the Czechs fall behind the European luxury tourists.