Historical Progression of Luxury

Abstract

Throughout history, the concept of luxury has had different emphases. It was scaling its existence in tourism, from the lifestyles of ancient kingdoms to the Roman empire's witnessing sightseeing trips, tourist attractions in townships to business tours and luxury hotels in Paris to the British phenomenon of ‘The Grand Tour’ and the ‘Golden Age of Travel’. The chapter also covers its spread across the small number of affluent societies and groups of wealthy consumers hailing from not only developed but developing economies in the early twentieth century.

Presently, the concept has become ‘mass’ as the Digital-First Millennial and Generation X, and also the affluent female market is all contributing to reshape the concept and the demand of luxury travel in the emerging scenario. Therefore, to understand it fully, it is imperative to review what has gone before and the influences of factors such as economic development, technological innovation and the consumption behaviour for luxury in different societies. Thus, the chapter is an attempt to understand the historical progression of luxury tourism for giving directions for future implications for the sustainable growth of this form of tourism across the globe and in India. The chapter concludes by noting the applied and social approaches in the development of luxury tourism, leaving many academic researchers and those in the tourism industry to resolve the real progression of luxury tourism and its development with the support of a cross-cultural perspective.

Citation

Chauhan, V., Khanna, S. and Khajuria, S. (2022), "Historical Progression of Luxury", Kotur, A.S. and Dixit, S.K. (Ed.) The Emerald Handbook of Luxury Management for Hospitality and Tourism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83982-900-020211001