Limited to 40 guests, and departing from Dubai on November 29, the private charter will route guests from Dubai to Iceland, Cuba, the Peruvian Amazon, Easter Island, French Polynesia, Australia, Thailand, and back. Experiences offered will include a restricted-access geothermal ceremony at dawn in Iceland, a private dinner inside a historic mansion in Havana hosted by cultural historians and musicians, besides ancestral lagoon navigation in Tahiti. Lushescapes founder Abhishek Dadlani said Indian entrepreneurs and family office principals are emerging as a ‘key cohort’ for invitation-only global journeys like Meridian One. Dadlani’s company deals with Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities, royal families, C-suite owners and fortune 500 business owners across India, Middle East, Europe and the US. He said approximately 15-20% of the overall business comes from India and the company has been growing at a CAGR of 20-25% year on year since the Covid-19 pandemic.
India’s high net worth, and ultra high net worth individuals are earmarking a greater share of spends on travel, increasingly focusing on experiential luxury centred trips and breaks. A forthcoming whitepaper from Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) in India reveals that there is a significant move towards experience-driven travel among the country’s elites. As per the findings shared by Visa with ET, travel-related spends by ultra-elite consumers have doubled in 2025 over 2023, with cruise spends, private airport and hotel transfer spends growing 2x during the period.
From invite-only global voyages to specially curated escapades, the rich are spending much more for the experience during holidays
“At Visa, we see a definite shift in the behaviour and spend patterns of affluent Indians from owning to experiencing,” said Sandeep Ghosh, group country manager for India and South Asia at Visa. Ghosh said ultra-high net worth individuals are prioritizing exclusivity and cultural immersion over asset accumulation.
Last year, an engaged HNI couple from India wanted to be blessed by the pope before their marriage. Manoj Adlakha, CEO and founder of luxury lifestyle management company RedBeryl said he organised that trip for them. “There is a significant interest for curated experiences and luxury travel has undergone a reset post Covid,” said Adlakha. He said Indian HNIs are seeking a lot more meaning in their travel, and privacy has become priceless.
Anushri Bansal, senior economist, South Asia at Mastercard Economics Institute said in 2025, the increase in travel related wallet share among affluent consumers is nearly twice that of non-affluent consumers compared to 2024. “Since 2019, growth in cross border luxury goods spending by affluent consumers has been more than ten times that of non-affluent consumers, with shopping hubs in the UAE, France, and the UK continuing to serve as preferred destinations for high end purchases,” she added.
Rajeev Kale said, president and country head for holidays, MICE and visa at Thomas Cook (India) said travel is being designed like a private enterprise rather than a holiday by the HNI cohort, with highly personalised, ‘closed loop’ journeys and multi country private aviation circuits spanning St Moritz, Aspen, Ibiza and beyond. They are also seeking pre season, closed door couture showcases, and after hours access in France and Italy on holidays, said SD Nandakumar, president and country head for holidays and corporate tours at SOTC Travel.
