A surge in travel connects beauty brands to customers
Would you like to find your next favorite beauty product while exploring a city? Thanks to increased travel and savvy beauty marketing, hotel room beauty transcends traditional shopping and duty-free stores. The pandemic disrupted traditional product sampling for many brands. Inventive marketers seized the chance to showcase new beauty launches to potential customers during the ‘revenge travel’ trend. The global travel and tourism markets are projected to grow by 4.42% from 2023 to 2027, reaching a value of $1,016 billion. Meanwhile, the travel beauty market anticipates a 5.2% growth into 2029, reaching a global market value of $33 million. To learn more, read on!
Mini bar makeovers
Did you know that some mini bars are now offering beauty menus? The luxury travel market looks to surpass $150bn by 2032, with indulgent travelers seeking high-end ‘snackable’ beauty products (rejuvenating eye gels, facial mists). With sober curious customers and the norm of a beauty fridge, the contents of the mini bar have undergone a significant upgrade. Le Labo and C.O. Bigelow, iconic New York brands, have become partners for worldwide luxury hotels. Many properties have been upping their grooming game with Dyson and T3 hair tools – The Langham Hotels and The Encore Boston represent two examples of beauty-first hotels. TikToker @luxtoluxury has spotlighted Passalacqua Lake Como for Dyson hair products. Looking good helps business!
Luxury in the details
Curious about more hotels offering a beautylicious stay? Details make the difference. The Bankside Hotel in London features vending machines stocked with UK brand Charlotte Tilbury’s face masks. Party city, Austin, Texas, soothes ‘hangiety’ at The Thompson Hotel, stocking minibars with 7-Minute Makeover Masks from Skin Authority and Earlybird CBD Gummies. “For Those Who Want It All” as their tagline says, Equinox Hotels offers a minibar with over 80 minis across sleep, skincare, and sexual wellness categories. On average, the initiative has brought in $55,000 in monthly revenues. Additionally, Dr. Lara Devgan and France’s Biologique Recherche products appear in Equinox’s RoomBar as companions to promote their bespoke spa facials. Soho House introduced Soho Skin amenity kits in rooms, enabling guest feedback on the beauty brand’s range before the launch, in alignment with their signature Soho Skin facial.
Spa upgrades and in-room scent scaping
Love an indulgent getaway and giveaway? Repêchage offers six starter collections to pair with the brand’s six signature facials, making product recommendations easy for spa estheticians. Lydia Sarfati, founder and CEO of the brand, says, “Many of the spas and resorts have included these Starter Kits into the price of their facials.” The Spa at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens and The Conrad in Ft. Lauderdale both offer these kits with five products to maintain the glow. Hotels also seek to engage the senses, particularly scent, through scent-scaping. Mexican-based Aromaria partnered with Viceroy Los Cabos on Good Night Spray for sleep kits. BEAST collaborated with five-star Capella Shanghai on a Capella scent using relaxing local notes of cardamom, jasmine, sambac, sandalwood, and cedarwood. Sweden’s Byredo created the L’Orto Italiano Candle for Pellicano Hotels, allowing guests to revisit via #TransportiveScent.
Little luxuries: make travel minis sustainable
While guests may enjoy these beauty keepsakes, they have seen a pushback against single-use and minis regarding the environment. French brand L’Occitane recently pivoted from refillable shower products to solid formulas for partner hotels. Canadian-based EarthSuds offers plastic-free Airbnb kits for sustainable-minded hosts. International Eve Lom offers cleansing oil capsules, while UK-based nope® has created shampoo bars that last up to three times longer than a 250ml bottle.
With beauty brands connecting with customers through travel and next-gen formulations, consider new possibilities for product discovery. Weigh in on your favorites below!
