Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - Billionaire Tourism

Episode Date: March 30, 2024

Most tourism marketing aims at the largest audience possible. This week, we look at a sub-category aimed at the smallest audience possible: Billionaire Tourism. The super wealthy get bored easily. That means luxury tour planners dream up extreme vacation ideas. From outer space, to the bottom of the ocean, to secretly getting the key to the Sistine Chapel, it’s a whole new pricey world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling. Subscribe now and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. Your teeth look whiter than no nose You're not you when you're hungry You're a good ass with all teeth

You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly. There is a very exclusive club of nannies in Britain. They are the most highly trained nannies in the world. They're taught intensive lessons in childcare. They wear special uniforms complete with hats and white gloves. They are also taught defensive driving techniques and paparazzi evasion. And they're trained in martial arts. Think Mary Poppins with a side of James Bond.

These super nannies are trained at the elite Norland College in Bath, England. The college was founded in 1892. It was the first time professional child care instructions had ever been offered. And with that, nannying as a formal occupation was born. Gaining acceptance

to Norland College is difficult, as over 30% of applicants are turned away. The intense four-year course costs $29,000 per year. But graduates, or Norlanders as they're called, have their pick of nanny jobs around the world,

and some can earn as much as $200,000 a year, four times the average nanny salary in the UK. While the Norland curriculum concentrates heavily on child care, nutrition, and child psychology, lessons also include gourmet cooking, advanced sewing, as well as swimming and lifeguard lessons. The nannies are also schooled in evasive driving techniques, including skid control, driving in extreme weather, and how to quickly turn a car around in a tight space while being pursued. And they learn how to drive expensive cars with precision and grace while avoiding the paparazzi.

The Norlin nannies also happen to be trained in martial arts, taekwondo specifically. They are drilled in defensive moves with a baby carriage, how to physically fend off an intruder, and how to foil kidnapping attempts. They are taught anti-terrorism and crisis evasion techniques by British military intelligence officers. While the majority of Norlin nannies are female, there are now male nannies applying. In its 130-year history, Norlin College has trained over 7,500 elite nannies. Graduates earn a B.A. in Early Childhood Education and Care, as well as a coveted Norlin Certificate. Employment is 100% guaranteed. Norland nannies are hired by high-profile employers who expect them to know how to deal with potential threats to protect their children.

As a matter of fact, Prince William and Princess Kate employ a Norland nanny for their children. It's a very exclusive service. A service prized by the ultra-rich. The world of marketing also offers an exclusive service to the ultra-rich. It's been dubbed billionaire tourism. A handful of luxury tourism companies market to the wealthy and plan unusual, unique, and sometimes extreme vacations for multi-millionaires and billionaires.

While most tourism is aimed at attracting the most people possible, this brand of tourism is aimed at the smallest target market possible, the fabulously rich. You're under the influence. Tourism advertising is one of the largest and busiest marketing categories. Millions upon millions of dollars are spent trying to lure tourists to attractions, cities and countries. But there is another subcategory of tourism marketing that doesn't get a lot of press. This subcategory is strictly aimed at the super wealthy.

Being super wealthy, defined as having a net worth of at least $40 million, and reaching up into the billionaire status, definitely has its benefits. But it also has its unique downfalls. As the song says, mo' money, mo' problems. One of those upscale problems is an elusive thing called a thrill. What do you buy for someone who has everything? What location do you send a billionaire to who has seen it all? What trip do you recommend to someone who makes more in interest in one week than most people take home in a year? It ain't easy. That's why there are a handful of vacation companies who market their services exclusively to the ultra-wealthy. These high-end concierges have a very small client list.

They are tasked with finding or planning the most unusual or unique vacations. They have to be on call seven days a week, and they must be ready to say yes to seemingly impossible requests. And, oh yes, money is no object. One of the growing tourism locations for the Richie Rich set is outer space. In the history of the world, only 700 people have ever left Earth's atmosphere. It's a very exclusive club. Several private space tourism companies market their services to the uber-wealthy, each one founded by billionaires.

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic offers a 90-minute flight on a supersonic rocket-powered space plane. At 52,000 feet, the space plane detaches from the mothership and burns its rocket engine for one minute to attain Mach 3 speeds, reaching 300,000 feet above Earth. After a few minutes of weightlessness,

passengers can see the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space. Then, the capsule glides back down to land on a runway. Cost per seat? $450,000 U.S.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company fires a rocket 62 miles into space for 15 minutes, with a capsule containing up to six people and, interestingly, no pilots. Cost per seat on Blue Origin? $1.25 million. Although a seat on the very first Blue Origin flight was purchased at auction

for $28 million. By the way, Bezos believes we need to go to space to save Earth from pollution by moving heavy industry into outer space. Elon Musk's SpaceX offers billionaire-grade space tourism. Passengers travel in a rocket to the International Space Station for 10 days. A ticket will set you back about $55 million.

Room rates on the space station are $35,000 per night. As of this writing, Musk is the only billionaire space race founder who has not gone into space himself yet. Apparently, he's waiting for a Mars excursion. And there's still another suborbital tourism company called Space Perspective that charges $125,000 per seat. Providing, of course, you want to slum it. Question. Did you ever think you would actually see a Jetson lifestyle in your lifetime? Meet George Jetson lifestyle in your lifetime. Meet George Jetson! Hello, George. The Jetsons premiered in 1962

and was set 100 years into the future in the year 2062. But we're here a little ahead of schedule, and space truckin' is creating new industries that cater to astro-tourists. Because rocket travel is not 100% safe yet, there is now civilian space insurance available. Benefits include accidental death and something called permanent disablement in space.

When you send people into space, you need somewhere to put them. With an ambitious target date of 2030, a space hotel is being built by a company called Orbital Assembly. This floating hotel will offer luxurious accommodations for sale as vacation homes, themed restaurants, bars, health spas, and concert venues, all with spectacular views of Earth. And if it has concert venues, that means bands will now have a new stop on their tour itineraries. The hotel will have a spinning Ferris wheel design, which allows it to create its own artificial gravity using centrifugal force.

All these intergalactic vacays will presumably create a competitive space travel economy, which, as history tells us, should eventually lower the cost of flights. So instead of paying $55 million, it might only cost $45 million,

which in space jargon is called a bargoon. While space travel is exciting, there is another place that is tempting the filthy rich. It's extremely exclusive. More people have been to the International Space Station than have been to this location. It's the world's last uncharted territory. Deep Sea Tourism The super wealthy are attracted to deep sea trips because so much on land has already been explored, but so little of the ocean has been visited. And wealthy people like to do things that ordinary people will never get to do.

It makes for some good country club conversation. And they like to do it in three words known the world over. They are Coca-Cola, God, and Titanic. So OceanGate began offering submersible dives down 3,800 meters, or nearly 2.55 miles to the wreck of the Titanic. It had made three successful dives in a sub called Titan since 2021. The cost per seat? $250,000 US. But as you may remember, the deep-sea trip in June of 2023 resulted in a catastrophic loss of life, as the Titan sub imploded after only 45 minutes,

killing all five aboard, including two billionaires. The water pressure at the depth of the Titanic is about 6,000 pounds per square inch, 400 times greater than at sea level. With that massive pressure, the slightest design flaw could result in fatal consequences, which demonstrates how dangerous deep-sea tourism can be and why it's so thrilling for some. When researchers started using drones to plumb the ocean depths instead of manned submersibles, the submersible industry suddenly needed to find a new market. And billionaire superyacht owners became that market.

Submersibles are not cheap. The base models start at around $2.5 million and can only dive a few hundred yards with 10 passengers on board. The more luxurious top-of-the-line models can accommodate up to 60 people and cost upwards of $40 million. Billionaires love them because a submersible is small enough to fit onto the deck of a superyacht. The wealthy drop anchor then launch their submersibles into the ocean and take guests on an exclusive dive to see the world's most exotic underwater locations. For a limited time a few years ago,

you could call an Uber in Australia to take you for a dive around the Great Barrier Reef. It was the world's first rideshare submarine. Called Scuba, Queensland and Uber joined forces to offer two-person submarine dives that took you on a spectacular journey to one of the world's most famous underwater locations. The cost per person? A mere $1,500 each. While diving down to the Titanic sounds extreme, wait until you hear the extreme demands

the super-rich make on land. For many of the multimillionaires and billionaires of the world who have everything, the search for a thrill keeps getting more difficult. So the rich pay big money to be clients of exclusive tourism companies. These companies charge from $75,000 to $200,000 per year. That's aside from the cost of the actual vacation itself. And many high-net-worth individuals travel with a security detail, a nanny, and a medical team in tow. It's a complicated undertaking. And that's why some luxury travel planners can spend up to a year planning a vacation for their clients.

As an anniversary surprise for his wife, one wealthy man had an upscale tourism company arrange a luxurious palazzo in Venice where opera legend Andrea Bocelli was invited to give them a private concert. The cost? $300,000 US for a half-hour performance. Then the couple took their private jet to the Dolomite Mountains for a romantic picnic. Another company books exclusive Rwanda safaris. Hotel rooms cost upwards of $22,500 per night for a minimum of five to eight guests.

The park permit to see the gorillas costs $1,500 per person per day. A company called Black Tomato books get-lost trips for the ultra-rich. A get-lost package includes a remote mystery location only revealed when the guest arrives, no cell phones are allowed, and the guests wander around in the remote location all by themselves under the watchful eye of a trained expert observing their safety from a distance. It costs around $100,000 per person to get lost. Many Scrooge McDucks search for opportunities with a high degree of risk.

They're not looking for luxury. They experience that all the time. They're looking for adventure, exclusivity, and danger. A very seductive cocktail for the 0.01%. That desire for rough luxe has only increased since the pandemic. For example, the waiver passengers had to sign before boarding the Titan mentioned the word death three times on page one. The Titan was also bolted shut from the outside, not the inside,

so the passengers had no way of escaping from the submersible until it successfully surfaced. The slim margin between safety and mortal danger is part of the adrenaline rush. One company arranges trips to scale Mount Vincent in Antarctica. Billionaires fly in on their private jets with friends, then they battle the brutal weather conditions to climb the mountain. It can cost up to $200,000 each. Some want to climb the northern ridge of Mount Everest's death zone. Some want to dive off their yachts and swim with great white sharks. And if you think that's extreme, wait until you hear some of the requests

these high-end tourism companies have to deal with. One couple wanted to spend the night on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

The high-end tourist agent had to haggle with the French ministry to get permission for the sleepover, for starters, then spent months hassling French architects to construct the virtually invisible all-glass suite. As a final touch, a $20,000 bottle of Krug champagne from the year the couple was married was waiting on ice in their room.

A New York family of six wanted private access to the Sistine Chapel so they can enjoy Michelangelo's stunning artwork all to themselves. Their luxury concierge managed to secure the key to the chapel for a cost of $75,000. Another wealthy family requested a Hollywood cinematographer who had filmed blockbusters like Star Wars and Interstellar to film the family on their six-week sailing vacation through the Indonesian islands. Total cost? $665,000 U.S. Another guest was throwing a cocktail party in a rented 13,000-square-foot mansion in Los Angeles.

She called her high-end concierge and requested they find a mermaid to swim in the pool to amuse the guests. She didn't want just any mermaid. She wanted an authentic one with a splash tail and gills, and she demanded it be delivered within the hour. Try getting a mermaid to a mansion quickly in LA traffic. The travel agent actually managed to pull it off in one hour and two minutes. Another guest demanded a huge amount of Pellegrino sparkling water be flown over from Italy same day. It had to be Pellegrino water specifically. The guest didn't drink it, by the way. She used it to wash her hair. Another guest asked their five-star hotel to find a rare tree frog for his daughter.

The concierge managed to convince a congressperson to expedite the Agricultural Department red tape process to get the foreign frog into the country quickly. Cost? $50,000 U.S. The frog was eventually left in the room when they checked out. A honeymoon planner for billionaires was once asked to stock a minibar with 16 different kinds of condoms for a new husband. Another time, the planner was asked to raise a bathroom sink in a hotel room by seven inches so the wealthy guest wouldn't have to bend over to wash her face during her seven-day stay.

Cost to adjust the granite sink? $40,000 U.S. Another wealthy groom asked the planner to arrange for three penguins to be borrowed from the zoo and put in a hotel room to surprise his new bride, who was obsessed with penguins. And another billionaire guest demanded a meet and greet with Vladimir Putin. The planner somehow pulled it off. Did you know that Disney locations all over the world offer exclusive and secretive trip experiences for the extremely wealthy? At Disneyland, there is something called Club 33.

It's an ultra-exclusive lounge for wealthy people to duck out of the crowds. Members of Club 33 enjoy expensive wine, drinks prepared by master mixologists, and gourmet cuisine. The decor includes memorabilia from famous Disney movies. Club 33 membership is so exclusive, the waiting list is said to be 15 years long. Membership is by invitation only and is said to cost a one-time initiation fee of $80,000, followed by $30,000 in annual dues. Members are reported to include Elton John, Katy Perry, and Tiger Woods.

Snapping pictures of guests at Club 33 is strictly prohibited and could lead to a suspension of membership privileges. Wealthy individuals also avoid waiting in lines at Disney by booking private VIP tours with Disney's VIP Tour Team at a cost of $900 per hour. Disney also offers a Disney Parks Around the World package. for a 24-day, six-country, all-inclusive tour to every one of Disney's 12 international theme parks, as well as to the Lucasfilm campus and Walt Disney Studios. The package includes VIP access to all parks, exclusive tours with special guests,

and side trips to the Taj Mahal in India, the pyramids in Egypt, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Price tag? $150,000 per person. It's constantly sold out. Proving it's not just a small world, after all. It can be a pricey one, too. When the Titan began offering dives to the Titanic, one observer called it a mousetrap for billionaires. Rich people get bored easily.

They want the haute couture of travel. They want to do things no one else has done before or will do again. That puts a lot of pressure on luxury travel planners. They have to be a mix of magician and travel alchemists. They must pull off the seemingly impossible, from booking a seat on a rocket to securing the key to the Sistine Chapel. But it's not really magic that does the trick.

It's money. Because a blank check can do miracles. Interesting to note that six- and seven-figure vacations are increasing, with some luxury tour companies seeing their business double

since the pandemic. Also worth noting, the Titan disaster hasn't dampened the desire for expensive extreme travel. And that's why the uber-rich continue to pack up their families, their security details, and their Norlin nannies in search of the ultimate thrill. When you're under the influence. I'm Terry O'Reilly.

This episode was recorded in the TerrorStream Airstream mobile recording studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Jeff Devine. Research, Abby Forsyth. Under the influence theme by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Tunes provided by APM Music. Follow me on social at Terry O'Influence. This podcast is powered by ACAST. And if you'd like to read next week's fun fact, just go to apostrophepodcasts.ca and follow the prompts. See you next week. Hi, my name is Cheryl Finn.

I live in London, Ontario. Fun fact! Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Company plans to offer over 600 commercial space flights per year.