It might mean different things to different people, but barefoot luxury is a travel trend that agents and operators should not ignore, says Gemma Greenwood
If you take the term ‘Barefoot Luxury’ literally, you imagine heading off to a desert island paradise, ditching your shoes and running around free as a bird on golden sands, feeling each grain sinking between your toes before gentle waves lap your feet and wash away that sumptuous grittiness.
It’s a romantic notion, but at many Six Senses resorts, barefoot luxury is just that.
When you arrive in the Maldives and board one of Soneva Gili’s luxury yachts that transports you to the island, one of the first things guests are asked to do is remove their shoes.
The Bangkok-based company, which has become synonymous with ‘Barefoot Luxury’, has a policy of ‘No news, no shoes’ and for the duration of their stay, most guests comply.
On Soneva Gili you breakfast, lunch and dinner in bare feet, ride bikes around the island in bare feet and when it comes to the end of your stay and shoes are once more required when disembarking the yacht on which you arrived, it feels foreign to say the least.
But when defining ‘Barefoot Luxury’, there’s much more to it than throwing away your shoes for a week as industry professionals — and the Six Senses team — explain.
“‘Barefoot Luxury’ is synonymous with a ‘natural’ experience, which is very much a trend these days,” explains Six Senses Resorts and Spas managing director Bernhard Bohnenberger.
“It’s about getting back to nature and being at one with the environment.
“Six Senses was the leader of this trend and continues to implement it at new properties that are climate appropriate.
“We find that our clients really like the concept. Some emerging markets took longer than others to adapt to it, but it is very much universally enjoyed nowadays and the Middle East is no exception.”
He notes that in every market, there are luxury travellers who prefer a ‘bling’ experience, rather than a barefoot experience, but that there are “enough alternative resorts to satisfy them”.
The destination development team at Emirates Holidays concurs, but believes that the days of ‘old luxury’, where gentlemen wore a tie for dinner and waiters wore white gloves, are truly behind us.
“In the past, people with money would stay at expensive hotels where it was a formal affair,” says destination development manager for the Middle East, Africa and Indian Ocean, Merja Pollok.
“People would dress for dinner, but nowadays it has totally changed — people who make a lot of money want to relax when they go on holiday; they want to wear old jeans and t-shirts when they go to dinner.”
Her colleague, destination development manager for Asia and Australasia, Davinder Kaur, adds that the modern luxury traveller demands subtlety, particularly where service is concerned.
“They don’t want someone in their face every five minutes asking them if they need something,” she says.
“They want staff to be in the background, anticipating their needs.”
Kaur also stresses that to her — and to many top-end customers — ‘Barefoot Luxury’ is defined as a place where you are “in-sync with the environment”.
Both Kaur and Pollok agree that Six Senses is a trailblazer for this concept. Many of its properties, which span several brands including Soneva by Six Senses, Six Senses Hideaways, Six Senses Latitudes, Six Senses Destination Spas and Evason, are made from natural materials, adopt sustainable practices and strive to reduce their carbon footprint.
In fact, it defines its core purpose as ‘to create innovative and enlightening experiences that rejuvenate our guests’ love of SLOW LIFE (Sustainable, Local, Organic, Wholesome, Learning, Inspiring, Fun, Experiences).
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