Ultra-high-net-worth travelers redirected $8.2 billion in leisure bookings away from Paris, London, and Rome in 2024, according to joint research published by Forbes and RBC Wealth Management. Dubai, Singapore, Miami, and São Paulo absorbed the majority of that volume. The shift marks the first time in two decades that European capitals lost year-over-year share of UHNW travel spend.
The report tracked 2,847 families with liquid assets above $30 million. Thirty-one percent of their 2024 leisure budgets flowed to regional wealth hubs, up from 19% in 2022. Average spend per trip rose 14% to $87,000, but the composition changed. Traditional multi-week European tours gave way to shorter, higher-intensity trips combining business, private events, and curated access. Dubai ranked first for winter bookings, Singapore for family travel, and Miami for under-40 principals building networks outside inherited circles.
Three forces converge. First, wealth creation outside North America and Western Europe now generates its own gravity. Families based in Riyadh, Mumbai, and Jakarta prefer Singapore to Switzerland for banking weeks because flight time matters and the service standard matches. Second, visa friction and political noise in France and the UK added 12-18 days to pre-arrival planning for non-EU passport holders, per the report. Regional hubs offer faster clearance and fewer secondary screenings. Third, luxury operators followed the money. Four Seasons, Rosewood, and Aman opened 23 properties in the Middle East and Southeast Asia since 2022, compared to 7 in Europe. Supply creates its own demand when product quality holds.
The implications extend beyond hospitality. Private aviation companies report 41% more UHNW legs into Dubai and Singapore year-over-year, while legacy European routes grew just 6%. Art fairs, private sales, and family-office conferences now schedule around regional hub calendars, not London and Paris fashion weeks. Wealth advisors at RBC noted that clients increasingly view European capitals as heritage tourism, not functional hubs. The spending still happens, but it's shorter, less frequent, and more transactional.
Development capital is responding. Miami alone attracted $4.1 billion in luxury hospitality investment in 2024, targeting the Latin American and younger North American UHNW segment. Dubai's hotel pipeline includes 19 ultra-luxury properties opening by 2027, most backed by sovereign or family-office capital. Singapore tightened its private-club and members-only dining regulations to accommodate demand from wealth managers and their clients. The infrastructure build assumes the shift is structural, not cyclical.
Operators should track three events. First, Paris and London will release their 2025 tourism financials in March, clarifying whether the dip was temporary or the start of a longer decline. Second, the Maldives and Seychelles, traditional add-ons to European trips, will report winter 2024-2025 occupancy in April; if those numbers stay flat while regional hubs grow, the decoupling is real. Third, watch the June 2025 Global Family Office Summit in Singapore. Attendance and sponsorship dollars will signal whether the ultra-rich view regional hubs as peers to legacy capitals.
The dollar amounts are modest against global luxury travel, but the direction is clear. A 31% share moving to regional hubs in two years suggests 40-45% by 2027 if current trends hold. That rebalances where properties get built, where talent deploys, and which cities justify premium pricing. The legacy capitals still have the museums and the history. They no longer have the monopoly on the bookings.
The takeaway
Regional hubs now capture **31%** of UHNW leisure spend, up from **19%** in two years, forcing luxury operators to rebalance property investment.
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