Interview with Susanne Singer – onefinemoment
5 years of onefinemoment - the success story of the Luxury Travel Boutique
February 2024
Travel trends 2024 – An outlook by travel designer Susanne Singer
The success story of Susanne Singer, founder of onefinemoment, the luxury travel boutique. Susanne Singer has been at home in the luxury travel industry for over 20 years. After studying tourism management, Susanne Singer was able to find out for herself through various practices that she did not want to enter the hotel industry in the traditional way, but wanted to switch to the “other side” of hotel marketing. The fact that the marketing of hotels is also associated with her own trips to fantastic destinations was something Susanne Singer was more than aware of. She started her career at Designreisen in Munich. There she had the opportunity to help build up the Asian region. After 7 years, she moved to Gernreisen, also based in Munich. There she got the chance to build up the luxury segment. Even back then, she was already toying with the idea – or rather her heart’s desire – to set up her own agency one day. She seized this opportunity and was able to gain a lot of valuable experience there, but never completely lost sight of her heart’s desire to be self-employed. In 2019, Susanne Singer decided to set up her own luxury travel agency.
LA ESPLORA: What motivated you to set up your own travel agency five years ago? What were your first challenges?
Susanne Singer: The luxury travel industry has always fascinated me. After gaining valuable experience in design travel as well as pleasure travel, in 2019 I dared to realize my heart’s desire to start my own business. Then came Corona 2020, just in time for our one-year anniversary of onefinemoment. This corona period was both a blessing and a curse. Due to the fact that we were still new on the market as a new agency, without fixed structures, we were able to navigate the current like a small boat compared to other large tour operators. We didn’t have a “big steamer” that we had to steer. That helped us a lot back then. We were young & agile. So when the first borders from Switzerland to Italy were reopened, we were the first to call our customers and tell them that they could travel to Lake Garda in Italy again. The first customers to travel again were the luxury customers. Then came Greece. We were the specialists. We knew about all the possibilities and entry requirements at the time, whatever borders were open, we made it possible for our customers to travel there. We were always open and available for our customers. That was our opportunity as an agency. Today we have 6 colleagues in the team. From today’s perspective, I have to say that we would never have grown so quickly with onefinemoment if it hadn’t been for Corona. One experience, for example, is still fresh in my mind. I said to my husband in November 2020, let’s enter the Maldives via Doha. My husband works in the catering trade and was practically out of work at the time. I will never forget how we landed in Doha via Frankfurt am Main – the airport was dead. Life was normal there and I said to my husband, interesting, we’re closed in Germany and everything is open here. Even in the Maldives, what a feeling it was to finally take off those FFP2 masks and breathe in fresh air. I will never forget how I opened my laptop there in the Maldives and wrote to all my clients and told them, listen, I’m in the Maldives right now, I know under what regulations you can travel. If you want to travel, I’ll organize the trip for you. It has to be said that we really took off with the sale of Maldives tours. At that time, the hotels even had an occupancy rate of 90%. It must also be said that there were many luxury travelers who stayed in the Maldives for several months because they were safe.
LA ESPLORA: What does onefinemoment specialize in?
Susanne Singer: We have always specialized in worldwide luxury travel. There were initially three of us and we divided up the world based on our respective expertise. My colleague Ole, for example, has a good knowledge of Asia, as he lived in Vietnam for many years. And my colleague Carina lived in America for many years. And our “Access” is that we really take an incredible amount of time for the consultation. To find out exactly what the customer wants, in which of the many hotels in the Maldives he feels most comfortable. With this “tailor-made” work, we are strong.
LA ESPLORA: Which destinations do you personally prefer to travel to? Your top 3.
Susanne Singer: That’s difficult, but definitely the Maldives. I am also a big Thailand fan. And as a top 3, I always enjoy traveling to Dubai. Dubai always fascinates me with this craziness.
LA ESPLORA: What is your favorite hotel worldwide? May also be 3 again.
Susanne Singer: The “Amankora Lodges” in Bhutan by Aman Resorts. The Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok. I had tears in my eyes at one hotel – the “Kokomo Island Fiji” in the South Pacific. That was a world of its own. Due to the fact that these islands are so far away from everything. This hotel had around 13 villas at the time, an occupancy rate of 50%. It was so private there, with such warm service. I was so touched by life there. If you ever want to leave your world, I would send everyone there.
LA ESPLORA: What do you mean by luxury?
Susanne Singer: Luxury is personal – shoes off, feet in the sand. That’s why I love the Maldives so much. Another luxury for me is not having fixed times. I love the hotels where you are not tied to fixed breakfast times, for example, but can have breakfast whenever you want. I’m also a big fan of hotels that only offer Wi-Fi in certain corners so that you can really “disconnect” from the world. To be away from your world. To be far away for once. For me, having time is a luxury, letting myself drift, living into the day. Or hotels that no longer specify a dress code. I don’t think that’s in keeping with the times either. Nowadays, luxury customers no longer want to be told how to dress. That is also a luxury for me.
LA ESPLORA: What was your personal “One Fine Moment” in your life?
Susanne Singer: The journey to Bhutan. The whole trip was the “One Fine Moment” for me. The trip was 9 years ago now and I still get goose bumps because it touched me so much. Bhutan is a country that transports you to another world as soon as you cross the Himalayas. The people there are very spiritual. The king takes very good care of his people. People are enlightened. People are happy when you visit their country and they are allowed to tell their stories. I made this trip after my father passed away after a serious illness. As I always enjoyed traveling with my father, I thought I would do that now. I’m going to Bhutan alone. I booked a guide for a week and hiked a lot in the mountains with him. Perhaps that also reminded me of my own childhood. I used to spend a lot of time in the mountains with my parents as a child. In Bhutan, I met a monk on one of these mountains (a monk lives on every mountain in Bhutan) who blessed me. He was also astrologically trained and predicted my future. Incidentally, this monk also predicted that I would become self-employed one day. It was a really wonderful experience for me to talk to this person about the stars. Also to philosophize with my guide about why the Eastern world deals with the loss of a person very differently. That was my personal “One Fine Moment”. I felt like a different person when I flew home.
LA ESPLORA: What are the trending travel destinations in 2024?
Susanne Singer: Saudi Arabia is definitely a new trend destination. “The Red Sea Global” is a new project that aims to become the most sustainable luxury destination in the world. This is scheduled for completion at the end of 2024 / beginning of 2025. 25 new luxury hotels of the top brands are currently being built. A new airport, a completely new infrastructure is being built. You could say that Saudi Arabia is now stepping on the gas like Dubai did 35 years ago. A lot is happening in Saudi Arabia at the moment. The country is opening up. Women have more rights. The headscarf requirement has been abolished. Six Sense, Aman and Ritz Carlton, among others, are opening brand new hotels there. But also all destinations that were not possible or very difficult to travel to during the Corona period are currently being made up for by our customers. Be it Africa, India, South America or cruises. These countries will definitely remain at the forefront in 2024. Or even Japan. Japan is the travel destination for all foodies. In addition to its cultural offerings, this country has a lot to offer with the most Michelin-starred chefs in the world.
LA ESPLORA: Which new hotel openings are planned for 2024? Which inspiring locations (e.g. special hotels, culinary highlights) should not be missed in 2024?
Susanne Singer: The “Atlantis The Royal” hotel in Dubai, which opened last year, is sure to be a perennial favorite, even in 2024. The hotel is sure to be one of the most heavily booked hotels in 2024. All the top restaurants were brought there. It has 10 restaurants from the world’s best chefs. Another exciting new hotel opening is the “Anatara Mina Al Arab” resort in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah. It has only recently opened. This emirate is also planning big things in the next 5 years. Definitely a “place to watch”. This emirate is also strongly committed to sustainability. The Anatara is built in the same style as the hotels in the Maldives. There are beautiful water bungalows, for example. Or two new hotel openings of the One&Only brand in Greece. One near Athens and one on a small island off the coast of Athens. We are already very excited about these two hotels.
LA ESPLORA: Dear Susanne, thank you very much for the inspiring conversation.
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