The Porsche Travel Experience launched in 1996. Image credit: Porsche German automaker Porsche is marking a milestone with a virtual road trip highlighting some of the world’s most memorable joyrides.
Porsche Travel Experiences, which launched in 1996 as the Porsche Travel Club, allows fans of the marque to enjoy exclusive tours behind the wheel of the luxury vehicles. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the program, Porsche is sharing a digital tour each week to showcase unique experiences at a time when many are experiencing wanderlust and awaiting a return to travel.
“COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point, transforming business forever, bringing about years of change in the way companies in all sectors do business,” said Rebecca Miller, founder/CEO at ARTful Communication, New York. “Porsche has embraced this tipping point by creating digital travel experiences as a way to integrate history, cultures, culinary, the arts and their continued desire to expose their audiences to many facets of life as a rare and expansive journey.
“Whether in person, through technology or intention, Porsche continues to prepare, provide and participate with its audience focusing on the vitality of our collective futures,” she said.
Hitting the road
Porsche Travel Experiences are all-inclusive, with luxurious accommodations and private tours. Trips are available in various global destinations, such as Iceland, Ireland, China, Spain and the U.S.
At the heart of the trips are private driving tours led by Porsche instructors. Guests have the opportunity to get in the driver’s seat of different Porsche vehicles, such as the 911 Targa 4S and the 911 Turbo S.
Porsche Travel Experiences launched in 1996
To promote the program’s anniversary, Porsche released a campaign video showcasing different experiences.
Wide, soaring shots show a group of Porsches trailing each other on winding roads with scenic views. Other scenes show glimpses of other activities, such as wine tastings and cooking classes.
The Porsche website is also sharing a weekly virtual tour as part of the anniversary effort, for a total of 52 stories and destinations.
For each tour, an article details some memorable pit spots — such as a drive on Australia’s Elephant Pass and ice fishing in Norway — alongside dramatic travel photography.
Porsche Travel Experiences are still limited due to COVID-19 restrictions, but upcoming tours later this year include road trips in upstate New York and Colorado. In the U.S., tours start at $9,900.
Porsche Travel Experience driving tour at Independence Pass in Colorado. Image credit: Porsche
“Porsche understands that a thriving business is built on strong relationships,” Ms. Miller said. “They are building relationships by offering their audience the opportunity to enjoy what they enjoy — journeys, a common passion from which to begin a dialogue.
“Design allows us to escape into style, elegance and comfort through the value of association of line, scale, form and function,” she said. “Porsche’s unique campaign embraces this philosophy – a parallel in their approach in the design of a car, a technical innovation or the design of their Travel Experiences.”
Extended experiences
Porsche is not the only luxury brand to extend its presence into the travel and hospitality sector.
Similarly, British automaker Land Rover offers it owns adventure experiences. In 2016, the brand promoted a new Range Rover model with “the most luxurious road trip on Earth” that took consumers to eight countries across five continents in three weeks (see story).
Next year, Italian jeweler Bulgari will open its first hotel in its Rome, the city where it is based and where it hopes to showcase an opulent experience with more than 100 suites and rooms overlooking the Ara Pacis and tomb of Caesar Augustus.
Marriott International licenses the Bulgari name for hotels and resorts. Founded in 2001, the LVMH-owned brand’s hospitality division claims to be the only Italian luxury hotel collection with a global footprint (see story).
“Luxury brands have the opportunity to gain insight and acumen from the dimensions in which hospitality, travel and auto segments are becoming more digitally experiential, inclusive and customer focused on what they value,” Ms. Miller said.