Blue Train: Developing a Marketing Approach for the South African Luxury Rail Travel Experience

Abstract

Blue Train, a luxury travel experience provider in South Africa, is more than half a century old. The experience offered by Blue Train today is uniquely different from when it started. Currently, the initiative caters to luxury consumers looking for a unique journey experience. With the capacity to serve up to 100 business or leisure consumers, Blue Train offers an unprecedented experience, including a vast array of amenities on a moving train. This case provides an overview of the Blue Train service and evaluates the offerings of the organization through experience marketing and luxury industry frameworks in order to understand how Blue Train creates a uniquely lasting experience for its high-end consumers. Although this unique experience, fueled by the scenic beauty of South Africa, offers a sustainable future for Blue Train, the current COVID-19 crisis poses a huge challenge not only to a safe future for Blue Train, but for the future of the experience economy.