WAS it really less than a month ago when we hit ‘out of office’ mode and went on holidays? I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s already looking forward to the next long weekend (which isn’t that far away, I know).
As many of us are aware, while there is a cost-of-living crisis in our country, Australians are still willing to pinch their pennies and hack their holidays so they can still travel, whether it’s finding ways to get more annual days off or a dupe destination at better value.
Enter: travel subscriptions.
This week, Travelport revealed some of the upcoming trends for the year, one of which is the rise of travel subscriptions. Given all of the above reasons outlined, I really think now is the time for these initiatives to shine.
Through a travel subscription, for a fee, members can often access exclusive products, cashbacks, discounts and other benefits across airlines, hotels, travel agencies, tour operators and cruise lines.
Kogan Travel offers a range of free travel services, while Kogan First provides a VIP paid service with benefits, such as personalised travel deals. The business uses the Travlr.com platform for the offering and in turn, “the integration has led to increased revenue and customer loyalty, demonstrating the profitability and effectiveness of incorporating travel services into their offering,” Travlr said.
There’s been a rise overseas of new startups exploring travel clubs, like Inspirato and BeRightBack. Of course, there’s eDreams Odigeo, one of the world’s largest subscription programs, with nearly 1.5 million members. This year, it’s aiming to hit 7.25 million.
In Australia, Luxury Escapes introduced its LuxPlus+ model last year, while Qantas Airways also introduced a 28-day subscription model to access its lounges, which customers can access on an ad hoc basis.
Until now, most travel brands have focused on loyalty programs to boost retention, but for some companies, a subscription model might just give them a much-needed edge over the competition.
“Our findings show people are willing to pay more for complex subscription plans as long as they deliver exclusive benefits, early access to deals, and reduced prices by signing up,” said the report.
It’s been quite an interesting week for cruising. On Friday morning, Cruise Weekly reported the news of Ponant acquiring a majority stake in Aqua Expeditions. Aqua founder Francesco Galli Zugarowill stay on board as Chief Executive Officer and retain a minority shareholding.
Aqua has been expanding locally of late, last year announcing a new partnership with Flight Centre Travel Group, which saw the cruise line become a preferred supplier for the agency network – an arrangement which will continue despite the change in ownership.
Meanwhile, the finalists for the CLIA Awards have just been announced. The winners will be announced on the big night on 08 March in Sydney.
Over at Travel Daily, we sent out an exclusive breaker on Thursday revealing that more than 80% of Travel Associate members have left the Virtuoso network for FCTG’s Luxury Travel Collection (LTC).
The new LTC agency network launched just a little over a year ago and has added 15 members in the past 12 months.
TD also reported on how Aussie travellers are most certainly back in force overseas, with the number of overseas trips in Nov being 7.4% higher than the same month in 2019, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The figures also revealed Indonesia being the top destination for Australians, followed by New Zealand, Japan and the United States.
In other news, there’s a new 10-year upgrade plan in place for Fiji Airport, with the aim to become the “world-class aviation hub for the Blue Pacific”, according to CEO Mesaka Nawari. The plan will involve new hotels, improved technology and expanded retail precincts.
On Wednesday, our lead story was on Virgin Voyages offering $16,000 commission for travel agents who sell the cruise line’s new Annual Pass for 2026.
There was also a story on the arcane Koala Tech, which is being pursued in the Supreme Court of Victoria by Wealth Creation Pty Ltd, seeking to have the company wound up. A hearing is set for 22 Jan. I wonder what impact that might have on its proposed Koala Airlines. which was hoped to be a future challenger to Qantas and Virgin – a pipe dream though it was.
In rather unsurprising news, a new study has found that more than half of travellers would not be keen to weigh themselves before catching a flight even if it would help airlines cut back on emissions.
Interestingly, travellers aged 18-35 were 20% more open to weight-based pricing compared to those aged 66 and above.
Meanwhile, Carnival Cruise Line is setting sail for Asia from Australia for the first time, on board Carnival Adventure and Carnival Luminosa, with voyages on sale now.
Signing off,
Jo-Anne Hui-Miller
Associate Publisher
[email protected]
