UK sales director SJ Walker revealed how she wants her team to secure commercial agreements with more luxury agents if the line continues its current trajectory in the UK and Ireland.
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s trade event to showcase the line’s latest ship, Walker said: “I’m not suggesting we’re a luxury brand – we’re high-end premium but we want to explore that area of the market.
“At the beginning of our journey, we were ‘Rebellious Luxe’ and then we moved to ‘Set Sail The Virgin Voyages Way’ and now we have ‘With Love From Virgin Voyages’. Now we’ve stabilised our position in the market, we can now explore a bit more.
“This is me as a UK sales director identifying an opportunity. There’s an overlap with what today’s luxury customers want and what we offer.”
Walker said what’s included in the Virgin Voyages fare, the service and the “sophisticated and relaxed” atmosphere onboard were just some of the things that resonated with luxury customers.
“We need to tell the full story, particularly when you look at our Rockstar and Mega RockStar [suite] offering,” she said.
Walker confirmed some “initial discussions” had already taken place with potential luxury travel partners but added: “We’ve thought about who we want to speak to, we’ve said ‘come and enjoy the ship’ and then we will revisit the commercial discussion further down the line.”
Walker revealed she had approached agents, rather than the other way round, but she insisted: “These agents were expecting the call. We’ve not contacted these agents since the Rebellious Luxe phase.
“This is not a brand initiative. This is a UK initiative. We think that the Virgin Voyages brand resonates with some of these agents’ customers. I know there are partners in the UK who would enjoy our brand. But do these partners still have the perception of Rebellious Luxe when we first landed? We’ve not had the touch points with these agents since then."
Walker believes its the "right time" to make this move giving how Virgin Voyages’ product and branding has "stabilised" this year.
"We’re comfortable with where we’re sitting in the market, we’re thinking whether this is the right time to be having these conversations again. I believe yes, it is the right time," she continued.
“From January, we’ve stabilised campaigns and been thinking about what is coming down the line. Up until that point we’ve been launching ships. As we’ve got into this summer, we’ve been thinking so much further in advance."
She added: "Last year, around 90% of our time was planning for the here and now. Now it’s 50%.”
