It comes after the White House earlier this week confirmed it would lift its long-standing Covid travel ban in November, opening up the transatlantic corridor between the UK and US for the first time since March 2020.
The trade-only operator on Wednesday (22 September) claimed US enquiries and bookings doubled overnight following the announcement on Monday (20 September).
Gold Medal said new US bookings have accounted for more than 40% of those taken since Monday evening, with the US representing a quarter of the operator’s sales mix prior to the announcement.
Meanwhile, 30% of new US bookings with Gold Medal are for travel in 2021, up from just 5% in the days leading up to the surprise move by the White House. It said Christmas shopping trips to New York were proving particularly popular.
“Monday’s announcement was obviously very good news for us," said Gold Medal managing director Lisa McAuley. "Even though the US remained one of our top sellers throughout the pandemic, the prospect of the borders reopening from November has given travellers the confidence to book sooner – and in many cases bring forward plans and look to travel in 2021."
Gold Medal has pushed two new 2021 offers out to agents this week – a New York shopping trip and seven-day Orlando trip – via social media and email, and has promised more are on their way.
A new US-focused marketing campaign will also get under way on Thursday, supported by a 22-page US Inspire Travel magazine featuring various itineraries and travel options including Route 66 self-drives and Alaska cruises, as well as other US travel favourites – all with prices for departure in December onwards. Details will follow by email, and will also be shared on the Gold Medal agents Facebook page.
The operator also plans to provide agents with access to a dedicated US social media content library featuring pre-design posts, suggested itineraries, facts, imagery and videos.
In addition to the new resources, Gold Medal plans to re-promote its Disney gift card offer. This includes Disney’s early booking offer of up to $950 dining credit per room and 14-day Ultimate Ticket with Memory Maker for the price of seven, as well as up to $300 spending money on 2022 bookings for Walt Disney World Resort. The offer will be available until 3 October.
"It’s been great to see our phones ringing and enquiries come in, and our teams at their busiest for a long time," added McAuley. "Critical for us now is ensuring agents have the tools they need to inspire their customers and convert the increased interest into bookings. We’re ready for them."
