“Ask anyone 'what is luxury to you?' and they'll tell you something different. It's not about star rating. It's not about budget because it could be a weekend away, or a 100-night trip. So we’ve decided to do it on the experience."
Not Just Travel co-founder Steve Witt is explaining the context behind the agency’s new luxury strategy.
The group unveiled the initiative at its conference last weekend, offering its franchisees a new tiered programme with three different levels of training and fam trip opportunities, to help agents tap into the expanding luxury landscape.
An introductory programme for agents starting out in luxury is free to all, while both the Elevation programme for agents already proving themselves in luxury sales, and the even more exclusive Signature by NJT programme, are by application and carry a “nominal” cost.
Initial interest from franchisees has been overwhelming. “We had 250 consultants in the room at our conference, and 249 want to do it,” he reveals.
'A system along can't define luxury travel'
“Luxury isn't new for us,” he points out. “I think lots of our agents are already selling into that space, but it's not part of their travel strategy, it's just by default. So now it's about giving them that structure, that framework, and confidence.”
Witt says his team felt some discomfort with the term “luxury” as they devised the programme – with conventional classifications of what makes a product or holiday “luxury” not always being fit for purpose.
“We asked operators and we asked our agents but the answer is completely different for everybody. So for us it will be about the experience, and each travel consultant now gets to define for themselves, ‘is this a luxury trip?’ Because a system alone can't define it.”
Agents will be encouraged to focus more on building a relationship with their customer and delivering a highly bespoke experience, as opposed to focussing on hotel category.
“Say with car hire – an affluent client has booked a Range Rover rather than a Fiat Panda. Then thinking ahead, which hotel are they staying at and is there a parking space to accommodate a Range Rover? What's the valet parking situation? Being able to tell the client in advance exactly what’s going to happen.
Or, rather than asking the hotel to leave a bottle of house red wine in the guests room, it’s a personalised gift instead,” he suggests.
He shares an example of one Not Just Travel franchisee who organises for football shirts from the local team to be placed in the suite of one client with football-mad children: “It’s that level of detail rather than a generic service."
Agents reaching the Signature by NJT level will be invited on highly experiential, intimate fam trips and gain access to exclusive hospitality experiences such as the Grand Prix and theatre evenings at which they can host their own clients.
The strategy has been formulated over several months, drawing upon the luxury expertise of Not Just Travel’s new Head of Marketing, Josie Allen.
Allen joined the agency almost a year ago from outside travel, and previously led marketing for London’s high-end shopping district of Marylebone Village, bringing a fresh take on marketing to luxury consumers.
Alongside the training programme for franchisees, Not Just Travel is also rolling out a brand refresh which Witt says will subtly shift the brand’s position in the market.
“We've got new websites, we've got new marketing materials, a whole range of materials which are really elevating the brand. It's not a relaunch, it's a refresh. But it's really starting to position ourselves as a slightly higher-level agency, while continuing to be very much about holidays for everybody.”
Agents undertaking the different tiers will be listed online to recognise the level they have achieved, which Witt says will be key to their confidence.
“It's not so much about showing there that they’re certified, but it is more about that confidence you give somebody who's new to an industry or a product to say, 'You've proven yourself, you are really good at this. Here's the certification to say you can do it’. That makes a massive difference to people.”
'There’s a real hunger to be part of travel right now'
The company has significant ambitions for the new strategy, following the success of its cruise-focused programme which saw cruise sales grow from making up 5% of the group’s business in 2022 to 20% today.
Learnings from that programme include confirming the importance of first-hand product knowledge.
“When we launched the Cruise Division, 70% of our consultants had never been on a cruise. We've now flipped that around, and that's one of the biggest reasons that we've seen the sales increase, because people now know and love cruise. We'd be doing the same with luxury, but that's just why there's a couple of different tiers, because it's a little bit harder to take 800 consultants away on an exclusive luxury trip. You can't do it the same way.”
Not Just Travel’s network of franchisees is set for further growth, with Witt reporting the busiest day in the company’s history for onboarding in the last few weeks. “There’s a real hunger to be part of travel right now,” he suggests.
But while recruitment is stepping up, Witt is resolute that it’s a quality, not quantity, approach.
Around 98% of Not Just Travel franchisees are new to travel, and many start their business alongside another career, making it a “side hustle” for most - at least at first. But while other host agencies might offer very low joining fees and ongoing fees, Not Just Travel agents make a significant financial investment in their franchise.
“Travel is the biggest industry in the world, but also the most fun industry. So if you're going to start a side hustle somewhere, do it in travel. But people are seeing ours as a very serious opportunity. We do have a lot of people who do it part-time, but it’s a real commitment to join our organisation,” he emphasises. “We don’t want to try and compete in that sort of [low-entry point] sphere either, because we can't run the fam trips and we can't offer all the training [with that sort of model].”
But he welcomes the diversity of opportunity to join the sector, and recognises the market is big enough for everyone.
“I think InteleTravel, for example, has really helped the whole market grow in many ways, and Not Just Travel is also booming. It's great to see the others are doing really well as well. So it genuinely is an exciting time for the travel industry.”
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