“It took us time to work out how


best to use Travelzoo. “Consistency was one of the


more important things; using it over a period of time. “Also, quality of product was important. We often veered towards five-star product because we saw better return on our investment. “The Travelzoo member was


actually always very responsive. “In all my time working in


travel, Travelzoo has been the most successful platform we ever worked with.” U-based Traveloo was  years


old last year and has operated in the UK for 16 of those years. “We are now a mature travel business,” says Clarke. “We have a huge amount of talent and expertise.” Clarke believes his background


 he says he is the first Traveloo general manager with a pure tour operating background – will help the deals publisher expand and deepen its trade relationships.


Diverse product


Clarke is keen to bring in more advertisers to offer greater diversity of product and is targeting specialist areas like escorted touring, wellbeing, solo travel, LGBT and adventure travel. He also wants to get more


regular feedback from trade partners in meetings and events, including some at Travelzoo’s London HQ, to hear about their views on how the deals platform operates. “What I’d really like to do


is work more closely with our partners and suppliers – operators, tourist boards, trade and consumer media – to understand more about the market,” he says.


“It’s about creating a network


effect across our suppliers and partners, working in a much more cohesive manner.” Traveloo’s five million UK members, part of its  million globally, is skewed towards an older female audience   are aged -plus  a key target market for many travel firms. “We have never been aggressive


about how we have grown our audience,” says Clarke. “We have an audience that really appreciates what they have been sent. “That’s why I’m enthusiastic


about working with our partners to get the very best out of it. Everyone has challenges; some have committed stock which sometimes just does not sell.”


Rigorous checks


Travelzoo lives or dies by the quality of the deals it sends to its subscribers, so Clarke says he will continue to ensure partner deals go through the firm’s rigorous editorial process. However, he says he is prepared


to review Travelzoo’s publishing guidelines that stipulate things like how often certain product types or destinations can be included in the Top  email. “There are improvements we can make to modernise them slightly,” he says. “’m confident the British public


like a deal and to see value in what they book. They are extremely savvy and will shop around. “We have had this amazing


relationship with our members for 16 years – they trust what they see from us. They see we put product through quite a rigorous check. “Google does not work for


everyone. Travelzoo will work with suppliers to help deliver


We need to work with our partners and also new ones to inspire our members and to grow our relationships. Ninety-five per cent of people come to us looking for new destinations


their product to the right people at the right time. The market only gets tougher. It will remain competitive, so building a reliable and strong brand working with partners is really the future for any travel business.”


Social media


Although Clarke says email remains a powerful channel, Travelzoo is also looking to grow its presence in social media as platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram become more widely used. And he also wants to increase


the targeting of offers, making them more relevant regionally, and build on the success of its local deals programme. The latter may involve developing more affiliations with non-travel brands as Travelzoo’s members look to it for inspiration for things to do closer to home. “We can do more targeting to


regionalise what we are sending. That’s probably one of the benefits of an ex-tour operator like me being involved,” he says. “I will be able to share my


insights in to the business. We can refine the way we think, with the mindset of our advertisers which are tour operators. “Being a tour operator is


difficult, it’s a challenging market. So it’s important to know how a tour operator actually works, and when’s the best time to approach them. “There are lots of things we can


learn from operators which I can share globally within Travelzoo. “We need to work with our


current partners and also new ones to inspire our members and to grow our relationships. Ninety- five per cent of people come to us looking for new destinations. “t’s not ust about influence and


inspiration but lifestyle. We have an engaged database of members that like to see something different. “We want to offer our members benefits that go above and beyond what they can find on the internet. We are there to truly inspire the every day.”


2. The last book you read? Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek.


3. Favourite holiday destination? Whistler, Canada – or as I like to call it, ‘Disney for skiers’.


4. What do you enjoy doing while on holiday? For me it’s about spending time with my wife and daughter.


5. Any hobbies? I enjoy running and playing golf.


6. What has been your best experience in travel? While I loved every second of my time at Fleetway, my two years spent at Teletext were a real experience. I learnt a lot over those two years. The people I worked alongside were brilliant and it’s so nice to see all those individuals still in the industry now.


7. What is one thing about the industry you would change? It would need to be the Atol system. It’s hard not to feel we could do better, especially with so many experts in the industry to gather insights from.


8. What inspired you to work in travel? I’ve always had a passion for travel and working with people.


9. Which three people in travel would you invite to a dinner? Three legends of travel: Richard Branson, Herb Kelleher and Harry Goodman.


10. And which three people from outside travel would you invite? Tim Peake, Simon Sinek and Mauricio Pochettino.


WITH JAMES


1. Where are you from? I was born in Harrow. I now live in St Albans, Hertfordshire.


24 January 2019travelweekly.co.uk13


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