PROFILING THE INNOVATORS


For subscribers, Ultimate Travel Club


becomes a personal leisure time concierge where everything from theatre breaks to the annual holiday to śóšŨËŭśËİŨǝŨËæĨóšǝËśóǝæĺĺĥóíƿǝǞ “Whatever you were looking to book,


ŨśËƂóĨǝËĉóİŨšǝŭšóíǝŨĺǝæóǝƉĺŭśǝƛśšŨǝŘĺśŨǝ of call,” says Norton (pictured). “Digitisation has eroded some of that.


Consumers are becoming more and more promiscuous, and loyalty is, to some degree, disappearing. “That has an impact on businesses


because you are looking for that lifetime value, [but] the return on investment is getting longer and longer. “Subscription should allow us to


become much more sticky for a member. “We should be a bit of an Aladdin’s ËƂóǝËİíǝĺƖóśǝįĺśóǝĺĈǝƃďËŨǝŨďóǝŭšóśǝĒšǝ


looking for. By creating that level of šŨĒçĥĒİóššǝƉĺŭǝçËİǝĺƖóśǝƃďËŨǝŨďóƉǝƃËİŨǝËŨǝ ËǝĈśËçŨĒĺİǝĺĈǝŨďóǝŘśĒçóǝĺĈǝĺŨďóśǝĺŘóśËŨĺśšƿǞ “And if the subscription fee is covering


our operating overheads we can be much more agnostic about the products we are looking to sell. “Most travel brands and reliant on


Google. It becomes this drug you can’t ĉóŨǝĺƖǝæóçËŭšóǝËšǝšĺĺİǝËšǝƉĺŭǝšŨËśŨǝŨĺǝ ƃĒŨďíśËƃǝšŘóİíǝƉĺŭśǝŨśËƗçǝĉĺóšǝíĺƃİƿ “It becomes this never-ending cycle


because you are constantly on the chase for new-to-brand customers.”


PERSONALISATION


Ultimate Travel Club believes it can attract customers throughout the travel journey and keep them, ensuring it has a sustainable business model. TďóǝçĨŭæďĺŭšóǝóİƂĒśĺİįóİŨǝŨďóǝƛśįǝĒšǝ


striving to create helps it to understand better what its members want and to provide suppliers with a private įËśĥóŨŘĨËçóǝŨĺǝĺƖóśǝíóËĨšƿ It will also make the online booking


experience personalised and simple and, through its partnership with JTA Travel Group, provide members with a æóšŘĺĥóǞËĉóİŨǝšóśƂĒçóƿ


“We know what our members like and


what their preferences are. It’s about understanding as much of that as possible and bringing personalisation to ŨďóǝæËçĥǝĺƗçóƿ “That means when you log in, your


experience is tailored to what you like. No two members should get the same experience when they log in.” Ultimate Travel Club’s private market


model means it can negotiate market-leading deals and it aims to be cheaper than the most popular OTAs every time someone searches. Currently, its in-house price


comparison tool shows it is cheaper than


ƂËĨŭóƺǝŨďóƉǝçËİǝËççóššǝƤƧȎǝĺƖǝƨƺƢƢƢǝ śóšŨËŭśËİŨšƺǝƧƢȎǝĺƖǝíËƉšǝĺŭŨǝËŨǝįËĢĺśǝ ËŨŨśËçŨĒĺİšǝËİíǝƥƢȎǝĺƖǝçĒİóįËǝ bookings. Through a partnership with Holiday


)ƈŨśËšǝįóįæóśšǝËśóǝĺƖóśóíǝƤƢȎǝĺƖǝ travel insurance, a saving that might be equivalent to the £99 annual subscription alone. TďóǝƛśįǝĒšǝËĒįĒİĉǝŨĺǝďĒŨǝƣƢƢƺƢƢƢǝ


subscribers within the next two years and says it is on target to hit that based on current trajectory. “We’re doubling membership every


month,” says Norton, “so there’s an opportunity to exceed our target if that run rate continues. We’re very happy ƃĒŨďǝŨďóǝíĒśóçŨĒĺİǝĺĈǝŨśËƂóĨƿǙǞ


Subscription should


make us more sticky for a member. We should


be a bit of an Aladdin’s ËƂóǝËİíǝĺƖóśǝįĺśóǝĺĈǝ what the user is seeking


Expedia and Booking.com 91% of the time, Norton claims, and the average saving is £252. “There are 9% of occasions where we


are not as strong, but with 1.1 million hotels on the platform it’s a good hit rate,” he adds. As well as its multiple suppliers of


hotel inventory, Ultimate Travel Club is ŘĨŭĉĉóíǝĒİŨĺǝĈóóíšǝĈĺśǝƜĒĉďŨšƺǝŨśËİšĈóśšƺǝ ËŨŨśËçŨĒĺİšǝËİíǝçËśǝďĒśóƿǝGŨǝËĨšĺǝĺƖóśšǝ ƣƣƺƢƢƢǝçśŭĒšóǝĒŨĒİóśËśĒóšƿǞ Users can build their own holidays on


the platform protected by the JTA Atol and watch the savings accrue with every çĺįŘĺİóİŨƺǝËĨŨďĺŭĉďǝďĺŨóĨšǝĺƖóśǝŨďóǝ best opportunity to save. To give UK members more added


FUTURE PLANS


In the future, Ultimate Travel Club will look to break into overseas markets, although it already has members in ƣƩǞçĺŭİŨśĒóšƿ But before that it will broaden the


“clubhouse” proposition by working with partners to provide incentives to remain relevant even when members are not travelling. It will look to create member-only exclusive experiences and trips that set it apart from rival travel companies and create a sense of community among its subscribers. Norton says: “The over-


commoditisation of travel, and the erosion of price and margin, makes it harder and harder for businesses to įËĥóǝËǝŘśĺƛŨǝĺŭŨǝĺĈǝŨśËƂóĨƿ “That’s why the subscription model is


very interesting and why we adopted it. We want to be a pioneer of the club experience. Every travel business is there to try to make the biggest margin possible, and at times that does mean upselling and cross-selling. “But our number-one objective is to


make sure our customers are engaged – and if they are, we have done our job and we can be truly agnostic about the product they choose.”


TRAVOLUTION.CO.UK — OCTOBER 2022 — 17


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