The Gold Medal Travel Group is to run three separate peak sales campaigns across its four trade-only brands in its biggest turn-of-year marketing activity to date.
The campaign for Gold Medal and touring brand Incredible Journeys, and a separate campaign for Pure Luxury, go live on January 3, 2023.
A third Cruise Plus campaign launches on January 5. All three run until February 28.
This compares with one campaign last year and supports the company’s strategy to operate dedicated, specialist brands at scale, each with its own marketing, sales and product teams.
Each campaign will include a ‘printed book’ of destination detail and offers for agents to use and give out to clients, backed by dedicated online hubs or microsites with downloadable marketing materials.
The campaigns are each backed by a raft of different incentives through the agent reward scheme, Farebank Rewards scheme, with rewards for the Pure Luxury, Incredible Journeys and Cruise Plus brands now based on gross booking value. Rewards for Gold Medal continue to be component-based.
The dnata Travel Group-owned operator has pledged to open on every Sunday in January for the first time since pre-Covid as well as on the January 2 bank holiday and between Christmas and New Year to service trade bookings.
Marketing director Sarah Lancashire said: “This is the biggest campaign we have ever done in terms of marketing activity across our brands.”
Gold Medal
Gold Medal’s campaign, incorporating Incredible Journeys, is called The Worldwide Holiday 2023 Sale.
A 96-page ‘printed book’ of destination and hotel information and offers will be sent out to 750 travel agents, backed by 22 online destination hubs.
The books, which can be over-branded for agents, will also be available digitally while the hubs will support all trade activity, offering downloadable point of sale and digital marketing materials, offers, and social media content.
Lancashire said: “It’s a one-stop-shop. If an agent wants to market the Maldives they can go the hub to find offers for hotels there and all the social media content they need or window posters to download; everything they need to market that destination.”
Gold Medal’s campaign offers value-added excursions in eight key destinations and double Farebank Rewards for every January booking.
Lancashire said: “Pricing is going to be key in January and it’s going to be an even more price sensitive market so we have priced up our most competitive offers but, to get agent cut through, we have value added excursions in eight of our key destinations that you will not get anywhere else as tangible benefits.”
In addition, a Gold Medal Grand Giveaway will give out 1,000 Farebank Rewards, worth £1,000, to one agent a week during the eight-week campaign. Agents must book a Gold Medal or Incredible Journeys package and send in their booking reference to be part of the price draw to win.
“We want to support our agents during the cost of living crisis,” added Lancashire.
Pure Luxury
The Pure Luxury campaign, Travel Trends 2023, identifies 10 key travel trends, from travel with a conscience to bucket-list trips.
A printed book will go out to 130 luxury agents. It highlights the different trends and gives detail of what is driving each travel type, key partners, and features 60 properties.
The book, which does not feature prices, details itineraries from regional airports and is backed up by a dedicated microsite of hotel information, offers, social media assets and will be updated with new airline offers as they go live.
The campaign incentive, in partnership with Qatar Airways and One & Only Resorts, offers 12 places across three Pure Luxury fam trips to the Maldives, South Africa and Malaysia.
Agents who make package bookings during peaks will be put into a price draw with winners revealed at the end of the campaign. Dates have yet to be confirmed for the trips.
Spot prizes will also be announced in weekly prize draws based on package bookings made by agents during the campaign.
Cruise Plus
Cruise Plus’ 2023-2024 Worldwide Sale is being launched in conjunction with 17 cruise line partners.
Its printed book focuses on four areas: ocean; luxury; expedition and river cruises.
The campaign highlights extra add-ons offered on top of a cruise, from tours to attraction tickets. A total of 24 bespoke itineraries have been created for the campaign.
The printed book is supported by a microsite with information and marketing assets for agents while the brand is also launching its own Facebook and Instagram social media accounts on January 5. It will also continue to feature on Gold Medal’s social media channels.
Specific incentives for the campaign include the chance for one agent to win a holiday fund of £6,000 towards a Cruise Plus holiday. This will be based on a prize draw of agent bookings at the end of the campaign. There will also be spot prizes given out to agents during January and February.