An InteleTravel agent has signed a deal with a Dubai-based international agency to offer VIP hospitality and tickets to major sports and entertainment events around the world.
Thanks to the agreement with ZK Sports and Entertainment, the Jetset Lifestyle Group can offer its clients the chance to attend events such as Formula 1 races, with the opportunity to mix with the drivers.
The Manchester-based agency is offering VIP hospitality and tickets for the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi next month and in Monaco next year.
Tables at the F1 Drivers’ party, with premium champagne and spirits, can cost about £20,000.
The Jetset Lifestyle Group has also become one of Hilton’s Impresario agents, which means it can offer exclusive rates to clients for the chain’s luxury brands, which include Waldorf Astoria, Conrad and LXR, along with benefits, such as early check-in, late check-out, room upgrades, free breakfast, double Hilton Honors points and room credits of $100.
The agency said it can coordinate packaged components using existing Atol-protected InteleTravel suppliers, in association with its private jet partner, Private Jet Charter.
Entertainment events on offer include a private box with a three-course meal at an Ed Sheeran concert at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, for about £750 per person.
Leah Lockett, founder and managing director of The Jetset Lifestyle Group, runs the business with London-based InteleTravel agent Paul Kelbie.
The business was founded in 2019 as they both have similar high-net-worth clients.
Lockett gave up her role as a chartered surveyor eight months ago to focus on her agency business full-time, and Kelbie comes from a recruitment background.
They have sourced their clients through their corporate networks and by networking during lockdown on Zoom.
She said the agency likes to use suppliers such as Major Travel for long-haul holidays and RateHawk for hotel-only bookings.
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“We are offering experiential travel to our clients – experiences that you are not going to be able to just buy on the internet,” said Lockett.
“We’ve grown this company and negotiated exclusive agreements during lockdown, which shows that if you focus on something you can achieve your goals, despite restrictions.”
She said most of her bookings are currently for travel over the 2021-22 winter period, to destinations such as Dubai, the Maldives and Mexico.
At the homeworking group’s conference in Valencia last month, the co-founder and president of InteleTravel, James Ferrara, said he expected the company to be granted an Atol licence by the Civil Aviation Authority within a few weeks.
Lockett said she hopes the Atol licence will be announced very soon as it will make it easier for her to package elements for her clients’ holidays.
Tricia Handley-Hughes, InteleTravel UK director, said: “The Jetset Lifestyle Group are building an impressive business and this is a reward for months and months of hard work.
“We have a growing number of agents with upmarket clients who trust them to deliver the holidays they desire. It’s a tribute to the professionalism of those agents.”