Portfolio 2017/18
Contents
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Why work with us?
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Timeline
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Demographics
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Customer reviews
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Routes to market
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Partners
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Case studies
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Come and see us
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Why work with us?
Heritage: We’ve been around for 45 years and have an expert team of travel people, many who have been in the industry for over 20 years.
Protection: When it comes to booking a holiday, we understand that our customers and their money need to be protected. That’s why Fleetway is a proud member of ABTA and are ATOL and IATA licence holders.
Reviews: Your customers are our customers and that’s why we take customer service seriously. All you need to do is check out our reviews on Feefo, Trust Pilot and Review Centre to see our high levels of service.
We want to ensure that your rates are safe in the market. In order to do so, everything we sell is packaged and never sold separately, giving you control of your rate distribution.
Visibility: We are a one-stop-shop solution for advertising. We will absorb all marketing costs and will promote your product across several of our own advertising platforms as well as partner sites in the UK, USA and Canada. We’ll also create a bespoke online brochure which will help support your promotion.
Volume, when you need it: We’re experts at driving sales in low and shoulder seasons or when you might just need a boost. We often get approached to assist in promoting new openings and refurbishments and have achieved some fantastic results in driving sales to brand new properties.
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Timeline
1979
2001
Launch of flight-only from ÂŁ99pp
Mediterranean beach holidays department set-up
1973 Fleetway Travel is established
1973
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2000
2008
Became pioneers in selling Northern Lights trips to Iceland
Launched our first ever website
2006 Carried 100,000 passengers
2017
2015
Rebranded and launched a new website across UK and US territories
Management buyout of the company, with sponsorship from Synova Capital LLP & Tenzing PE
2014
2016
Sri Lanka Leopard Safari and Cape Town packages are born
Began trading in the US, introducing great value European packages
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Demographics Gender
Age 65+ 55-64
Male 37% Female 63%
45-54 35-34 25-34 18-24 0%
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5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
We send a weekly survey to our database, and collect data about them to help us improve our service and provide holidays that suit their needs and desires. Based on the information we have collected, we have divided our customers into 5 key segments.
Fleetway Faithful Mini breaks Sun worshipers Cultural explores Pond hoppers
0%
5%
10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
What have we learnt about our customers? • • • • • • • • •
The typical Fleetway customer is 45+ They are value driven and look out for good deals They go on 4 or more holidays a year They enjoy most types of holiday including beach holidays favouring cruises, tours, countryside locations and city breaks They have grown-up children and prefer to travel outside the school holidays They like 4 and 5-star accommodation They spend a sizeable amount of money in resort They rarely book a holiday without consulting Tripadvisor and/or other review sites They use Facebook regularly
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Customer reviews
Fantastic Experience!
Superb holiday experience
The holiday arrangements went very smoothly from start to finish! The accommodation was just as described and in fact surpassed our expectations. The location was perfect and my husband & I would not hesitate to use Fleetway again in the future! Thanks again!
Fleetway have been instrumental in making our holiday experience superb. We were well looked after from start to finish. I asked for assisted travel, and we were whisked through the process of airports and transfers with no hassle. Well done Fleetway. Looking forward to our next holiday.
Brilliant friendly service This was my first time using Fleetway and it won’t be my last. Very friendly staff - good to deal with an honest Yorkshire man! Hassle free booking with good support by emails. Our deal in Lake Bled was very good value and we even got unexpected vouchers to use the spa free of charge. Transfer to and from the airport was great too. Hotel was good and in a good location. Have already recommended to a friend! 8
Very happy with service received from Fleetway staff Very helpful and efficient, always rang back with further information when requested. Really good customer service.
Perfect Trip
Efficient personal service
Everything was perfect about this trip from booking, to being able to pick-up and dropoff our rental car, to the perfect locations, the incredible hotels with amazing and friendly staff‌I would highly recommend!
Fleetway Travel provide an efficient, personal service. They have a good choice of destinations, accommodation and travel at competitive prices. I have booked with them several times, and have always been very satisfied with their service. I will be happy to book with them for future travel.
Thanks Fleetway for a great break at Crown Plaza, Porto Efficient, straight forward booking system. Easy to understand documentation. Reminders sent at strategic times. Good transfer shuttle arrangements. Excellent hotel and overall a wonderful break.
Our holiday in Ischia with Fleetway The flight from Newcastle to Naples was very good and on time. The hotel was excellent and the staff were first class. The 2 weeks on the island went very well. The gardens, Castle and other sites were all very nice. The return journey was very good and everything was on time. Fleetway organised a wonderful holiday. From my wife and myself, may I say thank you very much. 9
Routes to market We have designed our service with the aim of filling rooms. You should treat us like a one-stop shop for the distribution and marketing of your product or service. When we partner with you, we work with our in-house marketing department to cover the marketing costs and provide hassle free distribution, by scheduling activity across multiple advertising channels. We ensure your promotion gets the attention, reach, engagement and bookings it deserves.
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Fleetway newsletter
We send 2 weekly newsletters every Wednesday and Sunday. Our database of over 250K is highly engaged and ever expanding. Additionally, weekly surveys are sent to our customer base, which provide us with an infinite source of data so we can effectively target consumers with hotels, destinations and holiday types that interest them. The feedback we receive from the survey also helps us to tailor and improve our product offering and service. Based on customer buying habits, holidays and events throughout the year, we schedule a monthly themed newsletter. Examples include: Suites on us, Valentines Day offers, All-inclusive holidays, holidays in Greece and Christmas markets
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Content strategy Encompassing our blog and social media channels our new content strategy will build on our established online footprint, to increase awareness of the Fleetway brand, engage current customers, encourage repeat customers, draw in new customers, and ultimately boost bookings. We create content to support your promotion, encourage customers to try a new location, provide insider tips to enrich the traveller’s experience abroad, and offer a sneak peek into the running of our business to boost trust in our brand. Our content is written from experience and destination research, e.g. location guides, reviews from hotels, and local recipes.
Tone of voice At Fleetway we carefully develop content which aims to reflect who we are, and that focuses on our customers. It’s important to us that our customers find us to be friendly and down to earth, passionate about travel so that we inspire and delight. As a partner of ours, we aim to portray your hotel or service in the best way possible, highlighting important facts and unique selling points which we know our customers will enjoy. This carries through to the service offered by our friendly travel consultants who are available seven days a week, and on social media. We are passionate about travel and we have explored all our destinations thoroughly, so that we can offer information on hidden gems and interesting facts, which makes Fleetway customers feel like their trip is unique. Our aim is to share our expert knowledge of the world with our customers so they are able to explore their chosen destination as more than just a tourist. This refined content strategy ensures your hotel or service is well represented across all marketing channels we work with.
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Filming In September 2017 we launched a series of films as part of our ‘Flyaway with Fleetway’ campaign, designed to enhance the way we communicate with our customers. We worked with Fleetway guests, ground handlers and hoteliers to create promotional videos, showcasing our core and much loved destinations. We visited Jersey, Gibraltar and Barcelona to capture the vibrancy of each location, and also interviewed our happy customers to hear their engaging holiday stories. To generate more awareness of the Fleetway brand and some of our favourite thotels and destinations, we built a Facebook strategy encompassing organic and paid for adverts. Our videos have received thousands of views and we’re really proud of the results, take a look for yourself:
Facebook We invest in Facebook ads to enhance customer engagement and promote particular deals or events, such as our bank holiday 72 hour flash sale.
Google We invest a substantial amount on PPC across brand and generic keywords. We are also growing our organic search presence with our aforementioned content strategy. 13
Brochures
fleetwaytravel.com We have recently developed an in-house solution so customers can book our holidays online. Since the launch of online booking in June 2017, we have driven ÂŁ500K turnover of online sales and are committed to growing our online presence in 2018. Our UK based call centres are open 7 days a week for customers who would prefer to speak to an experienced travel consultant. This is an integral part of Fleetway and gives customers the opportunity to tailor and further enhance their package according to their needs.
Choose to work with us and our in-house design and content team will lovingly create a bespoke digital brochure for your hotel, cruise or excursion, detailing the facilities available and the attractive qualities of the surrounding area. The brochures act as an excellent sales tool, beautifully presenting the unique selling points to the customer.
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3rd party distribution channels We work with a number of travel advertisers, aggregators, communities and deal platforms to bring our deals to a wider audience. We have found the below channels to be extremely powerful in driving traffic to our website and boosting bookings. We will continue to partner, invest and grow these channels in 2018. Our UK partners Travelzoo • Secret Escapes • Holiday Pirates • Voyager Travel Direct • Hotel Exclusives • Icelolly • TripAdvisor • Voyage Privé Our US partners Travelzoo US • Groupon US • Secret Escapes US • Sherman’s Travel • Cheap Flights • Dunhill Travel
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Partners
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Sunborn Gibraltar Promoting a new and unique hotel experience – adding the ‘wow’ factor The Sunborn is a unique partner of Fleetway’s. We have been working with the Sunborn Gibraltar for three years and the property never fails to deliver the “wow” factor customers look for. A magnificent five-star yacht hotel moored in an idyllic marina on Western Europe’s southernmost tip, this 142 metre yacht hotel comprises of 189 lavishly appointed rooms together with bars, a cocktail lounge and restaurants, plus a tranquil pool, spa and sundeck. Inside, the yacht provides all the quality and comfort of a top hotel.
Working with Fleetway is always a pleasure, we find their campaigns very effective and results driven. In a couple of weeks’ sale we can fill up our gap months and obtain incredible results. Their customer service with guests and communications with hotels is great, smooth and always adapted to what we require. After a couple of years working together, we look forward to many more. Alejandro Munoz Director of Revenue & Distribution Sunborn Gibraltar
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Approach • Using our deal packaging expertise we identified an opportunity to package the Sunborn with flights at £199 for 2 nights.
• We placed the experience-deal in our newsletter, as well as on Travelzoo, Groupon US, Hotel Exclusives, HolidayPirates and Icelolly exposing the package deal to an audience of approximately 30 million.
• We successfully packaged an ‘experience’ getaway for customers looking for a city break, but with an added spin. • We filmed onboard the Sunborn Gibraltar and produced several short videos which we
used on social media to promote the hotel and destination. • The promotion enabled the hotel to showcase the fantastic accommodation, but also the excellent Sky Restaurant and the Sunborn Casino. 19
Approach • A multi-channel marketing campaign saw promotions in the Travelzoo Top 20, Holiday Pirates and the Fleetway newsletter, which dramatically boosted booking volumes ahead of the hotel’s re-launch. 20
• A superb package: many • Stunning photos exclusive inclusions at an incorporated into a bespoke brochure visually incredibly low price point. engaged consumers and demonstrated the high quality of the refurbishment.
Hotel Senses Palmanova Boosting booking volume for a newly refurbished property The Hotel Senses Palmanova underwent a dramatic refurbishment in time for the high-season of summer of 2017. The result is an elegant and modern holiday retreat, boasting state of the art facilities, sophisticated rooms, seven different swimming pools, a Balinese hammock area, and a fabulous wellness centre. As part of our collaboration for the opening of the refurbishment, the adults-only hotel was able to exclusively offer our customers a free welcome drink, entrance to the spa, entrance to the exclusive Sky Privilege Bar, 15% wellness discount and 15% discount at the a la carte restaurant, Senses Gourmet – an excellent way to showcase the hotel’s improvement to guests.
Working with Fleetway has been a great experience. They delivered in terms of volume, as well as positioning our product well in the UK market. They have complete control of their rate distribution in terms of markets, and always promote in an opaque manner which we felt very comfortable with. We will definitely be working alongside Fleetway for our upcoming promotions. Luciano Taborda Commercial Director Senses Palmanova
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Vidago Palace Hotel showcasing a leading hotel of the world, in an undiscovered region The Vidago Palace is an incredible property in rural Portugal with an 18-hole golf course, an awardwinning spa, and with gastronomy headed by a Michelin star-awarded chef. Once commissioned as a palace, the property has earned a 5/5 rating on TripAdvisor in the 2017 Traveller’s Choice Awards, is part of the Leading Hotels of the World brand, and with its tasteful Belle Époque chic décor it is easy to see why. Applying attractive pricing packages to this establishment, and highlighting the incredible USPs and key features of the Vidago Palace in a vibrant brochure, allowed us to run several consecutive, successful promotions of the property on various channels.
Having worked with Fleetway for a considerable amount of time now, the experience has always been a positive one! Fleetway is a great partner to us, as all of their offers are well-packaged which supports us in the periods of need during the low and shoulder seasons. We have received great exposure in the UK and Canada markets since working with Fleetway, which resulted in our other channels picking up as well as an increase in direct bookings. Fleetway clients’ are all about experiencing the hotel and all the services it has to offer, so our half board based packages, in particular, were a great success, benefiting our F&B greatly. We will certainly continue to work together for the seasons to come enhancing our partnership further. Jorge de Almeida General Manager Vidago Palace 22
Approach • A multi-faceted marketing campaign was designed to include a bespoke brochure, which minimized marketing costs for the hotel whilst highlighting the assets and key selling points of the property.
• The promotion featured in Travelzoo Top 20 UK and Canada and our newsletter, as well as social media, print media and others.
• Expert pricing structures allowed us to offer a package price from £199 per person for 3 nights, promoting rural Portugal as a desirable destination.
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Approach • A multi-channel promotion of the property made the Hotel Park one of the best-performing properties of the year.
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• It was marketed on Travelzoo’s Top 20 to audiences of over 4 million, and featured in our newsletter, as well as pushed on social media.
Hotel Park Bijela Supporting new hotel openings and introducing new destinations Recognising new opportunities, we were excited to join forces with the new opening of Hotel Park in Bijela, Montenegro. The promotion highlighted the exceptional facilities and standards of this hotel, as well as the incredible location and setting of the Bay of Kotor – a new, undiscovered destination, appealing to holidaymakers looking for less saturated spots around the Mediterranean. The Hotel Park opened its doors in 2016, and boasts a wonderful spa, exclusive private beach as well as a rooftop Jacuzzi and solarium, with impressive panoramic views over the bay and surrounding natural landscape.
We opened sales to the UK market for the first time this year, and we recognized Fleetway as a trustful partner. We were very satisfied with the presentation of our hotel, the amount of detail and accuracy of information in their promotion, which made it easier for us to meet our guests’ expectations. Together we had a very good season. We look forward to next season and the opportunity to further improve together, so our future clients can have nothing but memorable experiences in Montenegro. Vlado Popović Hotel Manager Hotel Park Bijela
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Ikos Resorts Offering a world class all-inclusive product Through our collaboration with Ikos Resorts, we have successfully promoted the Ikos Olivia and Ikos Oceania hotels. Both are stunning 5-star properties in Halkidiki, Greece, offering beautiful beachfront locations, luxurious facilities and impeccable service. On top of all this, our offers included a stay in a Junior Suite with Sea Views, plus ultra-all-inclusive board basis, whereby guests could choose from a selection of à la carte or buffet restaurants to dine in, a number of which have menus created by Michelin-starred chefs.
Approach
At Sani Resort & Ikos Resorts we value our strong partnership with Fleetway. Our partnership has grown from strength to strength over the years and we are delighted, this has been achieved by loyal support and dedication from both sides. Claire Griffiths UK Sales Manager Ikos Resorts
• We put together an incredible package, offering customers seven nights in a Junior Suite, with ultra-all-inclusive dining and flights from only £599 per person. These selling points grabbed the attention of buyers, resulting in powerful publicity for the Ikos brand and a high volume of bookings.
• Our confidence and trust in the product and brand led us to market both hotels on the multiple platforms, to great success. • An effective relationship, which will continue with collaborations for future deals.
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Iceland Opening up a popular, bucket-list destination to the US Market
In 2016, Fleetway launched in the US with a “bucket list” Iceland Northern lights vacation. The deal was set-up to depart from a number of airports across the US, including New York, Washington DC and San Francisco. After establishing an excellent relationship with Travelzoo UK, we reached out to the US branch to help establish our footprint in the US market which enabled us to reach over 14 million vacation-seekers, who, from as low as $499, could discover this wonderful destination. In addition to flights and accommodation, our Iceland holiday package offered a wide range of included and optional tours.
Approach • Utilising our strong relationships with numerous suppliers we were able to package a great product at unbeatable prices to the US market. • Since 2016 we have sent 10K US customers to Iceland. 28
• Promoting the deal through Travelzoo US, Sherman’s Travel, Dunhill, Secret Escapes and Travelzoo UK we had exposure to an audience of over 20m.
Our Partnership with Fleetway has been nothing short of great. We have been very fortunate in having such a fantastic partner, with a great team of qualified staff and much valued friendships. No task is beyond their reach and we couldn´t be happier with the results, satisfied customers from all over the world. Sigríður Heiðar Gray Line Iceland Director of Sales
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Tours and Experiences Diversifying our product offering Combining exotic locations with bucket lists experiences, escorted tours have become a staple of Fleetway’s product offering. Sri Lanka Leopard Safari, Holy Land and Magic of Sicily are a selection of our most popular and successful tours.
Fleetway are a key UK partner of Imperatours having successfully launched our Magic of Sicily programme in the UK market. We have seen a significant rise in low season bookings driven by Fleetway’s strategic campaigns and excellent marketing of our tour. Andràs Simonfi Project Manager Imperatore Travel
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Approach • We utilised our relationships with advertising channels, such as Travelzoo and Secret Escapes, alongside our own newsletter, to widen the audience reach of our exclusive tours, • Vibrant brochures present the itineraries resulting in a number of best-selling deals. of the tours. • A unique product offering, combining an alternative destination, incredible excursions and an English speaking tour guide.
Sri Lanka Leopard Safari In collaboration with an amazing ground handler, we offer customers an unforgettable visit to Sri Lanka. The escorted tour includes a trip to the capital, Colombo, plus a visit to the famous Handungoda tea plantation, a UNESCO World Heritage fortified city, and a memorable beach stay. Two safari trips are also included, to Yala National Park and Udawalawe National Park for the chance to spot leopards, elephants and hundreds of species of birds.
Holy Land This extensive tour covers the historic holy lands and sights of Israel, including Galilee, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, the Room of the Last Supper and the Garden Tomb, amongst many other wonders. An experience unique to Fleetway, the Holy Land tour provides something different for the more adventurous traveller, willing to explore an alternative destination.
Magic of Sicily This guided tour explores the largest Mediterranean island, beautiful Sicily. Encompassing cultural sites, architectural gems and stunning landscapes, this trip visits Cefalu, Palermo, Piazza Armerina, Mount Etna and Catania, to name only a few stops, and includes the chance to sample the local wine and cuisine.
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Approach • The F1 package was promoted across multiple channels including our newsletter, social media and Travelzoo UK. • Having a dedicated Fleetway team in resort resulted in exceptional feedback from customers. 32
• We set-up a customer competition to submit photos while at the Formula 1 on social media with the #fleetwayF1. We received 100s of brilliant photos which really captured the spirit of the Grand Prix and created a buzz around the event.
Grand Prix Barcelona 2017 Partnering with Circuit de Catalunya to create a holiday package for a major sports event In 2017, we took 1,500 customers to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, by teaming up with the Circuit, as well as some great hotels and bus services. We offered a variety of commercially successful packages, which included entrance to the first Formula 1 event of the season, track transfers, as well as 2, 3 or 4 nights in a choice of hotels. Fleetway travellers were accompanied by a dedicated team of Spanish-speaking, experienced operational Fleetway staff to ensure the smooth running of the event. The event was supported by a structured marketing campaign, involving a photo competition across social media platforms, which resulted in significant customer engagement and repeat bookings for May 2018.
Even though our partnership has only been in place for the last few F1 and MotoGP Seasons the results have been tremendous. The Fleetway team is amongst the most pro-active and dynamic management group that we work with. Quick to spot the opportunities and then package, promote and deliver the business. Working closely together has been key to this success and we look forward to many more successful seasons to come. Paula Martin Head of UK & Ireland Promotions Circuit de Barcelona
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Come and see us
Fleetway head office Marble Arch station
1 Connaught Place London W2 2ET
We’re only a 2 minute walk from Marble Arch tube station, on the Central Line.
Email us: product@fleetway.com
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Discover the world for less.
View the brochure online