Unique Service Sees Room For A Personality-Driven Reboot to Travel Industry
Few industries have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to the degree of the travel sector. While most in the travel business are waiting out the downturn and hoping for an eventual return to normalcy, the people behind VIP Traveler view the resumption of travel as an opportunity to continue to disrupt the industry with a bold new model: a personalized luxury travel service, in the vein of popular “subscription boxes” such as Stitch Fix or Cratejoy, where member’s preferences and interests are profiled and vacations are custom-curated to fit their individual style, with a new level of flexibility to account for COVID restrictions.
At a virtual preview event Monday from their Midtown offices, VIP Traveler showcased the highlights of its new Premium Membership platform to some of its existing clients. The platform pairs members with a personal “travel stylist” who, using proprietary technology, works in the background to scour the travel landscape to surface trips ideally suited to a member’s tastes. “Our job is to know what makes our members happy travelers, and to combine that with our knowledge of a given destination to save our members valuable time in identifying the best hotel for them – in the right part of town, with the right room, and at the right price,” said Guy Patton, Head of Content at VIP Traveler. “By allowing our members to sidestep the hours of research, the hunting and searching, the negotiation, they can spend more time enjoying their vacations and less time planning them.”
Buy Now, Book Later
With so much uncertainty due to COVID-19, many wary travelers have postponed booking vacations due to fear of new restrictions. VIP Traveler offered an alternate perspective Monday: “there are opportunities now that exist because of the pandemic,” Patton continued, “and we’ve made it easy for our members to lock in these prices now, and book their dates later, in some cases through 2022 after COVID restrictions are expected to have been lifted.”
Personalization is Key
VIP Traveler aims to provide value through personalization: by combining A.I. machine learning and real-life destination experts, VIP Traveler can sift through the seemingly infinite options most travelers must wade through to get to the gems. Assisted by their exclusive Travel Profiler™ technology, the platform delivers offers perfectly suited to members’ unique tastes, thereby saving them time and money while getting them a more desirable outcome.
Pay to Play
Access to the VIP Traveler platform is limited, offering service from dedicated Travel Stylists to paid members only. Patton says, “We intentionally aim to keep our Premium Membership exclusive, seeking frequent, luxury travelers whose experience continues to improve the quality of our partner network.” Members also gain access to unique promotions and enjoy complimentary benefits at hotels and resorts around the world. VIP Traveler believes that the personalized service and unique benefits it offers more than justify its membership fee.
