Vibe by Jet2holidays, unveiled at the operator’s VIP conference in Calpe, Spain, on Tuesday (26 November), replaces Jet2’s On Tour brand, which Jet2holidays head of product Zoe Towers told delegates sold disproportionately well through the trade, adding Vibe could prove equally lucrative for agents.
Towers said while On Tour had been “a really good brand” for Jet2holidays, bookings from millennials (16 to 34) still only amounted to 3% of Jet2holidays business.
“Jet2holidays is under-indexing with the millennial population and the 18-30s,” said Towers. She told delegates Jet2holidays currently has around 6% population penetration among holidaymakers aged 50 to 60, but only 2% among travellers aged 18 to 34.
She added if this discrepancy was to be corrected, based around the most recent booking figures for On Tour product, it would represent another £300,000 business a year for agents to go after. For summer 2019, agents delivered 39% of On Tour bookings.
“Being young has changed,” said Towers. “And so has being young on holiday. Millennials are a diverse group, and they are looking for different things on holiday. They have grown up with overseas package holidays. They went on holiday with mum and dad – they are experienced travellers.
“They are one-third of the population today, a big target market. They are cutting down on spending on goods and are spending on their lifestyle and experiences, and that includes holidays.”
Research by Jet2, presented by Towers, highlighted the changing demands of young holidaymakers, with many prioritising other experiences over nightlife. Just 25% of those surveyed said they looked to head out to nightclubs when on holiday, and only 18% sought out “themed” evenings.
Instead, 70% said they wanted to eat in local restaurants, 57% go to bars, 30% stay at the hotel, and 26% go to gigs and festivals.
Towers said Jet2 had decided to brand Vibe “by Jet2holidays” as a marker of trust and authenticity, two key millennial values. She said this would be reinforced with fresh imagery and video content produced in-house rather than stock imagery to give Jet2 greater control over Vibe’s identity.
Vibe will launch with nearly 180 hotels across 50 resorts in 31 destinations said Towers, offering holidaymakers greater control over their holiday through choice of one of the brand’s four “vibes” – Iconic (five hotels), Party (94 hotels), Pure (31 hotels) and Chilled (47 hotels). The brand will align, said Towers, with names like Boohoo and Spotify.
A dedicated trade website for Vibe will launch on Thursday (28 November) allowing agents to search by vibe across multiple destinations and search by single airports to multiple destinations. A full trade educational campaign will get under way shortly, in time for peaks, and Jet2 has also produced a 76-page supporting brochure for Vibe.
Agents will be able to access a new virtual asset library for Vibe marketing collateral, and request USB sticks with plasma TV window content and point-of-sale Vibe window drops. Jets’s trade team will make its mobile travel agency trailer available to agents who want to take Vibe on the road or set up in town centres.
Both the consumer-facing Vibe website and brochure, meanwhile, will feature bespoke editorial content such as new destination guides focusing on daytime and night-time experiences, as well as features on other popular millennial travel inspirations such as music festivals.
