Don’t have clients for Virgin Voyages? Think again! TTG VV Fest takeaways
The “sweet spot” age of a prospective Virgin Voyages client may not be what you expect.
Speaking at TTG VV Fest, Virgin Voyages’ virtual event with TTG, which ran from June 24-28, Luke Day, the line’s global training manager, reveals its “sweet spot” demographic is age 35-65, with an average age of 44-47.
The line seeks the “young at heart”, open-minded, sophisticated traveller who “loves casually lux service with personality”.
Despite a belief among some that Virgin Voyages is just for new-to-cruise or millennials, 75% of its clients – or Sailors – have already taken a cruise with another brand and are “looking for something new, different or better-suited”. “There’s still a huge opportunity for your clients to experience the modern romance of sailing,” says Day.
The clientele are adults over 18 (the line is over-18s only), couples/groups or multi-generational families who enjoy visiting new places; new food experiences; having something to look forward to; enjoy sunnier weather and love spending quality time with their partners, friends or family.
Waitrose, easyJet, National Trust, Wagamama and Audi are familiar brands to them.
They like Caribbean holidays, luxury long-haul, boutique hotels and city breaks, premium all-inclusive destinations; and other cruise brands.
Modern cruisers
Its “most-aligned” prospective Sailors are “modern cruisers” and all-inclusive resort goers, as they have prior experience with similar holiday types and have “bridged the chasm” of embracing holiday packages.
Breaking its demographics down further, Day reveals its target clients are segmented into four pillars:
- Modern cruiser: Relevant leisure traveller who has taken a cruise in the last five years.
- All-inclusive resort-goer: Non-cruiser who has stayed at an all-inclusive resort in the last five years.
- Entertainment seeker: Non-cruiser/all-inclusive resort-goer who seeks out entertainment, concerts, shows and parties while travelling.
- “Other” leisure traveller: Other leisure traveller who has travelled without children or relevant mission types.
Top of the sweet spot are modern cruisers aged 30-49; modern cruisers under 30; and all-inclusive resort goers aged 30-49.
Next come the “adjacencies” – modern cruisers aged 50-59; all-inclusive resort goers under 30; and all-inclusive resort goers aged 50-59.
Finally, there’s the “opportunistic” category: modern cruisers 60+; all-inclusive resort goers 60+; and entertainment seekers of all ages.
Always-included luxury
“One of the main reasons people come back time and again is our always included luxury,” continues Day. “Think of Virgin Voyages as full-board but you pay for alcohol.
“There’s over £1,000 worth of included luxury,” adds Gemma Wilks, business development manager for the south of the UK for Virgin Voyages.
Once a Sailor is onboard, they’ll only pay for “non-essential” drinks (tea, filter coffee and soda is included). “They know exactly what they’re getting for their money”.
There are no buffets onboard Virgin Voyages ships, with the food cooked fresh to order. Meanwhile there are six speciality dining restaurants of 20, at no extra charge.
“We pay our crew well enough that Sailors don’t have to,” adds Wilks, alluding to the fact tips are included, with Day adding that the onboard crew consistently achieve a customer satisfaction score above 90%: “People aren’t motivated by the money but the vibe.”
And “while some lines charge $15-$45 dollars per device per day for WiFi”, Virgin Voyages does not.
Group fitness classes and shows and entertainment are also included.
Adults-only
Virgin Voyages is for over-18s only.
“This means our spaces are curated with adults in mind and are not multi-purpose with kids areas,” explains Day. “We do see multi-generational groups, but the unit is grown up.”
In summary, Virgin Voyages suggests thinking on the question “Do you have clients that…”
- Travel without kids
- Love great food
- Want to feel like a rockstar
- Avoid stuffy formality
- Want new experiences
- Are young at heart
“It’s your award-winning boutique hotel that comes with you, and you only have to unpack once,” says Day, adding that Virgin Voyages offers a welcoming environment for all adults.
For more information on Virgin Voyages, why not visit our virtual Selling Guide?
Agents can register and watch TTG VV Fest back on demand until 12 July,
or on ttgmedia.com thereafter.
'My new-to-cruise farmer client is a Virgin Voyages convert'
Travelmax media and marketing coordinator, Savannah Bracewell, was interviewed by Day about her experiences selling Virgin Voyages. Here are some of her top tips.
- "Last year we held our first conference at sea for Travelmax onboard Virgin Voyages and the girls just absolutely loved every second. Me and my mum (the “Max” in Travelmax) had been onboard before, but getting the staff to actually experience it first hand – they just can't sing highly enough about it."
- "If I have a client who might not think Virgin Voyages is for them, I ask a couple of simple questions. I've loads of footage and things I can show them but before I'd even get to that, I'd just say OK, well, 'Are you a food person?', 'Do you like more boutique-style accommodation?', or poignantly, 'How do you feel about a drag queen walking about the ship?' If someone says they’d love it, I know it’s going to be easy sailing from here, pardon the pun."
- "We have this lovely client who's new-to-cruise and he always travels on his own. He owns his own business – he's a farmer. He'd come in and he'd have dirty hands... he’s like a real rugged guy. A few years ago we’d sent him to Temptations and he absolutely loved it, but he didn’t want to travel that far this time. I said if he wanted the kind of vibe where people just let their hair down and you actually live in the moment, he was going to enjoy Virgin Voyages. Well he was just absolutely mesmerised. He hasn't stopped talking about it since he's been onboard. He can't wait to go on again. But if you looked at him, you would not think of him as a Virgin Voyages client. Now he knows that there's something right there for him, and he doesn't have to go to the same place every time, which he didn't like about previous holidays. I think he maybe left the ship once, and the rest of the time he spent onboard because he just loved it so much – he’s doing his dance classes, he’s mingling with everybody... but he knew he could have his own space too."
- "I love that there is such a variety of demographics and ages onboard – when I was there this lady was in her nineties and she was absolutely dressed up to the nines and having a dance competition with the drag queen, and it was just awesome."
- "My top three highlights of a Virgin Voyages cruise are the cabins – how unique and spacious they are, and how I've literally been on a sailing and barely left the cabin because I just loved it so much, just chilling in my hammock. Second would be the entertainment. Even if you haven't sailed on Virgin Voyages, it's clear to see how exceptional the entertainment is. Thirdly, I’ll say the food."
- "My top VV selling tips would be – use the visuals. If you've been onboard, get up those videos, get up the pictures. It doesn't matter if it's you by the pool a little bit drunk, dancing. If you haven’t been onboard, there’s loads of good content available. Talk about colleagues’ experiences, or get them to speak to your client. If you haven't been onboard before, getting on board makes the selling so much easier."
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