The benefits of adding a travel club to your club. Club… meet Travel Club!
Club Benefits and Member Benefits
Everyone loves to travel and wishes they could travel more. Travel is a trillion-dollar industry and travel clubs are the modern way for savvy individuals to get access to the best travel deals available. Modern travel clubs are Internet travel portals that utilize technology and the ease of online shopping to offer an abundance of choices and access to information. Travel clubs offer the best possible prices and the added savings from member earned rewards. Modern travel clubs focus on adding long-term value with unique offerings and unlimited travel options.
Beyond Transactional Relationships – Experiential Relationships
The travel club format goes beyond a simple transactional relationship. Instead, travel clubs offer the opportunity to build loyalty and experiential relationships between the member and the home club. The member is in control by earning rewards and being able to research and book their travel at amazing discounts. The savings potential a travel club offers make the relationship a win-win for both the member and the home club. As mentioned earlier, the format goes beyond a simple transactional relationship, a travel club’s goal is to create both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.
Club Benefits and Member Benefits
Club Benefits | Member Benefits |
Increased Club Usage by Members | Member Only Savings & Travel Specials |
Increased Club Revenue | Introductory & Ongoing Travel Rewards |
Retain Members Longer | Travel Upgrades & Perks |
Improved Member Satisfaction | Travel Emergency Health Services |
Attract New Members | Group Travel Specials; Wine Tours, etc. |
Committed, Loyal Members | Lifestyle Upgrade, Experience Enhancement |
Improved Value Proposition | Premium Airport Lounge Access |
Expanded Amenity Offering | Travel More and Pay Less |
Travel Clubs Offer Personalized Rewards
To improve the customer experience and make your members feel truly valued, travel clubs are taking “rewards” to the next level. Rewarding your members for using their “home” club and by personalization. Travel clubs use technology and data insights to curate aspirational, personalized travel options based on the member’s personal preference, search history, shopping history, customer interactions, demographics, and more. Today’s travel club platforms predict the needs and wants of their members across all travel options: whether that be hotels, airfare, rental cars, adventures, excursions, cruises, resorts, destinations, and activities.
Lifestyle Enhancement – Life Experiences
Travel clubs help members with enhanced experiences and remind members to get out and enjoy life! Travel clubs help market and remind members about their reward point balances, special travel deals, unique excursions, group travel destinations, as well as private travel options. All this special marketing activity from the travel club helps elevate the member experience at your home club.
The pandemic put a damper on travel, however, the desire and demand to travel is resuming. Rapid COVID testing and vaccinations are making it safe to travel again. Now is a perfect time to improve the value proposition of your home club by adding a travel club amenity for your membership. If you are experiencing a boost in membership like many country clubs and golf clubs have because of the pandemic, now is the time lock those new members in with a great amenity. Club… meet Travel Club!
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About the Author: Eric Ruehlmann is a versatile business executive with over 25 years of service in the club management industry. Eric's knowledge and experience is broad having held advisory positions and worked on projects in a variety of fields such as; consumer research, loyalty & rewards, travel & leisure, and lifestyle products & services. Eric is currently focused on sharing his knowledge about travel clubs, and loyalty & reward programs with club managers and club board members. Eric Ruehlmann is the founder of Build A Better Club and a managing partner of Privat-VIP- Travel & Rewards.
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