Face‑to‑Face: No1 Traveller
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Phil Cameron, CEO of No1 Traveller shares expansion plans and new product ideas
No.1 Traveller opened a lounge in Birmingham last year, your sixth. How did the launch go?
We had a great launch at Birmingham Airport in October 2012 and as the summer season starts we expect to see this momentum continue. It takes a while to establish a new market, but we’re making the progress we had hoped for. Our greatest success stories have been at our flagship lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 and Gatwick North Terminal, where we expect to see 1,000 travellers through our doors during the peak summer days – they’re incredibly popular. Birmingham has a smaller market and is a smaller lounge, but we aim for similar uptake as a percentage of the passengers travelling though the terminal. When a guest walks into one of our lounges we want them to feel like they’ve entered the lobby of a five-star hotel. We want them to say ‘wow’ and feel spoiled by the quality of the environment and all the facilities available to them – no matter what airport.
Do you have plans to launch anymore airport lounges in the UK or internationally?
Absolutely. We have plans to expand our network beyond England. We’re mindful that we don’t want to pop up everywhere, but we want to be the best at what we do, wherever we operate. We’d rather have fewer locations and a great reputation. If we were a hotel, we’d be something like the W Brand – not in every city, but a focal point. We hope to double the number of lounges from six to twelve by the end of 2014, but if we had the opportunity we would roll-out quicker. We are keen to expand at Heathrow, but we are making plans with airports in a number of major cities. It takes a while though to find enough space in an airport and put together the right product mix.
We are also expanding the space at some of our current lounges – we’ve just finished a major extension to our lounge at Gatwick South, our first ever lounge and we’ve added many seats elsewhere.
Is this capacity problem a major issue?
It’s our biggest challenge. We used to be cautious about taking on the liability of larger spaces, but now the challenge is finding space which is big enough. Today, we are hesitant about taking a site in a major airport unless it’s the best part of 10,000 square feet.
More people have Priority Pass or Airport Angel cards than ever before; but if they turn up at reception and we’re busy, we cannot always accommodate them. You would think it’s a positive thing to be that popular but we have to strike a balance between accepting guests and retaining a premium feel in our lounges. As we cannot regulate when they turn up, we encourage cardholders to reserve.
Are there also plans to expand the facilities in the lounges?
We will be launching a more informal product at Gatwick aimed at a broader market. We’d like lounges to be accessible and appealing for everyone, so it makes sense to provide a space for other markets. Lounges can often feel intimidating or exclusive so we wanted to introduce a style of lounge that will be more relaxed, fun and inclusive. There are a few new product plans in the pipeline, but they are not ready to go yet, although a couple should launch in the summer. We like innovating and that’s one of the things our guests really like about us. We are always looking to add new facilities such as the launch of spa treatments and our airside beds at Heathrow.
Do you feel threatened by improved airport facilities, such as free WiFi?
We don’t see WiFi as a threat – or better built terminals, because our guests really want the privacy, service and facilities which come with a lounge – something you just don’t get in the rest of the terminal, which is designed to keep people moving, whereas our lounges are all about stepping out of the departure process.
And how is No.1 Traveller working with the UK trade?
The trade is quite a new market for us – we’ve previously been focused on airlines, member schemes and direct B2C sales. We now have some great, large-scale relationships and we are upping our work with independent agents, particularly at the premium end. It’s now the fastest growing and most exciting area for us. We always encourage the trade to get in touch and see our lounges, and we listen carefully to what products and packages we could create in response to its needs. I think No1 Traveller is at a turning point now, after four years of the brand name the reputation is there but we need to make the most of people experiencing the product.
Finally how did the business fare in 2012 fare and is the future bright for 2013?
2012 was a great year for us. We nearly doubled our turnover for the third consecutive year. That of course becomes more and more challenging to sustain, but we should still see a significant uplift in our turnover this year. We’d be very disappointed if we didn’t beat our own targets, but we are showing every sign of doing so. Tracking our business for the first quarter of the year we are heading towards our targets with March up probably 10% compared to last year.
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