Vacation packager Pleasant Holidays is doing a brand shake-up, adding two new ones and phasing out luxury brand Journese. The brands are under a new holding company called A|T Collective.
Under A|T Collective, Pleasant Holidays will continue as a "reinvigorated" flagship brand, providing vacation packages to travel advisors, agencies and consortia.
A new brand launching Jan. 1, Member First, will exclusively provide services to AAA Travel. (Pleasant Holidays is a subsidiary of the Automobile Club of Southern California, which is a part of the AAA network).
Destination services provider Pleasant Activities will continue to offer tours, activities, transportation and hotel concierge desk services.
Pleasant Holidays and Member First will offer group travel services for events requiring 10 rooms or more as well as boutique group services for five rooms or more, destination weddings and honeymoon travel.
Coming soon is a new luxury brand, Evoke|Inspire, which will deliver "handcrafted travel experiences." Evoke|Inspire will invite select luxury advisors during the brand's soft launch this quarter, then open up industrywide in a full launch slated for next year's second quarter.
"Designed for discerning travelers, the brand partners with luxury travel advisors to deliver deeply personalized, high-touch service," A|T Collective said. "Through proven expertise and an intuitive understanding of client needs, Evoke|Inspire curates seamless journeys -- from quiet luxury to bold adventure."
Evoke|Inspire will feature an "exclusive portfolio of the world's most coveted hotels, private villas, yachts, jets and rail journeys," backed with concierge services and 24/7 U.S.-based support.
Journese will continue to operate until March 31, 2026, for travel any time.
Company president David Hu, who started in January, had said that one of his goals was to "be a little bit more direct, a little bit more poignant about what our brands are and what each offers, because there isn't a good enough differentiation right now."
Hu's title is now CEO of A|T Collective and Pleasant Holidays.
The new brands are part of a broader company restructuring. Hu said that in recent months, "We have transformed this company's operations to streamline services, update our technology and enhance our ability to serve the needs of travel advisors throughout the U.S."
Websites for each brand are forthcoming. In the meantime, travel advisors can book online and access travel advisor resources at PleasantAgent.com and Journese.com.
Correction: Evoke | Inspire is invitation-only solely during its soft launch.