The shake-up at Pleasant Holidays, including the addition of new brands and sunsetting of old ones, will better serve customers and strengthen advisor relationships, said CEO David Hu.
Pleasant Holidays will operate as the flagship, premium vacation packager under a new holding company called A|T Collective. Pleasant's upscale counterpart, Journese, will be phased out after March to be replaced by a new luxury brand, Evoke|Inspire. A new brand, Member First, will solely provide services to AAA Travel. (Pleasant Holidays is a subsidiary of the Automobile Club of Southern California, part of the AAA network.)
David Hu
Hu, now the CEO of A|T Collective and Pleasant Holidays, said the new structure allows for the development and launch of additional brands if there's a future need. The old way of doing things, he added, didn't resonate with customers and required innovation and a refresh.
"We have different audiences, and we currently try to serve all those different audiences under one specific brand," he said. "When we looked at what we were doing, we weren't serving any of our audiences."
Hu said that while Journese was supposed to be the luxury arm of the company, it "got a little bit convoluted with the Pleasant model." That will change with Evoke|Inspire, he said, which will offer a portfolio distinct from Pleasant's catalogue. Evoke|Inspire will also have its own sales team and reservations team.
"Right now we're forcing one operational service delivery mechanism to three different audiences, and it's just not working and doesn't resonate with any of those audiences," Hu said. "We're not able to gain traction."
The shake-up comes less than a year into Hu's leadership. He joined the company in January after the retirement of longtime CEO Jack Richards. Since taking the reins, Hu said the company has focused on clearly defining its brands and audience.
For example, the company has removed from its hotels portfolio 800 properties that didn't fit the brand and underperformed. In the coming months, it plans to add 700 new hotels that will be allotted to the different brands based on their quality.
Hu said the Member First collection will launch Jan. 1 and was built specifically for AAA advisors, which make up "a sizeable amount" of Pleasant's business.
As such, Hu wanted to cater more to their specific needs. Many AAA advisors, he said, work in storefronts and operate differently than independent contractors or remote advisors. They serve different clients and need a unique service platform. The AAA-focused brand will have the largest range of product, from 3.5-star to 5-star.
Evoke|Inspire will offer hotels in the 4.5-star to 5-star range and select 4-star properties, along with a portfolio of villas, yachts, jets and rail journeys, backed with concierge services and 24/7 U.S.-based support.
Journese will be bookable until March 31.
Hu said brand recognition wasn't strong enough to justify keeping the Journese name. The new brand will be "a better version and vision of what a luxury travel company should be."
Hu said Evoke|Inspire will initially operate as invitation-only during a "soft launch" this quarter, with select advisors receiving notice in the coming weeks. The company will work closely with those advisors, gaining feedback and tailoring its approach prior to the full launch in the second quarter of next year, when it will open to all advisors.
Hu said he expects the company to see significant growth through the new luxury brand.
"There is a large hunger for luxury travel, and we feel like in our past, we haven't done as well of a job to attract people in that market space," Hu said. "By dedicating a brand-new brand with the right kind of services as well as the right kind of people to support it, we could really go after that business and be able to grow that business."
John Werner, president and COO of MAST Travel Network, said he had questions about the Member First model and how it will impact non-AAA advisors. Overall, however, he thinks Pleasant needed a fresh approach. "From an outsider looking in, I think the company is ready for a makeover," he said.
Lynette Calleros, an advisor with The Travel Gals in St. Louis and a Pleasant Holidays top seller, found the new company structure exciting. She said the clearer boundary between luxury and premium offerings will make it easier as an advisor to steer her clients toward the right vacation, and she agreed with Hu that the similarity in offerings between Pleasant Holidays and Journese could be confusing to advisors and customers alike.
"I think that Pleasant Holidays needed a refresh," she said. "It's a very reputable brand and it's been around a long time, but in that sense, it hasn't changed in a long time."