Michael Brown, president and CEO, Travel + Leisure Co., said: “We are very proud to make our debut today as Travel + Leisure Co., the world’s leading membership travel company. This defining milestone in our strategic plan provides opportunities to evolve our business and expand our reach within the global leisure travel industry as one of the most trusted and influential brands in travel.”
According to a press release, Travel + Leisure Co. will maintain its current portfolio of brands and products, while Wyndham Destinations, which has close to 20 brands in its resort, travel club and lifestyle portfolio, will serve as the umbrella brand for its vacation ownership resorts. These will continue to leverage the power of the Wyndham Rewards programme, and Panorama will operate the vacation exchange, membership travel, and travel technology businesses.
Meanwhile, the newly-created Travel + Leisure Group will offer consumer travel products, including online and subscription travel services and product licensing.
Travel + Leisure Group will focus on the development and worldwide growth of new travel products and services, including the company’s subscription travel clubs, brand licensing agreements and online travel booking platforms. The business group will be led by Noah Brodsky, who takes up the new role of president, Travel + Leisure Group and chief brand officer.
Brown said: “Since joining our team in 2017, Noah has been a catalyst for innovation and transformation within our company, with his passion for travel resonating across the organisation. I look forward to his continued achievements as he pivots to assume leadership of an important new driver of our future growth.”
Travel + Leisure Group announced plans for a new suite of branded products and services, including the preview launch of its vacation booking platform, BookTandL.com. The new website will serve as both a research and transaction platform, providing a single destination for consumers’ vacation planning and booking journey, and further services and features will be incorporated in the coming months.
Furthermore, it will pave the way for the launch of a new Travel + Leisure subscription travel club, slated for this summer, which will offer exclusive benefits and perks for subscribers reading the publication to travel around the world to their most desired destinations.
Brown said: “There is tremendous pent-up demand for travel and, as the only travel company that has the ability to harness the incredible content from one of the most trusted brands in travel, we are creating a place to satisfy that demand. We look forward to the next bold step in our company’s future as we continue putting the world on vacation.”
Wyndham will be hoping that the $100 million acquisition will provide more scope for brand partnerships, as well as allow it to reach new audiences by repurposing its offering for younger, urban demographics. While the transaction will make the company stronger ultimately, the deal should enhance credibility in an industry that faces key challenges to overturn its high-pressure sales and cowboy tactics image.
