Lastminute.com ad chief says Brexit will not impact level of Brits travelling through Europe

Despite Brexit fears in the travel industry, today (July 7) Lastminute.com Group has launched The Travel People, its new media business that aims to help brands reach its 10 million annual customers.

In recent weeks there have been many post-Brexit fears among the travel industry, following easyJet’s statement that revenues per seat in the second half of 2016 will be “at least” 5% lower than last year and British Airways owner IAG’s profit warning, issued after its share price fell 19% to 425.6p.

However, Lastminute.com Group does not appear to share these worries, with its new business ‘The Travel People’ aiming to assist brands in and out of the travel sector in targeting European travellers through the group’s businesses, Rumbo, Volagratis, Bravofly and Jetcost. It will operate in 40 countries worldwide.   

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Alessandra Di Lorenzo, chief advertising officer for Lastminute.com

The launch will give advertisers access to what Alessandra Di Lorenzo, chief advertising officer for Lastminute.com Group, describes as a difficult young demographic of 18- to 35-year-olds, who are more likely to be found on social media apps than websites.

“Our demographic is usually quite a hard one for brands to meet. They usually prefer to be on social rather than websites and are very powerful, high-spending, active and fun-loving people that love to travel.”

Though not naming any advertisers involved, Di Lorenzo cites the examples of suncream or flipflop brands benefiting from being able to target young travellers going on a beach holiday in Europe.

Speaking to Marketing Week, Di Lorenzo said she does not feel that the Brexit will necessarily hit consumers’ or brands’ confidence, as its demographic will not easily be put off travel.

“As much as the whole outcome of the referendum is gutting, we shouldn’t be talking about it right now. Lastminute.com is very strong in Europe and will continue to work across this market. We will continue to be a European player.”

“We really need to see what happens and how the government will manage to set things up. Personally I don’t think people will stop travelling to Europe”

Alessandra Di Lorenzo, Lastminute.com Group

The former eBay advertising commercial director said the fact that Lastminute.com Group is a “European specialist” sets it aside from competitors, including popular online travel site Airbnb.

“We have 35 million visitors every month across all our portfolios throughout Europe. Ten million of these customers book with us each month and 10,000 of these travel with us each day. Our audience is extremely valuable to advertisers.”

Though the company may expand further in the future, Europe remains its core business and therefore its core focus at this moment in time, with the UK, Italy, Spain, France and Germany its top performers.

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