David Solis, the newly appointed head of business development at wholesale supplier Ultimate Jet Vacations, believes that luxury is all about service, which is especially important now amid shake-ups in the wholesale space. He and tours editor Nicole Edenedo discussed how the company is doubling down on its service commitment to travelers, advisors and trade partners this year, and why he believes that effort will grow the business.
David Solis
Q: What will your role as head of business development entail, and how do you plan to help grow the business?
A: In my role, I’ll work to establish an elevated framework to propel global expansion as well as develop initiatives to enhance relationships and service offerings for travel advisors and professionals. Over the next year, our goal is to ensure that the brand and core principals resonate resoundingly in the market, from value creation and innovation to setting the new bar for service excellence. I’m looking forward to further developing our existing industry advisor relationships, investing in our team’s growth and success and forging new partnerships that will continue to position Ultimate Jet Vacations as a leading luxury wholesale travel company.
Q: With Gogo Vacations shutting down last month and many advisors attributing its downfall to the brand’s failure to adapt, are there challenges you see in the wholesale space that need to be addressed?
A: The biggest challenge is an overall stagnation and complacency on the value proposition, combined with a lack of innovation in the wholesale model, especially as B2B distribution trends have evolved over the past decade. Wholesale distribution has increasingly been perceived through a lens of competition with hotel partners and a diminishing value creation for both suppliers and customers. There is a massive opportunity to change the way wholesale operates in terms of its value to travel advisors and supply partners, and that’s something we’ve capitalized on and constantly obsess over. A few of our innovative approaches include working with our supply partners as an extension of their sales and marketing, elevating the concept of concierge and modernizing the commission payment process.
Q: How do you plan to maintain a competitive edge in the wholesale supplier market?
A: We spend very little time looking at our wholesale peers and instead dedicate our energy on our relentless drive to elevate the advisor client experience. The larger brands within the wholesale segment operate on a completely different side of the spectrum from Ultimate Jet Vacations. Their focus is on efficiency, volume and price. Our focus is entirely on the client experience, developing creative ways to drive more value for both our clients and supplier partners.
We also operate within a very specific niche, high-end luxury, with very little competition in this space. But we have always been an organization focused on client feedback. I plan to meaningfully integrate client sentiment as we continue thinking creatively to best serve advisors, address inefficiencies and improve value while keeping the brand at the forefront of a quickly evolving industry.
Q: How important are advisors to your business?
A: Travel advisors are the core and foundation of our business. Everything we do is aimed at how to grow their businesses. Without travel advisors, we don’t have a business, and that’s why we take Jeff Bezos’ approach to customer philosophy to heart: “We’re not competitor obsessed, we’re customer obsessed.”