Executive summary
Drew Patterson, founder of Jetsetter, the leading members-only travel site, is a disruptor. He's never satisfied with the status quo and always thinking about how technology can make travel decisions easier for consumers. Throughout his 10 plus years in the travel industry, Drew was instrumental in introducing new e-commerce models to change the way consumers research and purchase travel.
With Jetsetter, Drew is looking to crack the code on inspiration. Dozens of travel sites compete to help travelers get from point A to point B, but Drew set out to answer a different set of questions, "Where do I go?" and "Where should I stay?"
In September 2009, Drew disrupted the way high end travel was purchased with the launch of Jetsetter's flash product. Critics wondered if consumers would purchase high-end travel within a five day deadline. Two years later, Jetsetter has sold more than 400,000 room nights, including dozens of high end vacations and bucket-list trips such as safaris, skydiving on Mount Everest, guided hikes to Machu Picchu, and Galapagos cruises.
In January, Jetsetter became the first Gilt Groupe business to launch a full-price retail product which has grown to 25 percent of Jetsetter's overall revenue. With Jetsetter 24/7, Jetsetter was able to succeed where Groupon and other deal-a-day sites have failed: Jetsetter members return and purchase at full price.
On June 6, Drew disrupted the offline travel agent world with the launch of Personal Travel Planning which outperformed leading US Travel Agency Virtusos in an undercover test from the Wall Street Journal.
And we're not done. Jetsetter is poised to launch two more business models in September and October. (Note: we are launching a new business model in Sept that will disrupt a multi-billion dollar industry but I am under embargo with NY Times and cannot share details until Sept 13. ) We are also taking Jetsetter across the pond and launching http://www.jetsetter.co.uk/ later this month.
Jetsetter by the numbers:
- Launch date: September 2009
- 2 million members
- 20-40 flash sales per week at prices up to 50 percent off
- More than 450 hotels and resorts available 365 days per year at Jetsetter exclusive prices in Jetsetter 24/7
- 1,120 travel partners featured in over 70 countries.
- Over 400,000 room nights sold.
- 100 employees based in New York City, with satellite offices in UK and Las Vegas
Company description
Jetsetter.com is the leading members-only website that helps travelers discover and purchase the world's best vacations. What sets us apart:
- Curators hand-select each vacation: Curators search the globe and hand-select vacation experiences that will surprise and delight members. Head Curator is Roberta Seiler is from a well-known hotelier family in Switzerland and literally grew up in luxury hotels. She speaks several languages, so travels the world hand-selecting hotels. She's in Germany this week, Switzerland last week, Brazil last month and is currently working on her trip to England.
- Jetsetter-Verified: Correspondents personally experience every vacation and verify the partner meets Jetsetter's high standards. Jetsetter's team of correspondents represent the most experienced travel writers around the globe. For example: Eleni Gage reviews all our resorts and hotels in Greece. She's a travel writer who grew up in Athens, Greece. She's writes for Travel + Leisure, The New York Times, and Elle Magazine as well as authoring several books.
- Dedicated customer service team in NYC office. College educated, trained team based from luxury brands such as The Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons. Jetsetter members can contact our members services team via phone, email, Facebook, Twitter, or straight from the sales page. Our travel specialists are college educated and trained in Jetsetter vacations.
- Jetsetter Inspires Discovery of New Destinations: Members read their email each day and spend 5 minutes day dreaming about an amazing trips. From skydiving on Mount Everest or a Patagonia rafting trip to an over-the-water bungalow in Bali or a villa in Mexico, Jetsetter features unbelievable deals on the world's best vacations. Jetsetter also prides itself on finding new and interesting hotels popular destinations
- Personal Travel Planning: Personal Travel Planning is a service that provides travelers a personal consultation with one of the 200 plus experienced travel writers who serve as Jetsetter's correspondents. The cost of Jetsetter's Personal Travel Planning service starts at $200 and includes three hours of consulting and planning with a Travel Expert, a detailed summary of recommendations and unlimited time with a Jetsetter Booking Specialist. Clients booking hotels through Jetsetter will receive a $100 credit toward their trip.
- Jetsetter apps are available for the iPhone and iPad. Both apps in ranked among the top 10 travel apps in the Apple App Store. The iPad app was recently featured in an Apple Media event showcasing the best apps for summer.
