New niche travel market in the recently unemployed

With the recent launch of JetBlue’s Promise Program, many tourism operators have been working on similar programs to stimulate travellers from the ranks of those recently unemployed.

JetBlue’s Promise Program allowed passengers who lost their jobs after booking their flights to cancel and refund their seats, despite the carrier’s well-known ‘no-cancellation’ stance.

Since then, other tourism operators including cruises, hoteliers and touring products have also stepped forward to launch their offerings for the job insecure and jobless.

From insurance to cover job losses courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Lines, or trading ‘worthless’ Wall Street stocks for a stay at the Elite Island Resorts, and even drastically reduced ski-passes at Lake Tahoe for those who can prove they’re on the dole; the travel industry is getting creative.

And some companies are finding that the recently jobless, with more time on their hands are also travellers who book longer trips.

With the launch of the Laid Off, Take Off promotion from Intrepid Travel, the company says that February sales figures saw the number of trips booked increase by 25%, with the average length of stay being 18 days, and some trips as long as 60 days.

The new deals are about more than a great deal, they’re about selling peace of mind, experts say, and in this current economic climate it may make the difference in sealing a deal with a client.