Webjet reveals plan for loyalty program as part of brand revitalisation strategy

Webjet will move into the busy loyalty space, dominated by Qantas Frequent Flyer, in an effort to boost bookings.

Online travel agency Webjet has mapped out plans for a loyalty program to grow bookings across its platform, particularly in the areas of international flights, hotels and business travel.

In a 90-minute presentation to investors on Wednesday, Webjet executives outlined their strategy to revitalise the brand and double total transaction value from $1.6bn to $3.2bn by 2030.

The company was carved out of the Web Travel Group last year in a move designed to help unleash its full potential.

Chief executive and managing director Katrina Barry said Webjet could easily go on as it were “with a beautiful annual cash flow” but there was a strong case to challenge that dynamic.

She said several areas of weakness had been identified including international flights, which represented only 20 per cent of bookings, all inclusive travel bookings and business travel.

A survey of 3500 people had helped to inform the strategy, showing there was high brand awareness of Webjet but it wasn’t top of mind and could be more relevant.

Although respondents agreed Webjet was a “trusted company and easy to use” only 5 per cent said they would consider booking a hotel with the site, which was overwhelmingly perceived as “flights only”.

Chief growth officer Nathaly Naughton said that presented a “massive opportunity” for Webjet to capture more of the customers’ travel wallet, and build a “sticky customer base”.

“Every time a customer books a flight they receive a post-booking survey so we are getting good feedback, and we know customers are going elsewhere to book accommodation,” said Ms Naughton.

“We need to keep that customer in our ecosystem, we need to make sure they know the content we have.”

Business travel was another potential growth area with plans for a “distinct stand-alone seamless digital offering” for the sector.

Webjet executives have unveiled a strategy to revitalise the brand and raise awareness of the extent of its applications. From L-R Nathaly Naughton, David Galt, Katrina Barry and Layton Shannos. Picture: Supplied

Ms Barry said they currently served business travellers in an “unstructured capacity” and saw an opportunity to become the site of choice for tech-savvy small and medium enterprises.

“We have upfront fees and we’re very transparent,” she said.

“There’s a disruption opportunity here we’re quite excited about. We know 30 per cent of business travellers prefer online travel agencies for inventory and digital experience.”

In order to achieve those goals, Webjet planned to lift its marketing spend from 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent of total transaction value and appoint a head of loyalty.

Ms Barry acknowledged “Australians’ obsession with points” which she said would help extract more value from Webjet’s brand strength.

“We currently interact with more than 5.5 million customers on a monthly basis,” she said.

“We know there’s gold in those hills.”

It was unclear as to what format a loyalty program would take and whether it would work in partnership with the likes of Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Velocity – with Webjet customers already able to earn points with those programs when booking flights.

Ms Barry said they looked forward to making some substantial moves in that space this year, and into 2026.

“The trick here is making sure it offers a high value-add to a customer, compelling them to make Webjet group their first choice when booking overall travel,” she said.

The cost of delivering Webjet’s initiatives was expected to be around $15m in the 2026 financial year, which would keep earnings before interest and tax flat until the following 12 months.

Chief financial officer Layton Shannos said they were in a strong financial position to deliver on those plans, which were “conservative and respectful of capital”.

RBC capital markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen assessed the strategy of investing for long term growth as positive even though two years of no earnings growth was “disappointing”.

“But as we see it, the stock is trading very inexpensively, has a strong balance sheet and achievement or near-achievement of the long term opportunity would be materially positive,” said Mr Chen.