DELIVERING TO A TIGHT DEADLINE FOR SINGER / SONGWRITER JASON DERULO
In early June 2022, the Travel Places Music and Entertainment division were contacted by the tour management team of music artist Jason Derulo. The American singer, songwriter, and dancer, who was accompanied by a group of 30 staff, had been booked to play two prestigious festivals in Spain, between the 18th and 22nd of June.
The numbers
Travellers
Week Lead Time
Hotels Contacted
The Challenge
The travelling group needed hotel nights within a short distance of the festival venues, whilst also being of the standard an A-list celebrity would expect. With many other artists, crews, management teams, and punters booking hotel nights for the festivals months in advance, finding high-class accommodation was not going to be a simple task. The shows marked the first overseas performances for Derulo since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the music industry to a halt over two years ago. And with disruption continuing to impact travel post-pandemic, the tour management team knew they needed to work with a business experienced in managing the complex and dynamic requirements of major events, something the Travel Places team are accustomed to.
Our experience, dedication and specialised industry-wide relationships ensured we were able to create an environment for Jason Derulo and his team to perform at their best...
Our Approach
We are experts at delivering seamless group travel, but the lead time provided by the tour management for these events posed its challenges. First on the agenda was the popular ‘O Son do Camiño’ festival, a huge multi-genre music event, held each summer in Santiago de Compostella. The 3-day festival welcomes more than 120,000 people (42,000 daily) to a city with a population of less than 100,000. Tasked with less than two weeks to secure rooms for the 30-person travelling party, our team had to use their industry experience, area knowledge and contacts to secure suitable accommodation. Working closely with the tour manager, it was decided that the party would be split into two groups and booked into hotels in nearby ‘A Coruña’. Our team managed to negotiate a favourable rate for Group ‘A’ and secured the last 9 rooms at the only 5* hotel left in the city.
Following the first festival, Derulo went on to headline a night at ‘Starlite Catalana Occidente’, the long-lasting boutique festival with more than 50 days of concerts in a row. Taking place in the popular sun-drenched Costa del Sol town of Marbella, securing desired accommodation was once again going to be a challenging task. But as travel specialists, our long-standing relationships with global hotel chains and select hotel managers meant we were able to secure availability at the best value accommodation, with terms that enhanced our client’s experience. These expertise and contacts are essential in the world of music and entertainment, where it takes a significant amount of communication between our team and the hotel managers to negotiate the upgrades and add-ons that many popular artists are accustomed to. Our team spoke with 20 individual properties before selecting the final, most appropriate accommodation for our client that matched and exceeded their’ needs.
The Result
Despite the obvious challenges in front of the Travel Places team, we were able to successfully deliver everything the client asked for. By leveraging our hotel contacts and working around the clock as soon as the request came in, we were able to create an environment for Jason Derulo and his team to perform at their best. As a result of the great work Ross Lambert and Deborah Bolger in our Music and Entertainment department, we are thrilled that Jason Derulo and his team have confirmed that they will come to Travel Places for all hotel requests for their upcoming tour nights.
