EFR Travel relaunches leisure brand as demand shifts to ‘experiential’ travel

Multi-brand luxury travel group EFR Travel Group has relaunched its leisure division as it pivots towards the growing demand for experiential travel and tailor-made holidays.

Previously known as Luxury Worldwide Collection, Curuvia Travel sits alongside three sister brands in the EFR Travel portfolio, including EFR Corporate Travel, Diamond Jets and Elegant Golf Resorts.

Speaking to Aspire, founder and chief executive Edward Rom said the rebrand was driven by increasing demand for experiences rather than traditional beach escapes.

He said: “The messaging is all about curation and experiential travel. We want to be a disruptor.

“Luxury Worldwide Collection was really a fly-and-flop brand, whereas Curuvia will offer a far broader spectrum. We’re not in the world of fly and flop anymore; people want experiential travel.

The relaunch has brought a new website and expanded product offering to reflect this shift.

Rom said the previous brand had “run out of steam” and required more than a simple refresh.

He added: “The website had become old, and the brand needed a refresh, so we decided rather than try and re-message Luxury Worldwide Collection, we wanted to entirely rebrand the leisure side of the business.”

The new positioning has been designed to appeal to both the brand’s previous customer base and new audiences, including younger generations “who want to showcase their travel on social media” and older clients who are moving beyond relaxation-focused holidays in favour of exploration. 

While Rom highlighted that destinations such as Malaysia, Japan and Sri Lanka are “standing out”, he said the emphasis will be on bespoke itineraries rather than promoting individual destinations.

He added: “We want to show new and existing clients that they can phone us for anything, and we can curate a trip to suit them. Any country, we can create a bespoke itinerary, and it won’t be something you buy off the shelf.”

Alongside the launch of Curuvia, EFR Travel is preparing to expand its specialist golf holidays operator Elegant Golf Resorts with an office branch in the US “in the coming weeks”.

Rom said: “We’re taking on a couple of people in America who will start building the pipeline of business, but we will service that business from our UK office for the time being. Once it gets off the ground, the US office will become a completely self-sufficient business.”

In regard to expanding to additional markets in future, Rom added: “We don’t want to stretch ourselves worldwide, but we do feel that there are pockets where we see an opportunity or have a trusted partner on the ground to grow the business with us as a joint venture.”

Alongside its expansion, Elegant Golf Resorts will also unveil a wider range of product for UK clients, spanning the US, South Africa, Vietnam and Cambodia this September.