Irish retailer SuperValu will exit its long-standing Getaway Breaks programme which was previously run in partnership with travel company Digibreaks, the company has said.
The partnership was run as part of the retailer’s SuperValu Real Rewards programme offering loyalty members access to discounts on hotel stays and benefits in booking holidays. The service will be run in future under Getaways Ireland branding and is promising to retain the “same trusted value” it had under the SuperValu name.
In a statement to The Irish Times, SuperValu confirmed it will be exiting the Getaway Breaks programme from December 15th. It had been offering it for more than 25 years.
“From that date, Digibreaks, who are the provider behind the service, will take over direct management of the programme,” the company said. “This will ensure customers can continue to enjoy great-value hotel breaks across Ireland with the same quality and service they are used to.”
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The partnership was ended, SuperValu said, in an effort to evolve its Real Rewards programme to “focus on new benefits that deliver even greater value to customers”
SuperValu assured customers that “existing bookings and gift vouchers will be fully honoured” with the Musgrave brand saying it will “work closely” with Digibreaks “to manage and support all confirmed bookings and gift vouchers until they are completed”.
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Any future bookings made after December 15th will be managed directly by Digibreaks and the programme will exist independently of SuperValu. The partnership will formally end at the start of January, but all Getaway Breaks vouchers will continue to be accepted and honoured “as usual”.
Dublin-based holiday bookings platform Digibreaks is part of the WinWin Group and offers branded holiday solutions to retailers, media owners and other companies. It currently partners with Swedish retailer Coop and launched GoBreaks with Bauer Media in addition to taking over SuperValu’s holiday packages in 2016.
Founded by entrepreneur James Lenehan, the company’s website says it engages with more than eight million customers on an annual basis, and processes more than 16,000 bookings each month.
SuperValu said the website for their Getaway Breaks programme will redirect to a new site for Getaways Ireland, the new branding for the programme under Digibreaks. This is to “ensure a smooth transition” the retailer said, however the website earlier on Wednesday linked to a domain register and the Getaways Ireland site.
It is understood that SuperValu were the party to break away from the partnership out of a desire to exit the travel space. Digibreaks did not respond with a comment before publication.
