The Pluto second quarter 2020 update

Hey there,

We wanted to give an update on what’s been going on over the last 3 months at Pluto HQ. Like all travel businesses, these are testing times. But, we’re confident we can weather this storm and that we’re doing the best we can with what we can control.

If you only have a few minutes, you can read the exec summary below.

And if you want even more:

• You can follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram
• And, keep an eye on our blog for more regular informal updates

Exec summary and highlights

The really important things that have happened in the last 3 months

• Launched a set of coronavirus related help materials and FAQs, as well as a new dedicated section on our website to explain what you are and aren’t covered for relating to coronavirus.
• The FCO updated their travel advice, and we’ve started to see customers returning, after ~4 months of almost no sales.
• Continued with the design, development and launch preparation for our travel planning tool, Pluto Pinboard. We’re aiming to do a soft launch before the end of August.
• Committed to a set of 10 actions to become a more antiracist, diverse and inclusive business. We also managed to get some other startups to sign up to these as well.
• Announced our intention to become B-Corp and have been blown away by the support for this from the shareholders we’ve spoken to so far.
• Signed up 5 new travel insurance partners to help more people get covered with Pluto.
• We were approved for a £50k Bounce Back loan from the UK Government.
• Continued our efforts of establishing Pluto as a travel brand, by working on more high quality travel content, running a successful photo competition, and getting some quality press mentions.

So, what’s next for Pluto in the next 3 months?

• Start to re-market Pluto’s travel insurance and continue to make necessary changes to the product to ensure it’s suitable in light of coronavirus.
• Launch an early version of Pluto Pinboard to our early access users, and prepare for a bigger public launch.

COVID-19 update

Coronavirus continues to heavily disrupt the travel industry. Although there are signs of improvements, with the recent changes in FCO travel advice leading to an increase in sales and traffic to our site. We are cautiously optimistic though as we’ve seen second waves and spikes resulting in localised lockdowns. Seeing as this may continue until a vaccine is available, we will continually monitor the situation to ensure we are not trying to grow too quickly if the market isn’t ready.

As for what we can cover, like most other insurers, we can cover people if they catch coronavirus abroad, but unfortunately we can’t cover any travel disruption caused by the virus. We’ve made numerous updates to our website and app to ensure this is as clear as possible for our customers. There isn’t an opportunity yet to provide specialised coronavirus cover, because this isn’t something insurers are willing to provide.

But there are clear signs of hope when we speak to our target audience about how coronavirus might affect their desire to travel in the future. The short answer is, it won’t. In fact many want to travel more in the short term to make up for lost holidays. It’s clear from our research and industry reports that younger audiences (<45 yrs old) are much more likely to bounce back quickly. Also, that travel is a mega trend and once back to normal, will continue to grow again. You can read our full write up on this here.

See the rest of this update with the link below.

Originally published at https://blog.pluto.travel on July 27, 2020.