Selling Peace of Mind: How Holafly Turned eSIMs into a Global Travel Essential

Staying connected has become an essential part of modern travel. Whether you're finding your hotel, booking a ride, navigating a new city, or simply letting family know you've arrived safely, reliable mobile data can make the difference between a smooth arrival and a stressful one.

In this Company Spotlight, Dan sits down with Jo Juliana Turnbull, Senior Growth Marketing Manager at Holafly, to explore why eSIMs are quickly becoming a travel essential. Jo explains how eSIMs work in simple, practical terms, from checking if your phone is compatible and knowing when to activate your plan to answering common questions about keeping your existing phone number and how easy the setup process really is.

The conversation also explores what travelers are really looking for when they purchase an eSIM: confidence. From instant connectivity on arrival and unlimited data options to coverage in more than 200 destinations and 24/7 customer support, Jo shares how Holafly is helping remove one of the biggest pain points of international travel.

Beyond the traveler experience, Dan and Jo dive into the business behind one of travel's fastest-growing categories. They discuss how Holafly has built a globally recognized brand through creator-led marketing, why authentic content consistently outperforms traditional advertising, and what changing traveler behavior reveals about our growing reliance on staying connected. They also explore the rise of digital nomads, longer-term travel, and why eSIMs are increasingly being bundled into trips through travel advisors, tour operators, and other travel partners, much like travel insurance has become today.

Learn more at holafly.com.

The #1 B2B Travel Podcast Globally. Over 100 Episodes. Listeners in 125 countries. New Episodes Every Weds. 

https://www.traveltrendspodcast.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Holafly

SPEAKER_02 0:05

Hello, everyone, and welcome to a special spotlight edition of Travel Trends. This is your host, Dan Christian, and I'm thrilled today to welcome one of our biggest partners and supporters that we're finally able to do a spotlight episode on. They were a key part of our AI Summit last year. They actually sponsored our Sun Destinations series, and they are a big part of season eight ahead as well. So the team that you have been hearing about that I have been mentioning is Olafly, and they exist in the eSIM space, which has been rapidly growing over the last few years. So I was really keen to bring on the team, but specifically, I was very keen to introduce you all here to Joe Turnbull, who is the senior growth marketing manager at Olafly. So, Joe, welcome to Travel Trends. It's so great to have you with us.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Well, thank you very much, Dan, for having me on the show today.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Fantastic. No, I'm really looking forward to our conversation. And I want to make sure that we actually start for any of our listeners that are not familiar with Olafly, the more and more people I meet, they already know about Olafly. I went on a trip just a couple of months ago to Cancun, and I was going with a company called Nexus Tours. And every email I got from them encouraged me to make sure I had my Olafly eSIM. And so I know how many people are familiar with the brand given uh how much growth you've had in the last several years. But for those people who are not familiar with Olafly, would you mind just giving us a bit of an overview of the company, where what you when you started and and what you guys do?

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Yeah, well, thank you very much, Dan. So you know, I'm Growth Marketing Senior Manager here at Olafly, and we've been in the industry uh since uh 2018, and we are in the uh eSIM market. So we're very fortunate to be in this um relatively, I suppose, new category that we have seen. Uh we started obviously quite some time ago, and we have been working and expanding ever since, uh, growing to quite a large uh team, uh remote, uh our remote global team.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

Fantastic. And for those people who are following along, I know a lot of our listeners like to multitask, and you've heard me mention the name multiple times, Olafly.com, which is H-O-L-A-F-L-Y, since there is a Spanish connection and Olafly, so hello fly, but Olafly or esim.olafly.com.

Joe’s Global Telecom Background

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Uh but before we get more into this category and where you guys are seeing growth and some of the trends in this space, tell us a little bit about your background, Joe, because you have a very interesting global perspective. And so your accent to many of our listeners sounds American, but that's actually a portion of your story. So tell everyone about your global travel experience before join joining Olafly.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

Thank you very much. Yes. So actually, my dad was in the telecom sector, and so we moved around a lot when I was younger. So we lived in uh six different countries by the time I was 13. Some of that was in the United States, near DC, and we also spent some time in Japan, Sweden, uh, Doha, Vanuatu, and England. And then myself as an adult, I spent some time in France during the Erasmus at Paris Business School, uh, Dauphine. And also I moved to Australia and um uh moved to a couple of countries in Europe as well. So um, yeah, I really enjoyed working globally and I really enjoyed the role at Olifly. I actually worked in telecoms before I was account director at an agency in London where we had Orange as one of our clients. And also before that, I actually worked client side or brand side, and we actually did games with mobile phones, and one of our biggest clients was back in the day, Motorola's. This is way before the iPhone. So really happy to be back in the telecoms but space, but this is more telecoms and travel.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Uh well, I'm sure you also remember not only having that experience of living around the world, but going back uh in time to when you actually needed a phone card and you would go to a phone, a pay phone, and actually have to make sure you had your phone card and scratched the number and you get so much credit for your long distance calls.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Yes, it is true. It was really difficult actually to be connected back then, and uh I always looked to see how how I could do that. It was more of uh obviously that we didn't have the internet us that back then, and so you had to do your own research. And that's why I really like Olifly um because really it is the only e sim that keeps you always connected. And it's also the the easiest way to stay connected when you travel. Because you were asking earlier, you know, what is Olafly and um what's the company about? And really, we're about bringing the peace of mind to your trips, we move friction, and we're about keeping it uh simple, instant, and and reliable, and just making sure that you're always connected.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Well, it's interesting. I mean, just fast forward to here we are in 2026, and we actually just did a a blog post with Olafly to highlight kind of the seven ways to make sure you can de-stress your trip by making sure you're connected. I think most of us know the anxiety of not having access to our phone, or specifically, even if we have our phone and we're not connected, when we land at a new destination, that just having that comfort level that you can communicate with either your transfer or have uh maps and just be able to know where you are and to be accessible. And it's um it's essential. So it's amazing to think that, especially like our kids in the next generation, they'll never know anything else. But we are we know how valuable and important that is. But still, people today, you know, they're you know, they're on different roaming plans with their phones, they don't necessarily understand what e-sims are. So that's some of the things I want to get into in our conversation today. But before we do, let's just finish off on your background because it is quite interesting that you know, with your role being a growth marketing manager, and that role, I obviously, you know, the most important role in marketing these days for most companies that uh someone is overseeing the growth marketing, especially a company that is fast growing like uh Olafly is, you need to have a really diverse set of skills. And it certainly starts with performance marketing. And I know your background from SEMrush and uh from search. Obviously, that's incredibly important. Um, but tell us a little bit about your background as a growth marketer and what actually brought you into this space specifically and the role with Olafly that you've joined in the last year.

SPEAKER_00 6:13

Uh actually, I previously working, uh I was working as a marketing consultant. So we're doing a lot of marketing ourselves. And I was working in the SEO space as well. Uh, worked with one of our uh clients down in Australia. And with SEO, we were finding that it's difficult to expand and to raise brand awareness. And this is where uh I sort of crossed over into performance and brand, where we set up events, innovation events that was both increasing brand share, um, improving brand recognition and um improving how people thought about the brand, as well as conversion. So that's something that I've always been aware of being coming from sort of an SEO perspective. But before that as well, I've also worked in SaaS. And in SAS, we were selling uh software as a service in the SEO industry, and it's also about uh performance. So, where can you uh see the biggest growth? Where can you help your clients the most to solve that problem that they are looking from your platform? As we know, there's lots of platforms out there in the market. So uh for me, uh growth has always I was supposed to always been a factor of um my career, probably because I started in sales. So it's always had marketing with a okay, what was the result of that, which now people put under the umbrella uh performance marketing.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Right. Well, and that's why I wanted to ask you about your role today, because a lot of people aren't necessarily familiar with the growth marketing manager role. Anyone in marketing certainly is, and a lot of organizations have someone that is, you know, overseeing their growth strategy. And as you pointed out, paid or performance marketing is one component of that. But when I look at marketing and I often speak about owned, earned, and paid. And obviously, owned channels are incredibly important as are earned. And really, as a growth marketer, you want to get wherever the growth is gonna uh come from, and also at what effective cost to be able to grow the business. And the one thing I find really exciting about seeing Olaflies marketing everywhere is that um, you know, on planes and obviously part of our podcast and um online and then even in emails from partners. So, like, you know, the the number of touch points you need as a marketer to get someone over the line, because it often takes five or six touch points, not just one Google search ad. People are seeing Olafly in a number of places, they're starting to hear the name, they're starting to understand the brand. And then all of a sudden they think to themselves on their next trip, wait a second, I should give this a try. And then they discover it and they're delighted by it, and then they just become a customer. And then obviously then you're on a new trajectory, which is managing lifetime customer value and trying to keep them part of uh Olafly. But tell us a little bit about your role day-to-day, like as a growth marketing manager at Olafly, a fast growing company in the travel tech space. Tell us a little bit about what your day-to-day role looks like.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

So I work across the performance and the brand team, identify opportunities where we can uh be more efficient uh or maximize, you know, maximize our performance. And so I work very closely with the different uh the different teams in performance. We obviously work with, you know, fate media, we work in the SEO field, and it's just about um making sure that we're all aligned, making sure that there's transparency and that you know deadlines are being met and improving transparency across the teams because sometimes we can all be operating silos and not be always aware of what the other team is doing, which we which can also positively impact us. So, in a role, I mean, every day is sort of a different, you know, we're working a lot of different campaigns, but it's about coordinating and and managing the different campaigns that we have to have maximum impact.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Well, one of the things I also find interesting about your role and what I've seen in hiring marketing leaders into travel brands, uh oftentimes people don't have travel industry experience. And I look to see what they've been successful selling online before. And one of my best hires ever was someone that came across from selling printer ink online. Um, and my view, if you can sell printer ink online, you can sell travel. Um, and he was an amazing performance marketer and really knew how to optimize the different channels, and he loved his new role in travel and he stayed in travel ever since. And for me, that's one of the things I I love about this industry is that you know someone may have honed their skills in another space, and those skills are directly transferable. And if you love travel, it's obviously an exciting industry to be in, uh, industry I love, and obviously you do as well, especially when you've traveled extensively and you know you get to do something that's directly connected to your experience, you know, personally and professionally, living in different places, understanding different cultures. Um, but I want to talk about this category now, because I think this is a category that is still new, even though it's been around for several years. Most people are still wrapping their heads around how their smartphones can utilize eSIMs and how eSIMs work. And most people are are familiar with getting a SIM card when they're getting their phone activated. Uh, but

What An ESIM Is And Why

SPEAKER_02 11:05

you see more and more travelers that are arriving in destination, buying eSIMs, or ideally before traveling with an eSIM. So just to make sure we bring our entire audience along on the journey with us, would you give us a bit of an overview of what eSIMs actually are? So for someone who is uh uh you know never heard of eSIM before and are not quite clear on what Oldafly does.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Yeah, sure. Well, an eSIM basically is a sim within your phone operating system, within your phone. Um, the newer phones obviously have it. So those with an older phone, perhaps more than five or six years old, uh maybe those are on what we call a SIM-only plan, uh, not a contract phone, may not have it. You can always do a test. Um, you go into Old Fine, you can see if your phone is compatible. And what it does is that when you go abroad, uh you then can activate, well, you activate it on arrival. And then what it means is you're activating the eSIM there and not using roaming. So most companies do charge a roaming fee depending on the country you're in or the country of your phone. Um, they can charge you quite a high amount, and then you get back and you realize you've got a massive phone bill. So with having the e-sim and allows you to actually avoid these high roaming costs.

SPEAKER_02 12:21

Yeah, I always find it fascinating with travel and technology that there is uh a moment in time when technology and the consumer experience. I often talk about technology and marketing and making sure that from a technology point of view, you don't get too far ahead of the consumer. So the consumer understands the the benefits of the technology. And but there's a certain time and place where all of a sudden the technology gets to a certain point that changes consumer behavior. And then the example I just wanted to share, because I'm sure many people have been in this situation, when you come back from your trip, you know, I'm Canadian, I'm based in Toronto, but I travel half the time. And one of our big foam providers here is a company called Rogers. There's only a few being Canadian. And so I had traveled to Australia and I had bought what I thought was the appropriate phone plan with the right data uh usage. And um, I came back to a $1,500 bill. And I was shocked, I was angry, and I was like, and I ended up negotiating for half of that cost. But it really turned me against using the phone provider because they have seen this as a really an opportunity to take advantage of their customers when they travel internationally, to the point where companies like Olafly coming along have forced these uh large cell companies to reevaluate their pricing policies to try and come anywhere close being competitive and have a fixed daily rate. But it's still a lot of travelers like myself uh feel burned from those experiences. And you see so many travelers they're just like will say to other travelers, oh my God, you need to use e-sim. And people start to panic. What does it mean for my phone number? And like if I switch over to an eSIM. So tell us a little bit about that, like some of those initial concerns that you hear from people and those pain points, because I want to get those kind of addressed early and out of the way, because as I quickly discovered, it's super easy, it's quick to do, um, it's very low

Common Fears And Setup Tips

SPEAKER_02 14:03

risk. Um, but you need to be willing to just wrap your head around what it means. If you so t just to finish off on that point, you know, uh at what stage is someone available to use eSIMs based on their phones? And I know a lot of the phones now have moved to eSIMs, like it's now even like this, right? So tell us a little bit about some of the pain points and uh what you'd recommend for customers just to be aware of.

SPEAKER_00 14:25

Okay, so first of all, really, uh as I mentioned like earlier, what we recommend is just to have a look and see do you have an eSIM? So you can check that going to your settings. Now, in terms of the technology that you mentioned earlier, if you're not that technology savvy, you can always go to your local phone store and find out, or you can also um ask on Olifly themselves as well. There's also we have a lot of information on our blog as well, and you can actually enter our frequently asked questions and you can say, is my phone compatible with an eSIM? So what happened in the past, and um I sympathized for your bill, my bill was never as much as that. I was two days in France for receiving and sending voice messages and calls. It was a hundred pounds, but this was uh 15 years ago, which is still quite a lot in those days. So what happened there, and in your case, is that you were using your SIM. So your country was then having to pay that connection to you're in Australia to pay that connection to rent that line in Australia if you're using Telstra or whatever network that was. Whereas what happens with the Olifly is that it's an eSIM and it replaces the need for a physical SYN. So it's not actually using, let's say I'm in London and I'm using my photophone. Uh I'm using my photophone phone. Yeah, I'm going to um Germany, so outside of the well, it's in the U UK, it's outside of the EU, unfortunately. Um, and I then want to actually use uh data, right? Because I don't, I'm not gonna be connected to a Wi-Fi. So what it is is I then get an eSIM that allows me to use that mobile data, which is what I would be doing with my photophone. But because it's with an eSIM and I've purchased this plan via with Olifly, I'm now paid for that. And we have unlimited data. So I can use my data, and then obviously when I maybe go to my hotel or something like that, and I want to use Wi-Fi, of course I can connect to the Wi-Fi. But we all know many times the the maybe the Wi-Fi in the hotel is not the best, and you're having your you're gonna have your data with you. So buying at an eSIM allows you to actually, it's just that you're having a, I suppose, a relationship with that teleco provider in that country. You you don't need to uh worry about roaming costs because you're actually within you've actually bought that eSIM for your country. And also when people are asking about questions, um you would ask olifline. So when you're buying it, um you can ask some questions. It's there's 24-7 support as well, around the clock customer service. So we've got um a lot of people there ready to answer your questions. And you can also uh top up uh your eSIM as well as needed. So you have a limited data, but really in terms of uh I think some of what you mentioned, like you know, the fear, um just contact Olafly, have the questions answered. If you're unsure about the technology part, go to a phone provider or you can also look at YouTube as well. They have a lot of answers there about say how to use my eSIM, but you can also look at Olifly. We have a lot of information and frequently asked questions, how to install your eSIM, what you're needed. All you need is just do the vesearch before um by your by your eSIM plan and then activate it when you're um when you're at your destination.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

That's great. Thank you for sharing those details. I know that's going to be helpful for many of our listeners, a lot of travel advisors who are encouraging their guests as well to get an eSIM for their trip. And that's exactly the use case with a company like Nexus Tours, promoting their partnership with Olafly in all of their emails to make sure I know you guys do a lot of work with uh partners. Um, and we'll talk about that in time as well.

Marketing Peace Of Mind In Travel

SPEAKER_02 18:03

But I think one of the things that I wanted to get into right away in terms of how you actually market a product that is in a category that people are only starting to familiarize themselves with. And one of the things that stood out to me, and one of the reasons I was looking forward to working with Olafly and your team and looking forward to this spotlight episode in particular, is because this is a huge untapped market. And I've seen no shortage of companies, and obviously you have a number of competitors that are jumping into this space because there's a huge addressable market. It's more than 400 million travelers traveling globally. They need to stay connected, they all have smartphones, and they don't want to stay with their existing phone plan provider for uh a host of reasons. And so they are open to the opportunity, but clearly you need to get the message in front of them and make sure that they understand the proposition and they actually choose Olafly over anything else in the marketplace. And this is the part that I find so fascinating as a marketer and someone that is, you know, in the travel space specifically to try and help educate customers on what is essentially a new category. So when I see different companies getting funding in the eSIM space, it you know, it tells me obviously there's a huge amount of investor appetite given the size of this category and the potential for growth. But the reality is when that happens, there's only a few companies that are going to get out uh and further ahead. So a number of those companies will fade away or some of them will be acquired. There'll be some consolidation in the marketplace. But Olafly has really established themselves as a market leader in a category that is still in its relative infancy. I know you guys have grown dramatically and the team has expanded considerably over the last few years. But as a growth marketing manager, this is what I was really keen to ask you around how you actually market something that people they don't necessarily realize there's a need for it. Um, I've seen your marketing and I'm familiar with the messaging, of course, but I would love if you wouldn't mind sharing from a strategic point of view how you guys approach marketing this category.

SPEAKER_00 20:01

Yeah, thank you. Very good point. Well, we're fortunate to be in this position since uh 2018, but you're right, it is a new category. But we always say that we don't sell just easy, but uh we sell the peace of mind to travelers. So it's basically freeing from freeing freeing them from the stress, you know, of landing in your country and not having access to internet, so not having access to obviously map, Uber, or just basically how to get themselves to their their next destination. And you know, back to your other question before about you know being technical, you know, what we would what we want to do is we we help people to sort of um understand then the technology, but also trusting that it works. So we we focus on also how it feels to use it. Um as I mentioned, we got the 24-7 uh customer support. We are also uh active. Um if you come onto the website, you can chat uh to our to our team and anybody can answer your questions. So we simplify the experience in something into something really, really clear. You know, so you buy it before your trip, you buy it before the trip, um when you arrive and you're connected, you can then activate it. And then you know it makes it much easier, you don't have any stress, and then you can get to your destination, having that peace of mind to enjoy your enjoy being and your and your new new location.

SPEAKER_02 21:29

Cool. And so the takeaway there for me, when I've seen your messaging, is it is very it's uh your branding and the messaging is uh very playful and very, you know, it it definitely connects to people being on holiday, especially and that's why it was a perfect addition to our Sun holidays, because I've when I see the marketing, it's you know when people are looking forward to having a trip and all that excitement and enthusiasm, your branding matches that, but it also highlights the global nature, which is one of the things. Is unique about uh Olafly as well, because one of the frustrations people have is the number of destinations. Now you guys have more than 200 destinations. It's also unlimited plans. And so one of the things I always like about marketing where it addresses the pain points, because you are actually now giving the unique selling propositions about why Olafly over your competition. So it's one thing to educate them about e-sims. And then once they actually start to understand e-sims, it's now about the simplicity and also how easy it is to get set up. And then the coverage that you have. I think it's more than you know uh the 200 destinations, the whole idea of like staying connected anywhere, anytime. For me, it's like there's a simplicity in the messaging that uh that is actually difficult as a marketer often to get to because there's so many things you want to say. But if you're just like global coverage, total flexibility, works on any device hassle-free, it's just like, and would you like to buy one? The answer should be yes. So um that makes it easier for you as a as a marketer to then apply that messaging to all these different channels. Is that right?

SPEAKER_00 23:01

That's correct. Yeah. I mean, the more the market is becoming more and more crowded, and many players are competing on price or technical features. At Olifly, we differentiate by focusing on the experience, you know, the experience and the feeling that we deliver, which is that peace of mind. So we are available, as you mentioned, in over 200 destinations. We have unlimited data. We have uh 24-7 customer support in more than 18 languages as well. So we are allowing, we have the opportunity for people wherever they are to get in touch with us and ask us questions. Um, people choose the option that feels more reliable, more simple, and trusted. Uh, and that's what we focus on. Um, and that's where we focus the the Olafly brand.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

Well, one of the things I wanted to ask you as well, because given that you are um, you know, a well-experienced marketer and have worked in different companies and have the perspective that that brings, one of the things that often comes up in marketing is whether you're building a brand or you're building a category. And the reality is that you are doing both. And I'll just share with our listeners probably a good example of that is Viking River Cruises. When Viking really entered the marketplace and started doing their advertising, particularly for American listeners on PBS. This was a huge breakthrough for Viking and for Downton Abbey. If you used to watch Downton Abbey on PBS, that was a huge breakthrough for Viking and their marketing, even though there was no rivers near Downton Abbey. They used to show Downton Abbey and then these beautiful river cruise ships. And again, that's the brilliance I find in marketing. Is like, if you like the experience of Downton Abbey, you are gonna love going on a Viking uh river cruise. But the thing that Viking did so effectively is they marketed river cruising and they expanded the category. And so every time there was a Viking ad out in the marketing place, people were discovering river cruise and it benefited the category. And I often talk about this in the adventure travel space is that when you look at companies like Intrepid, A G Adventures, and all these companies that are growing very substantially, the category is growing. It's not a zero-sum game, it's this blue ocean strategy. And I think that's an exciting time to be building a category and building a brand in that category. And so I just wanted to ask you that specific question. Uh, you know, when you're trying to do both, and you mentioned the market is getting uh more saturated, uh, how do you go about building both? And how are you now likely leaning more into the brand and what differentiates it from other eSIM providers?

SPEAKER_00 25:24

Yeah, that's a very good question. So I think it's uh something that a lot of companies uh come across where, you know, um, do you build a brand or do you build a category? So we have built both. Um at the beginning, we did start by building a category. Our founders decided to go digital when it was not known at all. So this is entering a you know a new space or relatively unknown space. Um and there is there is still the need to educate um people on the use of e-sims. You know, we asked the question, you asked the question today. Um, there's still a lot of people that don't know about eSIMs just for maybe they are just not aware of it. So there's still the education piece uh that we are doing. But now um it's become a little bit more saturated. So we need to build the brand at the same time. So as I mentioned, we're building a brand that um that is about peace of mind. We defrane to ourselves from other brands by not just selling like the eSIM, but it's that peace of mind. So having the trust that people can feel uh comfortable um when they arrive at their destination to then be able to use Olaflight. It's easy. We have great excellent support. We have a lot of information on our website around, you know, what is an eSIM, how to install. You can test if your phone is compatible or not before you go down and you purchase it. And as I mentioned, we have 24-7 supports. The people there are are really quick to come back to you. I actually bought an eSIM and I didn't tell anyone that I worked at Olafly, and I was really surprised by how quick everybody was uh how that my contact at the customer circle was coming back to me because I was actually in Brazil and uh there wasn't a lot of coverage, and they really helped me to be able to connect and uh be able to use the eSIM.

SPEAKER_02 27:10

Well, and I think that's where you know the the peace of mind for sure as a traveler is ultimately uh what you're looking for. So you can just either enjoy your holiday or know that you're gonna have like a frictionless business trip. And those two, you know, appealing to business travelers and leisure travelers, they're both travelers and they both have similar motivations and a desire to be connected. The most important thing for sure in that messaging and the peace of mind is that 24-7 support. And given that you have, you know, a product that has some level of that can feel technical and simplifying it with the messaging like we've discussed. Um, the other thing I wanted to ask you as a marketer is what has actually unlocked the most amount of growth for Olafly? Because I see your marketing in all these different places, and uh, but I'm I'm keen to know, you know, and I I say this when I I uh fully recognize whenever I'm working with my advisory clients as well, is that you never want to be a one-trick horse. You never want to. And I know you know this from your background with you know, you rely heavily on SEO, and next thing you know, the algorithm changes. You know, you're bidding heavily on SEM. Next thing you know, you've got a lot of competition and all your prices are driven up. And so you you know, you're constantly having to find new ways to grow. Um but I'm very keen to know what has been either kind of the biggest unlock in your Olafly growth strategy or what have been kind of the most compelling returns on uh your marketing investment that uh would stand out to

Influencers As The Growth Unlock

SPEAKER_02 28:32

our listeners. Where are you seeing the biggest benefit?

SPEAKER_00 28:34

So the biggest benefit that we have seen with the biggest marketing unlock is uh content creators, content creators telling our stories. It has been the impact. Yeah, it has been the impact of influencers. And and this goes back to trust, you know, because these people are actually using the product as well and they're showing how they're using it. So hence it's also a bit of an education piece too. So content creators telling our story has had our um been sort of the biggest uh marketing unlock for us.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

Well, it's interesting you mentioned that because uh we did an episode at Social is the New SEO and with at hotels who have currently they've rebranded, they've been a great success story. That episode actually inspired a number of companies to make it required listening, including Travis Pittman and the team over at Tour Radar. And we recorded an episode to highlight Tour Radar's uh embracing the uh creator economy, and they've made a big shift. They created a million-dollar marketing fund just to work with creators. And speaking to Travis again recently, it is uh the biggest success story in their marketing in the last year, is really embracing content creators. And so I find this really fascinating because it clearly aligns with the shift that we're seeing where consumers are spending their time, where they're getting their information. And so tell us a little bit more about that because I'm assuming that this was intentional from the beginning, that you guys decided to go down the path of travel creators, or were you starting to dabble in the space, seeing such a great return that you kind of went more aggressively to market towards content creators?

SPEAKER_00 29:59

I believe, you know, we've all seen a big change kind of towards uh content creators or user-generated content. You know, we've seen that in the SEO space as well. Uh, and also now we're seeing this with um content creators. I mean, back in the day it was uh Facebook. They were a big or or bloggers, a lot of people call them bloggers, and now we're seeing them as content creators, and also we have platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, which weren't around a few years ago. For us, um, it's always been sort of intentional um that we're working with travel creators because we always say it's more credible if someone else, you know, is talking uh about us, is is using our brand than us talking about it ourselves. It's about real users who are actually there, you know, traveling. Um they're using the product and they show that it works. And that authenticity, it builds much more trust than any brand messaging. And I believe that's why customers like like content creators because, oh, that person's been using it and uh I trust them, I believe in what they're doing. Um, because content creators, you know, they're actually real users as well.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Well, and you bring up an interesting point there with content creators, because one of the challenges that I have seen uh clients have and uh various travel companies that I've worked with in is tracking and being able to measure the because it's one thing to have brand awareness, another thing to make sure that you track it properly. I know a great example of that is a company called State 22, based in Montreal. I think uh many of our listeners may be familiar with Andrew Lockhead and the team. They've just raised like $120 million. And I've been close to their business for the last couple of years, and they literally, their whole business model is empowering content creators to be able to have widgets on their blogs and on their social channels that will now allow them to directly book uh products, hotels being a good example. A lot of that's a big source of their revenue is booking accommodation through influencers. And it just shows just how much growth there is working with content creators. And one other stat I'll just share with all of our listeners, too, that hopefully you find interesting, I saw a keynote from a really terrific speaker named Doug Shapiro in New York City a couple of months ago at the uh Trav Media Conference. And one of the things he highlighted, and I shared this with Travis Pittman, given his focus on content creators, is that right now 90% of the revenue for content goes to the major studios, only 10% to content creators. And the reality is that 70% of the content that consumed is studio, 30% is content creators. And obviously, one of the big shifts that we're seeing is the younger generation. So that 70% of people that are watching studio created content is overwhelmingly, you know, 50 plus. And the younger generations are embracing, like they're not watching studio produced content as much. They're listening to podcasts, they are uh very active on all their social channels and watching short videos. And so these content creators are tech technically right now under-indexing on the revenue they generate, but they're have an outsized benefit. So for me, I actually what uh that alerted me to is that this category is still due for significant growth over the next few years. So if you're hearing companies that are embracing content uh creator marketing today, it's actually this market can 3x, 5x uh over the next several years. So you're clearly tapped into something, but from a conversion point of view, how are you making sure that it is leading to people purchasing plans?

SPEAKER_00 33:17

When you go to when you think about conversions with content creators, uh I would say you have to think about, okay, what's sort of your end result? What are your KPIs? Are you measuring in terms of uh more traffic to your website? Or are you measuring in terms of uh and in terms of traffic you can say organic, direct, um referral? Uh are you actually seeing that you're getting an increase in um traffic or sorry, um conversions using a Pacific code, you know, when you've given them out to uh for for a certain campaign. So it really depends on those KPIs that you said at the beginning because content creators can be um a very uh effective uh way to promote your brand. And you can have that measured under sort of, as I said, uh more sort of brand awareness. So brand awareness is not necessarily conversions, or you can have that against uh performance. So that would be in terms of uh perhaps uh conversions for a particular product, uh, or it could actually be conversions for, you know, more people signing up to a Pacific newsletter, or you know, for example, you're running your show, more people are signing up uh and listening to your show. So really it depends sort of on the KPIs that you set at the beginning for how you want to measure the impact of the the work you're doing with a specific content creator.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

Oh, it's really interesting. I mean, that this is where understanding consumer behavior is incredibly important as a marketer. So knowing these are the, you know, making sure your brand is relevant on the channels that people are spending their time. This is the part that always amazes me. Um, how many marketers sometimes often lose sight of that. And it's, you know, and it's often because you're trying to manage so many channels and you get more sophisticated at one channel and the audience moves. But the reality is we always need to be making sure that we're, you know, we're making our brand relevant. And so looking at customer behavior, especially as it relates to travel, I'm keen to ask you how you are tapping into looking at customer behavior and trying to figure out where and when to best position the Olafly message. And I I find the whole traveler journey quite fascinating because clearly there's a lot of planning involved, and like, you know, depending on the stages of um that you look at there's either four stages of travel or five stages of travel, but um however you want to break it down, there's obviously the pre-trip, the research experience, there's the booking phase, there's the traveling phase, and then there's the returning phase, and like, you know, uh to simplify it. Um so when people are trying to make a decision before they go, or when they are actually booking, so the difference of that, of course, is that um people learning as they're doing their research, they need to make sure they have an eSIM, or they're at the point of booking and they're being reminded, or people are traveling, arriving in destination and saying, wait a second. So obviously there's multiple touch points there for ways for you to get your message in front of them. I'd love to hear just from your you obviously you have access to a lot of data. Um, in the last few years, how have you seen some of the traveler behavior change as it specifically relates to being connected on holiday? Because one of the things that we heard about a few years ago was this desire for everyone to be disconnected and have a digital detox. And the reality is that so few people actually do that or even want to do that. I'd love to hear from the data because it's one thing for people to say, I'm gonna have a digital detox, and the reality is they're still using their phone all the time. Maybe they're just having a digital detox from their work email, um, but they're still on TikTok. So tell us a little bit about the data you're seeing from traveler behavior and how that's

Always Connected Travel Behavior Data

SPEAKER_02 36:40

changed in the last few years.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Yeah, well, actually, we had the Olafly uh traveling eastern report that went, we made that in 2025. We'll be uh updating that, of course. We discovered that actually just 3% of travelers go offline when they travel. People expect to be connected all the time from the moment they land. And back to your point about um disconnecting, I think a lot of people want to disconnect from work, but we many people don't live near their family and friends. Um, so they want to be connected. And having that connection is seen as a good thing. Uh, it also helps with obviously navigating to the new place that they're going to, you know, the local restaurant or local attraction. So having connectivity is very, very important. Um people really see connectivity as just as important as, you know, booking, booking your flight, booking their hotel. So it's extremely important for for all users. And as I said, we found that just 3% of these travelers actually go offline when they travel. Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 37:42

Yeah, and that's that's this is where what people will say or what they'll report back versus what they actually do. And that's why it's always interesting looking at the data. The other thing I was keen to actually know is the what we refer to often as personas in the marketing space, like customer profiles. You know, what does a typical customer look like for Olafly? How do you segment your traveler profiles? Are you uh especially as it relates to business travelers, leisure travelers, or people that are digital nomads? Um yeah, tell us a little bit about where your core customer base is and where you're seeing the

Digital Nomads And Monthly Plans

SPEAKER_02 38:16

growth.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Well, what we have is um so digital nomads and the long-stage travelers, they are they are a core growth segment for us. We actually have a particular product for them. They're called Olafly Plans, and this is where they are actually the main users there. And the product is based on um having a monthly plan. So it's designed for people who stay longer in a destination and they need more stable and continuous connection without having to worry about, you know, changing eSIMs every time they move. It's it's a solution that's really adaptable for them because they're not just traveling for a few days, as we mentioned. They're they're traveling for, you know, weeks or months at a time and they're working and living abroad. So uh having that connectivity is so important. Um, it's essential really for their day-to-day trip because they are not just, I'm on holiday. Maybe they might be on holiday for a few days, but with the rise of some from some countries digital nomads, they can actually make the most of the weekends and actually go travel somewhere else, like say within Europe, um, you know, you're it's much closer to to see different countries than, for example, the US, and they can be working um and then during the week and then uh traveling on the weekend. So really having uh the product all the flight finance is a lot more flexible for this group of for this uh segment.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

Really interesting. And I well, so on the digital nomads and the long stay, you mentioned monthly, but you the uh myself is I've backpacked for three months or six months, and so you know, for me I'm familiar with what, especially working at Lonely Planet, what a digital nomad looks like. But just for our listeners, what when you say digital nomad or long stay, what sort of duration are you typically uh talking about? What is it three months, six months?

SPEAKER_00 39:56

No, I mean a digital nomad is really um someone that is going to be probably away from their home country probably for more than two or three weeks. So you can look at the with the all-of-flight plans, it's per monthly subscription. So it works out as um as you having that long and continuous um uh internet connection for that time. Whereas, you know, when you have ESIM for shorter trips, you know, it might just be a week or it could be like 10 days. But all-of-flight plans is really for those that can be depending on so what is a digital nomad? Some companies allow their their staff to be a digital nomad for up to three months. And that's the same with many, I would say, legal requirements. So many company people can stay, depending on their visa, in a country for three months. In other countries, they can stay uh no more than six months uh if they don't want to change their tax residency.

SPEAKER_02 40:49

Yeah, I love the life of a digital nomad. It's something that I have had the experience, and it's like my preferred state of being in many ways. And I think many of our listeners might know that. And a lot of our listeners are digital nomads. That definitely speaks to them, like the lifestyle flexibility. The place that I was most recently when I was in Columbia and uh Medellin is a is full of digital nomads to the point that it's actually a bit of an issue for some of the locals, but you can live incredibly well there for a thousand US dollars a month. Um, and that is like a place to live and going out to eat all the time, and like, you know, and so there are pockets around the world, and oftentimes it can be obviously for the benefit of local community to bring uh people in and lift up communities and bring uh more travel dollars in, provided it's done the right way. But to me, when I think of digital nomads, I think of seeing all the uh the people in the cafes and the restaurants uh in in Medagene. And it just made me think about uh the types of destinations where you're seeing the most uh uh data, because I would think there'd be obviously there'd be a connection, you guys, especially running reports, you could actually see where the digital nomads are and where they're spending their time. Uh so tell us, I guess, where you're seeing the strongest demand for uh the eSIM solutions. I'm sure Europe is still obviously going to be very popular or places like Japan for people on holiday. But yeah, what are the big trending destinations in 2026?

Demand By Season And Destination

SPEAKER_00 42:09

We see um a very strong demand across yes, uh Europe, the US, uh, Japan, Mexico. Um, you know, but this is really relative because it depends really on the country the traveler is coming from, and of course their their passport, you know, where where can they or can they not go? Um so what is instead of looking at the fixed or trending destinations, what we see is that demand shifts depending on the market, the season, and and where people are traveling from.

SPEAKER_02 42:37

And so along with that, this is also a big change, is that you know, in those digital monomads, we used to try and reach out to them when I was at Lonely Planet in an early internet world, and we would try and run focus groups and we would meet up with travelers in those uh destinations, and we would buy them rounds of drinks and learn more information about how they're using travel guides. And these are literally printed uh travel guides. And so, um, which I still love. I th I think there is um something to be said for that era of travel, but nevertheless, there's so many benefits to the era that we live in now to be digitally connected. How how do you see that for the travelers that you are working with? I mean, clearly it's moved from nice to have to non-negotiable, but you know, given you've had experience in this industry for a number of years in the last five years, how would you say it's how would you say it's it's changed?

SPEAKER_00 43:28

It's uh that's quite a difficult question in terms of I mean, it's all it's changed quite considerably, you know, at the moment. Like connectivity is just it's just a must really now. It's not an option anymore. So for us, it's uh people are as I said before, it's not just like okay, maybe it might be nice to have sort of uh it's it's as important as booking your flight, really, uh and booking sort of your hotel room. So um it's just it's just the the the thing that people need when they when they travel because it's also about safety as well, you know, once you're connected you can also get access to your maps, you know where you are, you have more familiarity around that. So uh it's important. I I I think maybe before people were saying, and that's why I said, oh, that's a difficult students have, people were like, oh, maybe it's not maybe it's okay. Maybe I'll be fine. But now it's like, no, I need to do it and it's okay to want to be connected. And it's okay to want to know where am I going, uh, what are my plans and for the next day or or two.

SPEAKER_02 44:25

Well one of the things I'll just add to this has changed from our vantage point having teenagers and now kids in first year university is that you know we got them phones when they were 12, which now some people will look back and say that was too early and and um and clearly when it comes to some of the things we're still learning about social media, it probably was and it's obviously kind of a big push to you know 16 and above, regardless of reality is kids want to be connected and when you get to a destination, the first thing they want to do is get access to the Wi-Fi at the hotel. And now it actually becomes no, I need to be connected at the airport, on the plane, I need when we arrive, it's no longer I can't wait till I get to the hotel to be reconnected. I need to be connected the entire time. So that's one thing I'm sure it's gone from just the parents having access to like the entire family. Are you seeing those type of things like it was just like family plans or like you know the when we traveled last we got four eSIMs like as opposed to just one.

SPEAKER_00 45:22

We can yes people have been uh by multiplans um and that is optional of course with uh Olafly we want to encourage people to be traveling in groups um we did a campaign um previously about you know uh people traveling in groups and uh there was a a sort of discount if they bought a third eSIM uh in instead of just two eSIMs so it's very easy within OnFly to actually purchase more ESIMs uh sort of as a group do encourage group traveling but we what we do is though is just to have the you know the peace of mind that they can find out they can contact us and and find out before they fly where how can I work this ESIM? Where can I um activate it? And you were saying about the airport this is you know many airports do have um Wi-Fi connection so people can purchase the ESIM and then they can activate on arrival. That arrival does not need to be the hotel room they just need to have in uh stable internet connection so they can do that at the airport and then book their Uber or uh go to the train station and know where they're going because they are connected because they're using that ESIM

Group Travel And Airport Activation

SPEAKER_00 46:30

data.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Yeah that's so interesting. Well let let's let's uh talk about the future of this category and this space because I've got a couple more questions I wanted to ask you and they're specifically along those lines because as we think about you know 2030 which is only a few years away and you know we always are you know often you know we we think things are going to change more than they're going to in the short term and obviously everyone's aware of that phrase but the reality is things are changing quite quickly especially with AI and uh across the board with technology. And I do think there's a beauty in the fact that when you do travel though, it is you know sometimes the antidote to um being in in front of our screens and sitting at our desks is that you're in destination, your senses are heightened. It's one of the reasons I love the whole digital nomad lifestyle is because you feel like you're really living or feel like you're really alive, but you can still be working, you can still be productive, but you can be in a completely new destination and be stimulated by that environment. So I I think there's lots of benefits and I just want that's a a call out to the companies that are still embracing that as more and more people are bringing people back to the office. And so when we think about the future of this category in travel marketing one of the things that stands out to me is that you know working with OTAs online travel agencies and some of the larger players I would anticipate that this is going to become like travel insurance in the sense that you absolutely need it. And so it's going to get bundled into other travel bookings. Are you seeing that in your with Olafly with tour operators adding in eSIM for their guests? Like how integrated do you see this being? Because I I I would have to assume just from my vantage point that's likely um the neck one of the next phases of growth for this category.

SPEAKER_00 48:09

So for us we we do have partnerships uh we have a partnerships department and we work with travel agencies so they can offer connectivity from the moment the user buys the chip because the idea really is that connectivity becomes part of the travel experience from the beginning and not just an add-on like you know right at the end that's something that you solve later. So that's where we're um seeing with our with our partnerships department. And I believe it's reflected really in the fact that as you see with with many other well you and I are travelers you know when you're purchasing uh to go over a trip you you don't just sort of plan to do something later. Sometimes you you'll plan to to buy everything the hotel, uh the insurance, you know, maybe a day trip as well in your destinations. Uh for us, we have the partnerships department and we work with these travel agencies so we can offer this connectivity from the beginning.

SPEAKER_02 49:00

Yeah and I think that's obviously has to be when you think about the future growth of the business I'm sure your investors and the executives are all thinking about this is that it's one thing to have a high value client today that is a digital nomad or someone that's on a long journey,

Bundling ESIMs With Travel Bookings

SPEAKER_02 49:13

but someone that is going to be a regular traveler and every time they do travel, they're traveling with Olafly and it's you know once you get that customer, often you'll have a customer for life. I mean I know it's the case for me with travel insurance in particular is that you know you go back to your provider each time or you sign up for multi-trip destinations. And so you get a comfort level with the system. And so each time I'm traveling, I just go back and I can make sure I get my travel insurance for that destination. And um so I think that obviously especially given we have a lot of travel advisors listening to this, I definitely encourage you to explore that because as we know in the industry, these are ancillary products that often carry uh uh commissions that are desirable or uh so it'll help add to your portfolio of offerings. Your customers would be delighted and it also presents a new revenue stream for your agency as well. So definitely explore that because I would think that that's going to be an ongoing and growing a trend. The other thing I wanted just to finish off on is what's next for Olafly, especially from a brand perspective. You guys are continuing to go from strength to strength and in your marketing and positioning and your product offering and I'm really keen to hear what's what's ahead for Olafly in 2026.

What’s Next And How To Connect

SPEAKER_00 50:24

Thank you for that and thank you also for for having me on the show today. So at Olafly we want to continue to bring that peace of mind to to our customers and to our travelers uh as we mentioned earlier and we've actually released um a new feature and this is designed to always have our customers uh covered it's uh one gigabyte uh it's an extra gigabyte of data uh it's always on uh one gigabyte of monthly uh backup data which uh allows people to be always connected so what it means is if you buy an eSIM for a trip for example uh to US or um you know outside of your maybe um area where you can only get um you know coverage uh we give you that extra additional one gigabyte for every it's it comes every month and you can use that in the 76 destinations forever because we want you to to to be there and to be with us for for more than that just that one trip. So it's it's um it's always on uh one gigabyte monthly backup at at no extra cost.

SPEAKER_02 51:32

Wow that's exciting so yeah major things in store yes very major things so it's really to to keep enjoying always on we we we encourage our customers they they keep their eSIM installed and um and uh you know they have this uh one gigabyte allowance that it refreshes every day so uh yeah incredible yeah and I I that's how what I have to imagine is obviously one of the biggest trends is not only people staying connected but people needing uh more bandwidth and uh so having that one gigabyte backup plan I'm sure is going to be highly desirable to a lot of our listeners and and travelers and being able to make sure that you don't if when you when you have bought that car that then you continue to stay on that one eSIM given that you get that gigabyte every month. And um so and ongoing forever. So that's um yeah that's a very compelling value proposition and another big differentiator for Olafly compared to what else is in the marketplace. That's uh that's really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 52:32

Thank you. And and and also with this with our new product launch what it means is that you know if you have like a layover in another country you still have that internet uh connection to text your family yeah and if you're a light user and you only need one gigabyte you already have that without um uh paying while maybe other providers may may charge you for that and you know also in types of in case of emergency you know you you may run out um and you still have the connection to call you know call someone that you need. So it's basically about referring the fact that we're not just covering you know for that one trip. You know, we we want to stay with you and and give you that peace of mind over time.

SPEAKER_02 53:13

Yeah. Well I know that's one of the challenges is that people have different zones and the different coverage on which countries you're going to and um especially when you have connections that all of a sudden throws in another um unknown for people. So it's just really fascinating. I've learned a lot from our discussion. I'm obviously you know I'm bullish on Olafly already but um even more so from our discussion today I'm sure many people will reach out to you uh after this conversation is there any specific ways you want people to be able to reach out to you and the team obviously we've mentioned the website uh but is there any uh last calls to action for ways that people should connect with you or the team?

SPEAKER_00 53:49

Yes they can follow us on um Instagram and on LinkedIn and they can connect with us uh over those channels as well and um also with if they have any questions they can contact us too and uh I will provide you with that email address.

SPEAKER_02 54:05

Awesome. That's great. Well Joe, it's been a real pleasure meeting you. Obviously this is the first time we've connected but it's uh been a delightful conversation. Obviously I'm excited for you in this role and the success of Olafly and especially this big uh next rollout that you have planned. So congrats to you and the team and I wish you guys every success in the year ahead and I look forward to our continued partnership and keeping in touch.

SPEAKER_00 54:26

Thank you very much Dan for having me and uh I look forward to to uh hear listening to the podcast and also listening to your other podcasts.

SPEAKER_02 54:34

Thank you. Yes and just on that note we do have spotlights that people can find at traveltrendspodcast.com but if you enjoyed this you can also find clips and highlights from our conversation today with Joe on our social channels Instagram YouTube and LinkedIn at Travel Trendspodcast and definitely for more information check out Olafly.com H O L A F L Y dot com you can check out the partner section obviously you can sign up for a plan yourself you can see some of the case studies that they've worked with with partners and I'm as you've heard throughout this conversation I'm continuing to hear more and more about Olafly on my travels so I'm delighted that we get the privilege to work together and I definitely encourage all of our listeners to check out Olafly learn more and try it out on your next trip. And thanks again to everyone for joining us on this latest spotlight episode of Travel Trends. Until next week safe travels