Subject line (Email 1): A little sunshine, just for you ☀️
Subject line (Email 2): Your next getaway awaits at voco Gold Coast
Sent: Triggered on signup, 2026
Brand: voco Gold Coast by IHG
Category: Inspiration
Hotel location: Gold Coast, Australia (APAC)
Our thoughts:
New subscribers are, by definition, curious about the brand they’ve just opted into, making the welcome moment one of the highest-engagement touchpoints in the guest journey, right alongside a booking confirmation. Rather than using that curiosity to push a rate straight away, voco Gold Coast splits it across two emails: one built to earn trust, one built to convert it.
Email one does trust-building. It opens with the “Reliably Different” brand positioning and a personal welcome, then moves into sensory, lifestyle-led imagery: flamingo pool floats, an ocean-view balcony, a Waves buffet breakfast spread. Surfers Paradise feels tangible before any offer is mentioned, and the only ask is to keep reading, which lowers the barrier for a brand-new contact to stay engaged.
Email two converts that goodwill into action. It swaps the brand imagery for a warm, relatable family-arrival photo and drops into a single, low-friction ask: “Book your next stay.” One clear CTA, no competing offers, no urgency gimmicks. That sequencing shows in the numbers: open rates held above 41% across both sends, with click-through rates around 3.6 to 3.7%, ahead of typical industry benchmarks for automated flows. A strong example of a welcome series doing double duty as a lead qualification tool.
Open rate: 41.8% (Email 1) / 41.4% (Email 2)
Click-through rate: 3.7% (Email 1) / 3.6% (Email 2)
