Virgin Voyages: Open Letter to South Dakota

Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, the new adult-by-design cruise ship setting sail in 2020, has already booked voyages with sailors from all over the United States – except South Dakota – and Richard Branson intends to do something about it.

Turns out that the average full-time employee in South Dakota uses only 26% of their vacation days to travel, and roughly 73% of South Dakotans have left over days each year.

To rally some South Dakotans to come sail with Virgin Voyages and use those vacation days, the brand has put out a call for sailors encouraging them to book passage, with clever billboards around the state.

Even Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson is taking notice. He wrote an open letter to South Dakotans, which will run in The New York Times, urging them to book ASAP and come join the Virgin Voyages fun in 2020.

To give South Dakotans even more of a nudge, Virgin Voyages is offering the first lucky resident who books a cruise a prize package.