Richard Branson doubles down on luxury travel as he expands business empire

Sir Richard Branson is planning to open a rooftop gym at Heathrow and launch new hotels, cruises and flights as his Virgin Group bets on the luxury leisure sector to drive growth.

The billionaire said Virgin hoped to tap into a continued boom in high-end leisure post-Covid.

Sir Richard told The Telegraph in an interview in Las Vegas: “Our leisure businesses have had a new lease of life since the pandemic. We spent two years in the trenches battling and now, like everyone, we can enjoy life again.”

Virgin Hotels will open its 17th premises, and first in London, in August and it is already looking at adding an 18th in Washington, D.C. after Sir Richard visited a potential site last week.

Virgin Hotels plans to establish a presence in every city that Virgin Atlantic serves, Sir Richard said.

“I was a bit slow in realising the power of the collective and it’s only been in the last decade that we’ve really started getting all the various Virgin companies to work really closely together.”

Cruise arm Virgin Voyages, which operated its first trip only in 2021, confirmed that its fourth vessel will be deployed on sailings through the Panama canal to Alaska, with tickets already available and selling well.

Sir Richard plans to take a trip aboard all three of Virgin Voyages’ existing ships later in the summer, accompanied by former Culture Club singer Boy George, who four decades ago was signed to the Virgin label and will be providing DJ sets for guests.

He said: “George and I go back right to the beginning. I remember seeing him at the 100 Club in London before we signed them. And he’s now the most wonderful DJ. We’re going to do all three cruise ships in about three or four days.”

Sir Richard was speaking in Las Vegas where Virgin Atlantic was celebrating its 40th anniversary. Fresh from launching flights to Las Vegas from Manchester, the billionaire revealed that Virgin Atlantic will commence services from London Heathrow to Toronto next March.

The carrier also plans to open new Clubhouse lounges in Los Angeles and Barbados airports as it seeks to distinguish its brand from rivals, and Sir Richard said that a rooftop gym will be added at the Heathrow Clubhouse after the idea came to him while working out.

He said: “Sometimes you have to expend money to get loyal customers. We’ve always got to be one step ahead and we know that others will copy what we do.”

Sir Richard, 73, is well known for his marketing stunts. Memorable ones include carrying Burlesque model Dita Von Teese on the wing of a Virgin Atlantic plane to celebrate the airlines 10th anniversary, flying a hot air balloon across the Atlantic, bungee jumping off the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and driving a tank down Fifth Avenue in New York to celebrate the launch of Virgin Cola.

While the stunts have been toned down (though Sir Richard still jumped fully clothed into a swimming pool at a Las Vegas party), he remains very active in promoting and managing the business.

Over the four days prior to his visit to Nevada, he joined a Virgin cruise from Miami at the last-minute after planned eye surgery there was found to be unnecessary, made the trip to the US capital to view hotel premises, and travelled to New Mexico for a Virgin Galactic launch.

Virgin is hopeful of reaping earnings from its investment in space tourism, though there’ll be a near two-year hiatus before it can do so. Following its most recent launch on June 8, Virgin Galactic, which has lost more than 60pc of its value this year, will cease flights while it awaits deliveries of a new class of spaceship.

The failure of another space venture, the aircraft-based satellite launch system Virgin Orbit, might have been avoided had a payload not been lost, Sir Richard said.

He characterised his plan to relaunch Virgin Trains in the UK as part of the same focus on leisure and travel.

While declining to comment directly on Avanti Rail, which took over the West Coast contract after Virgin lost out, he said his companies “generally go into industries which are not being particularly well run.”

The venture would be launched using open access rules and wouldn’t be affected by Labour’s plans to renationalise the UK railway, should it form the next government.

Sir Richard said: “The indications are that they would love to see us in competition there again.”

The entrepreneur is now in his sixth decade running his Virgin empire but his daughter Holly, Virgin’s chief purpose and vision officer, is increasingly involved. Holly advocates for investment into more sustainable sectors such as rail, he said

“She’s really trying to push Virgin into investing in things that she and we can be proud of,” Sir Richard said. “And we love working together.”

However, Sir Richard stressed that there is no prospect of him surrendering the reins any time soon.

“I’m as busy as ever.”