News

FIRST Choice has overhauled its summer 2003 portfolio to offer defined brands for target markets.

The move will substantially bolster the Sunstart range which in the past has lacked the size to compete against budget rivals such as JMC’s Essentials and Airtours’ Aspro Holidays for Less.

The revamp will address the problem of competition between the Unijet and First Choice programmes, overlap with Sunstart, and confusion among agents and customers over what the brands stand for.

First Choice has redefined its target markets for its brands:

- First Choice positioned as a more quality mass-market brand

- Unijet to cater more for experienced travellers

- Sunstart to be the larger budget brand.

Sales director Martin Froggatt described the revamp as the biggest overhaul of group products in recent years.

He said demand in the early-booking family market justified bringing out brochures at the usual time after calls to delay them so agents could push more bookings for this summer.

Roadshows will be run to educate agents on the changes.

Sunstart gains two and three-star product from the Unijet and First Choice brochures, with 88 new properties, and moves into the long-haul market for the first time.

Sunstart general manager Richard Curtis said: “We have never had a sizeable budget brand before. Sunstart has been plodding along on small numbers for some time.”

Unijet is repositioned away from the mass market, and western Mediterranean and long-haul destinations which compete with First Choice product have been dropped.

The slimmed-down range has been condensed into three main Unijet brochures: Summersun, Florida and beyond, and Greece and Turkey.

Taxi and car-hire transfers have been added for the first time. Coach, taxi and car transfers are priced separately and a training manual is being sent to agents to help book the new options.

Unijet general manager John Riley said: “We have repositioned much of our core business but the same popular product still underpins it.”

The amount of premium four-star accommodation in First Choice’s 10 first-edition brochures for 2003 has doubled as the operator attempts to establish itself as a quality mass-market brand.

A new offer for its Premier Choice product includes 50% off VIP lounges in UK departure airports.

More emphasis has been given to the Premier Choice range in brochures although the operator insists it is not trying to shake off its mass-market image or tread on the toes of Sovereign, its own upmarket operator.