News

AIRTOURS Holidays has criticised the industry for neglecting its most loyal customers as it launches a bid to reverse the traditional booking pattern.

The operator, which carries 2.3 million passengers each summer, has adopted a no-frills model to reward early bookers.

It aims to halve the one million distressed holidays in the lates market and shift 10% of its business across into pre-May early bookings.

MyTravel UK and Ireland chief executive Duncan Wilson said operators, including Airtours Holidays, had failed to look after their most valued customers because the best holiday deals remained in the lates market.

He said: “These are the people we should be looking after best but as an industry and as a business in the last few years, it’s been the reverse of that. We had been coming out with the highest prices early and reducing them as we went through the booking cycle.”

But TUI UK - traditionally better at attracting early bookings - maintained the industry had existed on the traditional model for 35 years.

Managing director Chris Mottershead said: “Airtours will not change the model overnight by giving away free holidays. They might want to become like a low-cost airline but we want to stay a package holiday company.”

Airtours’ attempt to turn the industry’s traditional sales tactics on its head began by offering Every Day Low Pricing in 2003 brochures. The long-term strategy has been beefed up to offer a raft of deals, including no flight supplements, nil deposits, and £99 holidays with 2003 bookings for those who book early.

Airtours claims it is already more than half-way to achieving its target of 200,000-250,000 extra early bookings by Christmas.

Wilson added: “It’s all about generating incremental sales in the early market, so the proportion left in the lates market is reduced.”

He said it would now be easier to assess the best-selling products and where to add capacity early on, drop poorer-selling products and ensure only higher priced stock was left to sell in the lates period.

But he admitted recent advertising had caused problems with rivals, who have criticised the new strategy. “Some competitors have taken exception to us adopting this strategy and marketing it,” said Wilson. “That will run its course and we will resolve our differences. It’s not taxing our minds too much.”

Rivals criticised the move as a way of driving up volumes to impress the City and were sceptical Airtours was managing to make margins on 2003 holiday sales.