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Ski firm laments slushy take-up of regional flights
Lee Hayhurst
lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk
Independent agents are failing to exploit an expanded programme of regional flying from Inghams’ parent company, according to the ski specialist.
Hotelplan, which also owns the chalet specialist Ski Total and family-focused Esprit brands, says all the growth it is seeing is coming from its regional departures. In a trading update this week,
Andy Perrin, chief executive of Hotelplan UK, said the operator
last winter recorded its “best performance” filling committed airline seats for two decades. He estimated the ski market
overall grew just 1% to 2% after a difficult start in December, when snowfall came late, and predicted growth of 2% to 3% this year. Perrin admitted the firm’s
approach had been too London- centric. This year, it will double the number of flights for its Santa Lapland to 14 from airports such as Southampton and Exeter. “When it comes to agents, the
feeling is a mix of frustration and excitement,” he said.
“The frustration is rooted in
the fact that we have a massive regional flight programme and we have not managed to crack getting regional agents behind it.” Inghams offers flights out of
29 UK airports, taking advantage of flexible scheduled models favoured by carriers such as Monarch and
Jet2.com. Perrin believes many agents
lack confidence selling ski because many customers are well-informed. However, he said: “Agents should not worry about that. We
Ski market is
tipped to grow 2%-3% this winter
can help them make the sale by joining them on the call or putting us on speakerphone.” As Travel Weekly reported in
July, Hotelplan is using Ski Total reps as trade-facing ambassadors. Ski sales for this winter have
started strongly, with Inghams and Esprit up 5% and Ski Total up 2%, but December is slow and the operator has released festive deals. Perrin said the strength of the
pound was a “massive” positive. ❯ Look out for our ski feature in next week’s Travel Weekly
5 Consortia launch recruitment drives
Lee Hayhurst
lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk
An improved outlook for independent agents is fuelling autumn promotional campaigns for new members by leading agency consortia.
The Travel Network Group and
Advantage Travel Partnership have kicked off campaigns promoting their services in print and online. Homeworking opportunities and managed service propositions, where back-office operations
are run from the consortia headquarters, feature heavily. Other consortia, including Hays
Travel’s Independence Group and the Co-operative’s Freedom Travel Group, have also been prominent in appealing for new members in recent weeks. Consortia said the post-peaks
period was a prime time to recruit new members and that the improving economic backdrop was encouraging agents to consider their futures.
Gary Lewis, managing director of Worldchoice and Travel Trust
6
travelweekly.co.uk 10 September 2015
“We are ensuring that any business thinking about what it requires is aware of TTNG”
Association parent TTNG, said it was vital for consortia to provide more support than just commercial deals. “Agents have gone through tough times and have changed their models, and they are looking for the next steps to move their business
on with the existing team or sell it. “We are ensuring that anyone thinking about what they require for their business is aware of TTNG and that we are a part of that conversation.” David Moon, head of business
development at Advantage, said: “This is a time for agents to take a step back from their businesses to think about what they are going to do next year. “Increasingly, agents are looking
at how they can retain and get new customers, and what support is going to make that happen.”
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