to be a career highlight. It was not an easy deal to pull off. A lot of private equity companies ran away because they thought it would go wrong. It takes a couple of years to get some stability and it’s been challenging.” Although Neilson under


Cook was not losing money, its separation left it “unable to stand on its own feet”, according to Bowden-Doyle. It had relied on its parent company for airline seats and for its reservation system. “It’s debatable how profitable it


was when we took it on,” he recalls. “It was difficult to tell; there was no clear set of accounts for the business as a whole.” What it did have was a culture of


high levels of service and holiday experience, says Bowden-Doyle. In fact, the customer satisfaction levels were so good, he was convinced they couldn’t be right. “I had the mechanism [for


recording guest satisfaction] changed and I discovered it was me who was wrong,” he adds.


Winter margins


One of the biggest challenges has been to increase Neilson’s margins during winter. Its shorter-duration winter ski breaks were not making as much money as its Beachclubs, where longer stays translated into higher margins.


Since becoming independent, the business has changed its winter product mix to offer a higher percentage of “controlled” properties. It secures these on mid to long-term leases and runs them as it does its Beachclubs. Bowden-Doyle says: “We want to


make more of our winter business. Last winter we controlled about 18% of our properties but this winter it is 30% to 35%. We have


been acquiring [leases] and opening [controlled] hotels, and it’s paying off. We have been able to make money out of a smaller programme. “My objective for next winter


would be to get controlled properties to 50%, and we have started to look for slightly bigger, upscale properties.” Margins are now said to be


at a similar level for winter and summer, which is no mean feat, according to Bowden-Doyle. With winter sales “going like a


train”, the question Bowden-Doyle is now pondering is by how much the company will beat its targets. “I am one of those old-fashioned


blokes who believes we are doing this for profit,” he says. “We had a really good first year


in 2014 and an OK 2015. As for 2016, we have budgeted to do better than last winter – how much we beat it by is the debate.”


Summer market


For operators to the eastern Mediterranean, such as Neilson, the summer is less predictable. Neilson’s Beachclubs are all


in Greece and Turkey. It has six in Greece and four in Turkey. Traditionally, about 60% of its business has been for Greece and 40% for Turkey, but already this year the gap has widened, with sales for Greece accounting for about 70% of bookings. Bowden-Doyle remains confident about Greece, where Neilson’s sales have strengthened in recent weeks thanks to extra marketing and promotions. “At this stage, I’m confident sales


are looking broadly on track for summer 2016,” he says. But he admits Turkey is harder


to forecast, with two terror attacks, in Istanbul and Ankara, in


It’s not that Turkey isn’t selling at all, it’s just it’s not selling fast enough to match our original plans. We will inevitably be considering alterations to our capacity plans


the past two months only serving to dent consumer confidence. Neilson has made much effort


for summer 2016 to promote its most popular Beachclub last year, the Andriake Beachclub in Turkey. But sales since Christmas for


Turkey as a whole are down by about 40% year on year, and the operator has already “redirected” capacity to resorts where it thinks demand will be higher, while “sharpening prices” in Turkey as the market struggles. “It’s not that Turkey isn’t selling


at all,” says Bowden-Doyle. “It’s just it’s not selling fast enough to match our original plans. We will inevitably be considering alterations to our capacity plans and we’re working through our options at the moment.”


New destinations


Bowden-Doyle has made no secret of his ambition to extend Neilson’s summer portfolio beyond Greece and Turkey. “I want a portfolio that is


more balanced and inevitably you look west [to the western Mediterranean],” he says. Italy, Sardinia, Corsica and


Spain are all on his radar, he adds, but it is no easy task. “It’s quite difficult to find beds full stop,” he says. “Everyone is putting prices up to ridiculous levels.” Bowden-Doyle adds: “For the type of property we seek, you need a certain amount of space and unfettered access to the water.” Nevertheless, he says he is “cautiously optimistic” Neilson will have two resorts in new destinations for summer 2017. “The ones I suspect will come to


fruition are not new-builds; one is a very significant refurbishment and one is a ‘light-touch’ improvement,” says Bowden-Doyle. “Often, we would take a lease and help [to fund] and work with the owners on the refurbishments. “We have a cautious approach


to growth but with a clear focus on the nature of properties that allow us to push margins up; the standard of the property is getting consistently better.”


Trade sales


Since becoming independent, Neilson has quadrupled the amount of business sold through the trade.


Its summer and winter businesses carry roughly 46,000 passengers each a year, but the proportion sold through agents is higher during winter. On average 10% to 15% of summer sales come via the trade compared with about 50% of winter bookings. “In summer, given there are not


a lot of direct competitors for us, it’s understandable why we have a lot of direct sales,” he says. Bowden-Doyle is the first to admit Neilson’s product is complex and tricky to explain without experiencing it, but he adds: “It takes a colossal amount of effort to drive that education of agents but our business would be smaller without them.”


WITH RICHARD


What was the last book you read? The Everything Store, about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.


Where was your last holiday? Lundy Island, in February.


What type of holidays do you usually go on? Quiet and peaceful ones.


Who has inspired you in the travel industry? Ian Smith, ex-managing director of Lunn Poly, and Charles Newbold, ex-managing director of Thomson Holidays. They were very different and both fantastic leaders and mentors.


Favourite food and drink? Pasta and red wine.


What kind of music do you like? I like most music.


3 March 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 17


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