5 2
Barrhead targets shops in another 12 English towns
Lee Hayhurst
lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk
Barrhead Travel has earmarked 12 high streets in England as “first choice locations” for stores and confirmed its second shop in England would be in Leicester.
The outlet will open before
Easter and stretches Barrhead’s presence south of the border, following the opening of a city- centre shop in Newcastle last year. Chairman Bill Munro said the decision to opt for Leicester followed recommendations from operator partners, including Sandals. “All the information we have on
Leicester might suggest it would not be a good fit because there is not much of a market for things like cruise,” he said. “But to me that’s a great
opportunity because no one else is pushing certain products. It tends to be more bucket and spade.” Munro said Barrhead was
in discussions with contacts in 12 towns in England and
Bill Munro addresses conference delegates
would consider opportunities as premises become available. Barrhead has also identified two
areas in Scotland in which it would like to open stores. Munro said expansion did not
depend on Barrhead securing new funding, which it announced it was seeking in May, to accelerate growth. He said the firm had “quite a
few offers on the table” but said the process was started before the UK’s Brexit vote, which had prompted Barrhead to “take stock”. Munro said the firm was “cash
rich” so needed someone to help it grow, not burden it with debt. “We have never had debt in the business, why would we bother now?” he asked. Munro was also prepared to consider acquisitions in the UK as well as overseas, added Barrhead. “On the trade side, people are
talking to us all the time about synergies. On the investment side, there are many people who can
bring an awful lot to the business.” › Barrhead Travel’s first supplier conference, page 16
‘Agents: exploit Alps snowfall’
Ben Ireland
ben.ireland@
travelweekly.co.uk
Agents have been urged to push early-season ski bookings after heavy snowfall in the Alps prompted a surge in interest.
The French resort of Chamonix
was hit by 120cm of snow last weekend, with a further 12cm forecast as Travel Weekly went to press. Alpe d’Huez had 20cm of snow, with more forecast by the end of the week. Operators said the heavy
snowfall had been a timely boost for the early-season market, following two years of poor December snowfall and fears that the weaker pound and Saturday turnaround days falling on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve might adversely affect bookings. Marion Telsnig, head of PR
at Tui-owned Crystal Ski Holidays, said: “We’ve had really strong sales in Canada and Scandinavian destinations such as Finland and Norway, but now the snow has fallen in
the Alps, they have bounced back.” She encouraged agents to push Christmas and New Year bookings, adding that Easter was already 50% booked. Telsnig said high-altitude
resorts such as Obergurgl, in Austria, and Three Valleys, in France, were already selling well. She added that lower-altitude resorts such as Mayrhofen, in Austria, and the French resorts of Les Deux Alpes, La Plagne and Les Arcs had seen increased bookings since last week’s snowfalls. Inghams group head of sales Simon McIntyre said the ski specialist had received 10%-15% more calls in the past week. He added: “For skiers, snow is the critical factor. The super-high [altitude] resorts are caked in snow, which is brilliant news, and temperatures are likely to stay low.” “It puts us in a really good place come January,” added McIntyre. “It’s a positive start and is going to help us in the peak season.” The ski market struggled in the
pre-Christmas season last year due to low levels of snowfall.
24 November 2016
travelweekly.co.uk 5 3
The Alps have experienced a bumper snowfall
STORIES HOT
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