p12-13 news feb20 18/2/09 18:01 Page 12
news round-table
ttglive.com
“I think we will see a bit more of a surge late in
What’s on the
May and June because consumers don’t have the
confidence to commit themselves for summer.
“We have low deposit programmes offering all
sorts of incentives and inducements.
“The reduction in capacity is going to be a cat-
alyst. Consumers who want a particular product
agenda in 2009?
are going to have to make their mind up quickly.”
HELEN TALBOT,
Worldchoice head of sales and marketing
Talbot said the newly merged consortium now
The annual Holiday Taxis ski trip to Avoriaz, France, was a
has a contrasting mix of members, some
chance to strengthen commercial partnerships, take stock and
of whom are better placed to survive the
discuss what is expected to be a tough year. By Lee Hayhurst
downturn.
“Members of the TTA, by virtue of its struc-
ture, are new entrants and their performance is
positive because of that.
PAUL STANYER,
market share because, he said, the GDS was “We have still got lots of creative people
Holiday Taxis managing director offering an increased product range. coming into the travel industry and are currently
“We are positioning ourselves this year as a part- Amadeus was not just about air and was 70% processing about 70 applications for the TTA.”
ner rather than a supplier,” said Stanyer. “We are up year-on-year for hotel bookings, he said. However, Talbot admitted the recession might
understanding people’s businesses better and However, he warned: “It would be foolish to be harder for Worldchoice agents to cope with.
offering better rates where the volumes are. say there is stability. We see volatility, we see “In terms of their structure it’s much harder
“Retailers are also getting smart. The transfer people going out of business, and we see consol- for them to be enterprising and redirect their
is not always about price, there are many other idation. businesses quickly.
factors.” “Airlines are cutting their rates and unprof- “We will see closures and will see more of
Stanyer also claimed: “We are the only com- itable capacity is being reduced. What we have them coming off the high street, but they will
pany with a health and safety policy that per- got to do is use the technology we have to enable look to maintain their clients’ business.
forms true due diligence the travel community to do “We have an affiliate scheme in place so we
with suppliers, the only
“It would be
business more efficiently can accommodate that for them.”
company open 24 hours a
foolish to say
and in a more dynamic way.” Talbot said the main trend was towards
day in the UK and we have Mills said consumer con- greater specialism.
an environmental policy,
there is stability.
fidence had been buoyed by “Our business with mainstream suppliers is
which non of our competi-
We see volatility,
January advertising cam- decreasing and agents are replacing that with
tors do. paigns stressing Atol pro- destination specialists where they are not com-
“We have got into private
and people going
tection that had driven peting with online discounts.
transfers recently arranging
out of business”
consumers to trusted “Cruise looks good and long-haul looks good
an executive jet for a high brands. although we are seeing spend coming down
profile pop group. Julian Mills, Amadeus However, he said pres- which suggests customers that would take high-
“That’s actually easy to sure from regulators was end short-haul are taking long-haul instead.
facilitate at this moment in time, it’s a great time starting to bite and there had been a marked
to negotiate rates – our bespoke business is reduction in the number of Iata travel agents due
growing massively. We just did a conference in to demands for bonding.
Sydney for 2,000 people.
“The year has stared positively and we are op-
erating 30% up year-on-year. We have increased
SHAUN HINDS,
distribution through more channels and picked The Co-operative Travel, director of commercial
up quite a few airlines contracts last year which “The challenge for our shops is about footfall.
are now starting to deliver. We are not booking as much summer as last year,
there are a lot of people wanting to travel in the
next few weeks, and wanting to travel long-haul,
JULIAN MILLS,
and cruise is pretty bouyant as well.
Amadeus director of sales “If you take account of capacity cuts we are
Mills said the final quarter of 2008 saw a 20% ahead of the game.”
decrease in bookings and the market forecast for Hinds said sales of traditional tour operator
2009 was a 10% decrease year on year. product was down but The Co-operative Travel
He claimed Amadeus was “bucking that was taking market share for sales of big two hol-
trend”, currently 5% down, but growing its idays, outperforming their in-house distribution.
12 20.02.2009
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