P6 news mar27 25/3/09 18:53 Page 6
news
ttglive.com
Tours ‘thriving’ despite
Hays welcomes
homeworkers
Kaleidoscope job losses
HOMEWORKERS have been invited to attend the
Hays Travel Independence Group UK conference
for the first time.
The event will take place on April 1 at the
Marriott Forest of Arden hotel in Warwickshire.
Chris Gray.
increase. It is the one sector that is More than 100 members and 20 suppliers will
KALEIDOSCOPE Travel Group has still doing well against the tide of the be attending.
provoked an angry response from downturn. It seems to me they Group sales manager Linda Pyle said: “Even
escorted tour specialists after [Kaleidoscope] are having a clear-out though the current climate is hard, we are still
claiming the sector will shrink by up to keep investors happy,” he said. getting new members onboard at the Hays Travel
to a quarter this year. Karen Allen, manager of Manches- Independence Group.
The company, which owns Page & ter agency Aspen Travel, said she “We find many members have moved to us
Moy, Travelsphere and Just You, made had sold £700,000 worth of Wendy from other consortia to take advantage of the full
the claim after announcing 60 redundancies Wu tours in 18 months, and Titan and Cox & Kings Abta protection, support and flexibility we offer.”
among its 414-strong UK workforce. tours were also selling well. Escorted tours were The theme of the conference is “Winning in a
It said they were part of a restructure forced a good product for agents because customers challenging environment”.
by a need to cut its debt payments, and the liked to talk through trip details, she added.
credit crunch, which was having a big impact on Burton said Page & Moy and Travelsphere
the escorted tours market. were 20-25% down in year-on-year sales, but
Chief executive William Burton (pictured) said that Just You, which targets the 30-plus singles
many of the three brands’ customers were market, was set to be slightly up.
retired and lived off income from their savings, The group had sold about 60% of its holidays
which had fallen by 90% over a year because of so far, instead of the 70% expected, he said.
cuts in interest rates. Burton said the restructure would save £1.5
However, Laurence Hicks, managing director million a year as it had reduced debt payments
of Far East escorted tours specialist Wendy Wu with a debt for equity deal. Kaleidoscope has also
Tours, claimed the fortunes of the sector were sealed a better interest rate for repayments.
“completely the opposite”. LIFE IN THE FAST LANE: Hays group
“We are expecting a 30-35% year-on-year ■ Touring feature, p45 member Sunshine.co.uk is sponsoring a
British Touring Car Championship team for
Travelsphere and Page & Moy
the fourth year running. The 2009 season,
broadcast live on ITV, starts on April 4.
Travelsphere will be relaunched this year
and Page & Moy in 2010, following the
restructure at parent group Kaleidoscope.
Chief executive William Burton said Travel-
Tipto targets
sphere would be given a new look but there
would be much bigger changes at Page & Moy 4,000 web users
in time for brochures for the 2011 season.
Kaleidoscope’s three brands were all direct- TIPTO is aiming to have 4,000 agents registered
sell until Page & Moy started selling through on its site by the end of August.
the trade two years ago, since when agency Graham Balmforth, Tipto chairman and
sales have grown to about 5% of turnover. Superbreak national sales manager, said the
Burton said he hoped the proportion of Page marketing alliance wanted to build stronger
& Moy trade sales would grow as the operator relationships with independent agents, and he
doubled turnover within five years. Either encouraged agents to attend Tipto’s roadshows.
Travelsphere or Just You would begin selling Tipto has 3,250 registered agents and gets
through the trade next year, he added. 400 hits a day on its site. Balmforth said
Changes at Page & Moy would mean ACE HAND: Page & Moy onboard cruise he wanted to develop the site, offering more
widening the range of holidays offered to manager Craig Freeman (left) celebrates information on operator deals.
include more “lifestyle” products, Burton said. the operator joining the Association of Balmforth said: “The website is a great
Marketing for all the brands would try to Cruise Experts with Ace director Andy communication tool. As Superbreak, we can send
tackle perceptions that the sector was staid Harmer. The firm operates 500-berth ship emails out with offers and deals to all agents and
and old-fashioned, he said. Ocean Majesty, which offers itineraries with within two hours get 40 replies, so people are
departures from Harwich or Southampton. looking at it and responding.”
06 27.03.2009
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