p5 news Jan29 27/1/10 20:46 Page 5
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BED BANK.
Is recession over?
We did not have a good
‘Cut-throat’ market kills
October, November and
December but we seem
to have got the traditional January
“Whoosh” back. We are 56% up.”
off Apartments Abroad
Jackie Steadman, director, TravelTime World
It does not feel like we THE COLLAPSE of Apartments Abroad collapse is
are out of recession. being seen as another step in the consolidation
I think that Britons of the increasingly competitive bed bank market.
probably feel poorer now than The accommodation-only specialist, which
they did last January.” sold mainly through the trade, shut down last
Stephen Bath, managing director, Bath Travel week despite last-minute efforts to sell.
Leading accommodation-only suppliers said
Last week was an the company, which was one of the pioneers of
exceptionally good the sector, would have had to merge to survive
week for the trade and it because of its relatively small numbers.
seems it was across the board.” On Holiday Group managing director Steve
Julia Lo Bue-Said, leisure director, Advantage Endacott believes the bed bank market has unsustainable.”
reached maturity with a clear leader in Thomas He added: “The sector may still see further
We shouldn’t get too Cook’s Hotels4U and Medhotels, and Youtravel consolidation and closures. We are keeping a
carried away, but we and On Holiday Group in a clear joint second place. keen eye out for any potential acquisition oppor-
had our best trading in He added: “The bigger players are getting tunities, as there may be some bargains to be had
the history of our retail shops on more efficient and offering better prices making as companies fail to recover from the downturn.”
Saturday.” it harder for smaller players such as Apartments Hays Travel chief executive John Hays agreed
Trevor Davis, director of retail distribution, Abroad to compete and entry to the market is the sector will likely see further consolidation
The Co-operative Travel tougher. and failures.
“It is a nice place for large independent bed Johnny Pollard, commercial director of On the
A 0.1% rise is better than banks to be – we are happy at the moment and Beach, added: “Companies that haven’t learned
a minus but I don’t think expect to make a million pounds profit this year.” the lessons and aren’t running a tight ship will
it counts as growth. What Getabed.co.uk managing director Matt Stuart not survive and many will be relying on a strong
I expect for 2010 is continued said Apartments Abroad was competing in an January and February.”
weak growth realistically.” “increasingly cut-throat traditional European
John Hays, chief executive, Hays Travel beach market where margins are bordering on ■ All Leisure Group and Youtravel results, p18
IATA FIGURES. SUPERMARKET.
‘Air travel seeing
first green shoots’
Aldi Travel suspends bookings
ALDI TRAVEL has closed to with On Holiday Group pro-
LAST MONTH may have seen the start of a new bookings after manage- viding technology and bed
recovery in air travel, according to figures ment got cold feet about a £1 buying for the UK market.
released by Iata. Passenger demand in Decem- million marketing campaign. Thomas Cook offered
ber saw a 4.5% improvement year on year, with The brand has been dynamic packaging through
an average load factor of 77.6%. selling holidays in the UK for Aldi Travel’s website.
However, Iata director general Giovanni one year, and the campaign The supermarket said in a
Bisignani said falling demand in 2009 meant it would have been used to statement it was withdraw-
was “the worst year the industry has ever seen”. establish the online brand among UK consumers. ing from travel “while we review our offer”.
“We have permanently lost 2.5 years of Aldi Travel has so far been mainly promoted via An Aldi spokeswoman declined to comment
passenger growth,” he said. fliers in the company’s supermarkets. further or even to say how many branches
International scheduled air traffic ended 2009 It is understood that new management at the were in the UK, although it is thought to be
down 3.5% compared with 2008, while the indus- UK supermarket chain, a subsidiary of the around 400.
try saw nearly a quarter of its seats go empty, German budget retail group, has done an about- Its statement said it was “in consultation with
meaning the 12 months as a whole experienced turn on plans to commit to the campaign. existing partners to make sure we can continue
the biggest post-war decline in air travel. Aldi Travel is run by Vienna-based Eurotours to offer market-leading deals”.
29.01.2010 05
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