Luxury Travel bookings. E
xpressions Holidays has said it hopes to regain agent business and grow trade to 30% of overall
Managing director Martin Garland said agent business had declined during the past few years to as low as 5% from a previous high of around 50%, following the firm’s relocation to Devon two years ago and the need to find new staff. “The move was great in terms of
reinvigorating and refreshing the business, but also challenging in terms of finding staff, and we are aware we have lost some of those relationships we had built up with agents,” said Garland, a former chairman of Aito. Partnership relationship manager Bella Smith is now focusing on “reigniting” trade relations. “We are flexible in the way we work with agents and can tailor- make incentive programmes to suit a particular agency,” she said. “We also aim to run fam trips, with a possible Sri Lanka fam planned for autumn, and will focus on in-house
checking in
The positives of all-inclusive Luxury Lodges of Australia has added a new section online for the trade to flag “the value proposition of an all-inclusive tariff” at nine of its 16 member lodges, which often covers all guiding and activities in remote locations. Lodges operating on this basis include Wolgan Valley and Arkaba Station.
Why 60 is the magic number Naibor Camp in Kenya’s Masai Mara (pictured right) is offering anyone
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Expressions of interest sought from the trade
Since its move to Devon, operator Expressions Holidays has seen its trade sales dip – but aims to reverse this for 2012. By April Hutchinson
The Cox & Kings Myth Buster
Catherine Baer, agency sales manager
Sri Lanka: tipped for biggest growth this year
training for agents or agencies.” Garland added that agents had also become more sophisticated in how they find and retain customers, so joint marketing initiatives would be a focus for Smith. “Good agents will increasingly
create strong partnerships with core operators, rather than stocking brochures from many, and we want to be on side with those who are thinking this way,” said Garland. Despite the drop in trade business, Garland said the company had just had its best January for four years, with figures more reflective of bookings seen before the economic downturn. The company’s largest destination overall is still Italy, where a dedicated
turning 60 in this year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubliee a half-price safari stay. The Queen was in Kenya in 1952 when she heard of her accession to the throne following the death of her father, King George VI.
weddings element was launched in October. Cookery courses and gardening tours in Italy are also new for 2012, while a new area of rail trips was launched online last week. The dedicated Families
programme generates the largest turnover, said Garland, though he added that Sri Lanka had the biggest potential for growth. “We have a 100-page programme which is one of the most in-depth on the market,” he added. “New Zealand is another example where we offer a detailed programme. You have to pick the niche where you have the advantage. We are often up against websites selling on price rather than other luxury operators.”
Rhodes heads to Abu Dhabi Gary Rhodes is to open a restaurant at the new St Regis Abu Dhabi. The Michelin-starred British chef will open Rhodes 44 during 2012 in the hotel, which is part of the Nation Towers development.
Chic offers early savings of 30% Chic Locations has launched a 20- page brochure to promote spring and summer bookings. It features 32 hotels in the Mediterranean, Canaries, Bali, Malaysia and Thailand with discounts of up to 30%. Bookings should be made by the end of February.
I am back to try and dispel popular myth number three – Cox & Kings only sells long-haul travel. The exotic and the far flung; whether that entails the vibrancy of India, the heady allure of the Far East or the fiery drama of Latin America, yes, Cox & Kings can take your clients there and we have been doing just that for years. But did you know we also have an enticing range of European holidays and city breaks to tempt those clients of yours who prefer to explore a little closer to home? Some of the most popular destinations are Venice and Malta where we are currently offering three-night breaks from just £295pp – such as three nights at the Bellini Hotel, an 18th-century palazzo in Venice, including flights and breakfast. Or there’s three nights at the charming Victoria Hotel, Sliema in Malta – flights, transfers and breakfast from £320pp. We cover 47 countries in eastern and western Europe and, as well as our increasingly popular city breaks, we have luxury escorted group tours and private itineraries; our Classic Russia seven-night tour from £1,360pp is one of the most popular, with Turkey, Sicily, Romania and the Baltic States also blazing a trail on the bookings leaderboard. Now, these may not be prices or destinations you would normally associate with us, but our Europe brochure is emerging as one of our best-sellers for 2012 and is certainly giving long-haul a run for its money.
09.02.2012 19
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