ATD eyes growth on back of 20% upturn last year
Lucy Huxley
lucy.huxley@
travelweekly.co.uk
Attraction Tickets Direct, which operates trade-only arm Do Something Different, is aiming to build on 20% growth in 2017 with support for the first time of a small external investment.
Founder Oliver Brendon said
the attraction ticket specialist made sales totalling £109 million in 2016, a figure that he estimated to have risen by a fifth last year. He said it was particularly pleasing that growth had come from non-Florida attractions, including theme parks in Dubai and Europe such as PortAventura in Salou and Siam Park in Tenerife. Brendon has sold a minority
stake, believed to be 10%, in his business to Beauport Partners, a new venture capital company set up by the founders of Rentalcars, who describe themselves as investment accelerators. The team is headed by Greg
£109m
Attraction Tickets Direct’s sales revenue in 2016
Wills, who sold Rentalcars to US travel and technology giant Booking Holdings – until recently called Priceline – which also operates
Booking.com. The Beauport website says:
“We understand what it takes to build an online business from the ground up.” Brendon said several of the Beauport team were already at ATD, helping in product and commercial, marketing and IT. He added: “It’s not about the money, it’s about their expertise.” He said the biggest competition
came from consumers buying tickets in resort. To counter this, he has looked at enhancing Do Something Different’s appeal by saving customers time, cutting
BRENDON: ‘It’s not about the money, it’s about their expertise’
costs and offering added value. In 2018, Brendon wants ATD to
sell more advance tickets for Dubai attractions such as Burj Khalifa, desert safaris and Aquaventure Waterpark. In Dubai, around 90% of tickets are bought in resort, whereas in Florida more than 80% are bought in advance. “We need to flip [the Dubai
figure] on its head,” he said, listing public liability, guaranteed entry and gate-ready e-tickets as benefits of booking in advance. “We’ve always been about real
tickets from a travel agent’s point of view,” said Brendon. ATD operates in four markets – the UK, Ireland, Germany and Brazil – and hopes to open in more.
Booking Holdings profits up 21% to $12.4bn
Booking Holdings, the parent company of
Booking.com, has reported higher than expected sales in the final quarter of the year. In its first results since changing its name from Priceline Group, the online travel giant – which is also behind Kayak, Priceline and Agoda – saw bookings rise 19% to $18 billion for the final quarter. Profit was up 22% to $2.8 billion in that period. The group is now looking to grow the value of its
total gross bookings by between 14% and 18.5% this quarter, the first of its current financial year. For the 2017 full year, Booking Holdings had gross travel bookings of $81.2 billion, a 19% increase
compared with 2016. Booking Holdings’ gross profit in 2017 was $12.4 billion, a 21% increase on the previous year. Chief executive Glenn Fogel said: “We are pleased
with the solid execution across all of our brands in 2017 as we moved ahead on important investments in the year while driving strong top-line growth. “We intend to continue to strategically invest in our business by growing our supply base to drive customer choice, innovating around the customer and supplier experience, and investing in marketing that builds consumer awareness for our brands and delivers profitable top-line growth.”
RESULTS IN BRIEF
Thai Airways losses $67m despite rise in carryings
Thai Airways suffered a net loss of $67.4m last year despite increased passenger numbers, load factors and new aircraft. Passenger numbers increased by more than 10% to 24.6 million.
Merlin Entertainments profits rise to £271m
UK theme park giant Merlin Entertainments reported a 4.8% rise in 2017 pre-tax profits to £271 million as its visitor numbers grew 3.5% against 2016. Revenue was up by 11.6% to almost £1.6 billion.
Eurostar reports 11% rise in sales to £880m
Eurostar reported an 11% surge in sales last year to £880 million, as passenger numbers rose 3% to 10.3 million. The high-speed Channel Tunnel rail service reported an operating profit of £57.6 million for 2017.
Europcar’s M&A charges dent profits by €71m
Europcar’s net profits fell from €119 million in 2016 to €61 million last year as it took a €71 million charge related to merger and acquisition fees. It also faced “unexpected” UK litigation-related costs.
FOGEL: ‘We’re pleased with solid execution across all our brands’
8 March 2018
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PICTURE: MATT SPRAKE/FAMFLYNET
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