NEWS 1
On the Beach vows to invest in Classic Collections’ range of luxury holidays
YOU NEED TO KNOW
COMMENT: Why has OTB bought Classic?
By senior industry figure Steve Endacott
❛
From On the Beach’s point of view, high street agents
provide risk-free distribution, with commission paid only on booking. Contrast this with an ever-increasing cost per click for Google advertising and you can see the attraction. Why would agents book
On the Beach courts trade by acquiring £20m Classic
Amie Keeley and Lee Hayhurst
The largest UK-based online travel agent took the industry by surprise last week by buying luxury operator Classic Collection Holidays and revealing plans to set up a B2B arm to sell through agents.
On the Beach acquired the
traditional operator for £20 million. It plans to launch trade-only
division Classic Online early next year, supplying third-party agents with mainstream beach holidays. It intends for Classic Online
to combine the buying power of On the Beach with the trade relationships of Classic Collection. On the Beach founder and chief
executive Simon Cooper admitted the takeover “did not look like an
obvious kind of move” but said the new Package Travel Regulations had prompted the online travel agent to expand offline. “On the Beach has benefited
from increasing online penetration for short-haul beach holidays,” he said. “Offline has always been about high street shops and we get regular enquiries from agents saying ‘can we book your product?’” “We have never previously been in a position to consider these requests because [On the Beach] has not sold packages, but that changed with updates to package travel regulations. We asked ourselves, is there an opportunity, now what we sell is a package, for us to offer that via agents?” Cooper claimed Classic Online
would provide a breadth of product at competitive rates that
4
travelweekly.co.uk 23 August 2018
“The key message for agents is that Classic continues to do today what it does”
could not be found on comparative brands’ B2C websites. Classic’s management team, including managing director Nick Munday, will remain and the op- erator will continue to sell bespoke holidays through its contact centre. On the Beach has pledged to
invest to grow Classic Collection’s portfolio of luxury holidays. Cooper said: “The key message
for [agents who sell] Classic is that it continues to do today what it does.” Miles Morgan, owner of Miles
Morgan Travel, said the move was good for Classic Collection.
Classic Online packages, rather than packaging themselves? On the Beach’s booking interface is better than any B2B booking tool I have seen. It will come with full financial protection and public liability insurance. Adding trade distribution is a logical step for On the Beach, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear some consortia saying ‘not for me’.
› Read comment in full at travel
weekly.co.uk
“Classic is a traditional business model under pressure, so it’s looked at areas to grow – it’s not in the two and three-star area [which On the Beach is]. The partnership gives it bed buying power and the technology,” he said. But he warned: “Will Classic’s
core business decline as a result? The service is at two conflicting levels, so the jury’s still out.” Advantage commercial director
John Sullivan said the new merged business was similar in some ways to the business models of Tui and Thomas Cook, which have high street and online distribution. The Travel Network Group chief
executive Gary Lewis said the deal by such a big online player was
“recognition” of the value of agents. › Talk Back, page 17 › Cooper: Business, page 62
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
