PROFILING THE INNOVATORS


John


Constable with Kate Harden- England


to that. Sabre gives us low-cost carrier content at the lowest fare structure we can get and connectivity of a level that we need with all the full-service carriers. All in one place. It’s just simple. When it comes to simplicity, Constable


śóĈóśšǝŨĺǝďĺƃǝĒŨǝËƖóçŨšǝËĨĨǝËšŘóçŨšǝĺĈǝŨďóǝ business. He says: “I talk a lot about our çĺĨĨóËĉŭóǝóƈŘóśĒóİçóšǝËİíǝšĒįŘĨĒƛçËŨĒĺİǝ of productivity, but actually our customer experience is also much simpler because of everything we’re presenting in ‘Manage my Booking’ view and self-service is now all in one place. You’re getting rid of that friction that existed, which I think is hugely important and continues to be a focus. “I think we chose the right time to


[move to Sabre], which was in one of our quieter periods. And then we went into a peak trading period, which gave people a real opportunity to use the system and try it with the support that was provided.”


CHANGE CURVE


He adds: “There is a change curve that people have gone through. “You’ve got an organisation such as


ours, that has used certain technologies ĈĺśǝËǝšĒĉİĒƛçËİŨǝËįĺŭİŨǝĺĈǝŨĒįóƺǝËİíǝ you are changing the hearts and minds


¡í ĈËŨí ʼnĊĂĠĊƗåËĠŏ


growth opportunities with destinations ËĠë Ġíũ ŁŃĥëœåŏʼn


of people who know how to drive that technology. But Sabre has handled that and supported us, collaboratively.” The business hopes the move will


see growth and productivity gains with šŭŘŘĺśŨǝĈĺśǝŨďóǝæËçĥǝĺƗçóƺǝĒİçĨŭíĒİĉǝ better automation to drive it through without additional cost or restructure. TďóǝƛśįǝďËšǝËçďĒóƂóíǝĉśĺƃŨďǝĒİǝŨďóǝ


past couple of years under Constable’s leadership, which he ascribes to a mixture of empowering teams and developing teams around him to “hugely drive value” into the businesses. This year, the group reported that


2023 had been an “outstanding” year for Saga in cruise and touring. Constable says the success of its


touring division in terms of consumer growth, revenue and pricing was


ulimately due to it having been “the æóİóƛçĒËśƉǝĺĈǝËǝçĺįŘĨóŨóǝĈĺçŭšǝĺĈǝ demand, and a targeted focus”. It thought about what demand it


wanted within the business and how would it convert that. All of which “really drove a steady growth on all levers”.


LOOKING AHEAD


Constable hopes that now the business is seeing sustainable growth, it can focus on its niche again and go back to its heritage of being the best operator for its target demographic. ǘGǝƃĺŭĨíǝĨĒĥóǝŨĺǝšóóǝšĒĉİĒƛçËİŨǝĉśĺƃŨďǝ


in our holidays business,” he says. “We are absolutely focused about


where we take that and how we’ve grown back into destinations, such as Spain, Cyprus and the Canary Islands. ǘ¸óǝďËƂóǝšĒĉİĒƛçËİŨǝĉśĺƃŨďǝ


opportunities with destinations and new products like our hosted programme, as we can see the consumer wanting íĒƖóśóİŨǝšŨƉĨóšǝĺĈǝŨĺŭśĒİĉƺǝƃĒŨďǝįĺśóǝ ËíƂóİŨŭśóǝËİíǝįĺśóǝƜóƈĒæĒĨĒŨƉƿǝ İíǝƃóǝ see that as a huge opportunity to kind of cement our growth as we go forward.” With its scope for advancements,


it looks like Saga Travel is one to watch for the foreseeable.


TRAVOLUTION.COM — OCTOBER 2024 — 23


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