28 March 2008

Pontin's jumps on the green bandwagon

Comment by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)

IÃ¢â¬â¢ve heard some interesting business cases in my time, but the plan to attract environmentally-conscious holidaymakers to PontinÃ¢â¬â¢s certainly raised an eyebrow.

The acquisition of the company by a firm headed by former chief executive officer Graham Parr could turn out to be a great bit of business, for several reasons outlined below.

But I doubt families will soon be saying to each other: Ã¢â¬ËœI know, we must take the kids to the Blackpool holiday park because itÃ¢â¬â¢s environmentally friendly.Ã¢â¬â¢

I suggest they have rather more pressing concerns, like how to entertain their children. If PontinÃ¢â¬â¢s gets that right, then it has a great chance of being a roaring success.

UK holidays are going to be big business in the future. WeÃ¢â¬â¢re likely to have a flat, or falling economy, for several years and holiday parks are good value although, interestingly, people who go are not shy about splashing the cash in the bars and restaurants when they are there.

The new management team is talking about making the seven sites more modern and stylish, which is also going to be popular because everyone has higher standards these days.

And if youÃ¢â¬â¢ve got the family in tow, who wants the hassle of airport queues and security, not to mention the expense when this government has finished taxing air travel to death?

Certainly, if I had kids I wouldnÃ¢â¬â¢t turn my nose up at a week at Center Parcs, ButlinÃ¢â¬â¢s or PontinÃ¢â¬â¢s. TheyÃ¢â¬â¢d appreciate it more than a five-star holiday in the Indian Ocean.

But IÃ¢â¬â¢m sorry, I just donÃ¢â¬â¢t buy the green angle. ItÃ¢â¬â¢s a middle-class obsession that many working people canÃ¢â¬â¢t afford, beyond a bit of recycling.

PontinÃ¢â¬â¢s would be better off sorting out its website Ã¢â¬' at the time of going to press, the main promotion on the home page was about Easter deals.