06 June 2008

Grand UK claims winter bookings surge

Grand UK Holidays has claimed a 16% rise in winter bookings, with Christmas sales up by 23%.

The over-55s specialist coach tours operator is repeating a Ã¢â¬Ëœfestive comboÃ¢â¬â¢ which means customers in selected hotels over Christmas and New Year get three nightsÃ¢â¬â¢ half-board accommodation for Ã&#pound;10 per night.

But sales director Harold Burke said the operator would not be resorting to discounting despite rivals cutting prices by as much as half.

He said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe donÃ¢â¬â¢t discount so agents know their customers can book well in advance to secure the holiday they want without being disadvantaged by late booking discounts -which only tend to make them apprehensive about booking early again in the future.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe have been seeing some huge discounts lately Ã¢â¬' as much as 50% - from this market sector, which sadly just sends out the wrong message to loyal customers.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœItÃ¢â¬â¢s not good news for the coach holidays sector as a whole as it affects customersÃ¢â¬â¢ future expectations and booking patterns.Ã¢â¬~

He added: Ã¢â¬ÅâœOur lead-in prices are in many cases the same as last year Ã¢â¬' Christmas markets on the continent from Ã&#pound;269, for example Ã¢â¬' or even cheaper, with Christmas breaks from Ã&#pound;279.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe were also very pleased to see so many agents using our new bookable website Ã¢â¬' indeed, the first online trade booking that came to us was a Christmas holiday.Ã¢â¬~

The Norwich-based group, which carries more than 90,000 travellers a year, had more than 80 coaches operating over the last Christmas period and expects to handle more passengers this winter.

by Phil Davies