30 April 2009

Youth travel brand emerges from social networking

A former Club 18-30 boss has started a new youth holiday company aimed at "independently minded" travellers.

John Davis, a former deputy managing director of Club 18-30 and a Thomas Cook executive, is behind the new concept, called Addictive Holidays.

It is described as a community based online company providing pre-departure holiday components and post-departure concierge services to Ibiza and Majorca.

Addictive Holidays will initially be offered exclusively to members of the social network www.beaddictive.com .

The new brand will initially offer a bespoke request service for online enquiries, followed by a full launch later in May featuring an integrated booking and payment engine.

Addictive Holidays has been created to address a growing audience of social networking customers who want a youth holiday experience.

It is aimed at the "independently minded fashion conscious young traveller".

Davis said: "For far too long the mainstream tour operators have offered little to this specialist market than cheap packaged products that do not deliver what the customer wants.

"Addictive Holidays will be the first operator in the youth market to provide the level of quality and freedom of choice that young people want from a holiday specialist.

"Available initially as a bespoke request service to capture the early market bookings we aim to be fully online transactional before the end of May.

"Unlike package providers we will not be driven by the bottom line but instead by what our customers tell us they want.

"For example we will provide multi-lingual staff with excellent resort knowledge, know how and local contacts that will be able to locate, offer and deliver exactly what the customer requires.

"Social networking audiences are sophisticated, selective and demanding but at Addictive Holidays we are confident we are equal to that challenge."