New villas brand targets trade

Holiday Cottages Group is targeting increased sales through agents with a new European villas brand.

The company is moving away from a fragmanted offering to place self-catering properties in Spain, Italy, Portugal and France under the single villas4you brand.

This replaces French Life and the Individual Traveller. The company is no longer using the Italian Life brand.

The new programme, released at the ABTA Travel Convention in Barcelona, covers 1,100 properties including old windmills and watermills.

Head of sales Nick Rudge described trade sales as "small but growing" but said trhe company saw "huge potential" for agents to sell both the continenatalo programme and its sister Uk brand cottages4you.

Managing director Geoff Cowley said: "People still want to go abraod but are choosing more economical ways to do it. Villa holidays can keep costs down by sahring the expense and saving money by eating in during the day."