Champion Travel launches online bookings
Champion Travel is to use its Directflights.com site to sell travel online.
The Surrey-based travel group plans to challenge the dominance of the established Internet travel sites in the UK by selling £350 million of travel online annually, within five to 10 years. It currently has an annual turnover of £10 million.
It plans to sell a complete range of travel on Directflights.com, and has registered a second name, Directnights, through which to sell hotel accommodation online. The company will use Sabre’s online booking engine to power the sites.
Minesh Patel, Chairman of Champion Travel, said the Internet remained a rich source of business, and that many traditional travel agencies had virtually surrendered the online channel to companies like lastminute.com and e-bookers.
He said: “Forty percent of all online expenditure goes on travel – it’s madness to write that business off. The technology is now available to allow travel agents to compete in the online market, so why not? (Lastminute.com’s) Martha Lane Fox isn’t doing anything that I can’t.”
Mr Patel said the ability for travel agencies to offer negotiated fares on their websites is important because the established online travel sites have negotiated their own bulk discounts with the airlines. He said: “Many ‘traditional’ agents are under the impression that it is impossible to compete online with the established Internet travel sites because of the special rates they get from airlines.
“The reality is that many travel agents already have negotiated rates that are close to, or the same as, the big online travel sites. It’s simply a question of being able to sell these fares online as well.”
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025