MELBOURNE – Cox & Kings has formally launched its Australian operation with a promise that it will not interfere with its newly acquired brands in Australia, Bentours and Tempo Holidays.
Australia CEO Steve Reynolds said Bentours and Tempo staff were experts in their specialist areas so there was no reason to draw the two Australian companies into a single Cox & Kings reservations department.
“If you look at Bentours’ expertise in Scandinavia, going forward this could be very valuable to Cox & Kings offices in other destinations, he said.â€
Cox and Kings traces its origins back to 1758 when a colonel’s clerk, Richard Cox, included among his many roles that of a travel agent for the British Army.
Reynolds said Cox & Kings – a publicly-listed company on the
Mumbai stock exchange – would keep its focus on its small groups product while it built awareness and presence in Australia.
“We don’t want to do too much too quickly and confuse the message,†he said.
“We need to be patient. Customers need to try the product, be satisfied with it and spread the message.
“So far travel agent awareness of the Cox & Kings brand and product range is very encouraging,†he said.
Cox & Kings’ global chairman, Tony Good, told TravelMole the company would remain open to more acquisitions in English-speaking countries with the United States and Canada of special interest.
Cox & Kings will shortly launch online consolidator ezeego1 that, Reynolds said, “would be a powerful tool for agents to allow them to compete with any price presented to them by a consumer”.
