Interview: Justin Fleming, chairman, Holiday Places Group
Tour operating veteran Justin Fleming believes the industry is currently in a worse predicament than it was 12 years ago during the Gulf War.
Fleming was managing director and shareholder of Panorama before selling the group to MyTravel four years ago for £18m. These days he is a keen observer of the industry as non-executive chairman of Holiday Places Group, which includes Corsican Places, Great Escapes and Allez France.
“It is very, very tough,” said Fleming. “Fundamentally the uncertainty in the industry is killing bookings.
“I think people also underestimate the impact of the economic situation. For the past two years everyone has seen their investments, apart from the value of their house, erode. Where is the spare cash and where is the upside?”
Industry experts estimate the market is down anything from 20 percent to 40 percent, but Fleming believes that if the conflict with Iraq is solved by May, then the market may only finish around five to ten percent down.
“But a critical issue is that a large amount of people who have been on packages are now starting to put together their own trips using low-cost airlines and ferries. That is a bad sign for the traditional operators which package holidays for people.
“The trend over the last six or seven weeks has been really worrying, but whatever happens, it’s going to end up being a tough summer, there’s no doubt about that.”
Fleming said its Great Escapes business, which sells short breaks, was being hit by the triple effect of the recession, the conflict in Iraq and people switching to low-cost flights and ferries. The company is currently discounting packages by around 25 percent.
Fleming expects more travel companies to collapse this year.
“A general culling is good for whoever is left,” he said. “There are too many in the market.”
Away from travel, Fleming is the major shareholder in Revival Motorsports, a Hinckley-based company that offers people the opportunity to race classic Jaguar D-types.
The company has built 10 D-types and they will compete in up to 12 races this summer.
The cars are available on an ‘arrive and drive’ basis for £1,700 plus VAT per race or £1,300 plus VAT per race when you buy six races. Competitors can also pick up the cars themselves and race on a ‘DIY’ basis for £1,000 per race plus VAT. All prices are exclusive of insurance.
“This is a passion of mine and takes up the majority of my time now,” said Fleming.
Read our previous interviews:
06-March-2003 Interview: David Michels, chief executive, Hilton International group
06-March-2003 Interview: Labour peer Baroness Dean
27-Feb-2003 Interview: Liberal Democrat MP, Lord Thurso
27-Feb-2003 Interview: Tom Wright, chief executive, BTA
20-Feb-2003 Interview: David Soskin and Hugo Burge, shareholders in cheapflights .com
11-Feb-2003 Interview: Joe Lavers, sales and marketing manager, Motours
11-Feb-2003 Interview: Duncan Alexander, managing director, OAG data
04-Feb-2003 Interview: Josef Margreiter, president, IFITT
04-Feb-2003 Interview: Dan Fox, managing director, uptoyou.com
21-Jan-2003 Interview: Graham Nichols, vice-president EMEA, Worldspan
14-Jan-2003 Interview: Online Travel Corporation chief executive, Mark Jones
14-Jan-2002 Interview: Jon Constantine, managing director, Farebase
17-Dec-2002 Interview: Paul Riches, sales and marketing director, Libra Holidays
11-Dec-02: Ian Derbyshire, tour operations sales director, Thomas Cook
03-Dec-02: Gary David, managing director, Cadogan Holidays
26-Nov-02: Vic Sheppard, UK sales and marketing manager, Emirates
19-Nov-02: Mathew Prior, managing director, First Choice Ski
13-Nov-02: David Clifton, md Europe and Asia, Interval International
04-Nov-02: David Norris, brand manager, ifyouski.com
29-Oct-02: Chris May, managing director, Hayes and Jarvis
21-Oct-02: Fiona Jeffery, Reed Exhibitions director
14-Oct-02: Brent Hoberman, ceo and co-founder, lastminute.com
09-Oct-02: David Burdon, sales and marketing director, Cosmos
02-Oct-02: Jeff Rebello, UK marketing manager, SAS
24-Sep-02: BITOA chief executive Richard Tobias
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