Online shift by Sovereign Villas
Agents are being urged to book online as Sovereign Villas halves the number of new brochures printed.
The First Choice brand has revamped its website to enable more bookings to be made via the internet.
To encourage online bookings, the operator is pledging to plant a tree for every internet trade booking taken to replenish the Caledonian Forest in Scotland.
The company is also making a “best-price” commitment to agents and promising that it will not undercut this with lower consumer offers.
Managing director Karrie Mellor said the number of villas featured in the renamed 100-page winter 2006-summer 2007 Villas by Sovereign brochure had been doubled. At the same time the company had deliberately invested heavily in developing its website www.sovereignvillas.co.uk.
“Although we recognise that some agents and their customers prefer to refer to a brochure, increasing numbers of retailers are using our website to make bookings – 25% more this year than last – and so it makes sense for us to encourage them online with an upgrading of our facilities,” she said.
“In return, we are working with the ‘Tree for Life’ campaigners to take some small steps in making our operation more environmentally friendly.”
The majority of the 300 villas included on the website will feature 360° virtual tours by early autumn.
A new Worldwide section features Dubai and Florida alongside Caribbean resort villas in St Lucia and Antigua, which were added for this year.
For 2006-07, lead prices will be shown on the product description pages both by villa per week and per person per week, in order to increase clarity. In addition, the website upgrade means that 2007 flight searches will automatically return the cheapest flights for the date specified – a move away from limited allocations to a service that uses a wide range of carriers.
Summer prices start at £399 for a one week villa stay for up to four people in Ibiza. A 5% discount applies on bookings made by December 31.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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