Thomson adds three new flagship hotels for next summer
Thomson has announced a significant expansion of its flagship Sensatori concept hotels for summer 2015 when it will open three new properties, including one in Ibiza.
It will also open two new ones in Turkey and in Cyprus where it will convert the well-known five-star Aphrodite Hills Resort, currently part of the InterContinental portfolio, into a Sensatori by May 2015. The property, near Paphos, will close during the winter for renovations.
"We are proud to be adding the Aphrodite Hills to the Thomson family because it is already a good hotel, probably the best in Cyprus, but it is not as high a standard as we have with Sensatori so we will be shutting it down and refurbishing, including adding swim-up rooms," said product director Mark Hall.
The new Sensatori in Turkey will be a new build in Fethiye on the Dalaman coast, and in Ibiza Thomson will take over the Tarida Beach in Cala Tarida on the west coast of the island.
Thomson admitted it gets higher than average returns from the all-inclusive Sensatori hotels and Hall said it had been looking to expand the concept to new locations a number of years. "It is hard to find really good quality hotels, especially in shorthaul destinations," he said. "It we take a property that doesn’t conform to the high standards we’ve set, the concept falls apart."
Hall said there was "significant pent up demand" for a Sensatori in a shorthaul destinations. "This is especially so for families," he said. "They just don’t want a long flight."
He said the operator was already looking to expand the concept into other countries. The operator will open its sixth Sensatori in Negril in Jamaica this summer.
Also new for next summer are three new Couples hotels in Italy and one in Croatia on the Adriatic coast served by new flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Split. Thomson has also added six more weekly flights to Dubrovnik from Gatwick and regional airports, and has a new cruise and stay programme to the Croatian capital based on Thomson Celebration.
From next summer all Thomson’s long-haul destinations will be served by Dreamliners, said Hall, and, for the first time, all drinks on long-haul flights will be included in the ticket price from this coming winter.
"When we launched the Dreamliner we saw a marked shift in bookings towards the Dreamliner routes," he said. "It is a great asset and gives us an edge over the scheduled airlines. We want to break the mould and change people’s perceptions of what charter flying is like."
Bookings for summer 2015 will open on April 24. Prices for holidays to the Mediterranean will be slightly up on this time last year, but the reduction in air tax from next April will be passed on to customers booking long-haul destinations, said Hall.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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