Travelzest admits to tough year in UK
Travelzest, which owns a portfolio of specialist companies in Canada and the UK, including VFB Holidays and The Malaysia Experience, has admitted it is finding it difficult to capture market share and maintain margins in Britain.
However, it said its global bookings for this winter and next summer were up 15% and 10% respectively.
Underlying trading for the year ended October 31 was in line with Board expectations, it said. Full results will be released in late January.
The company recently merged five UK offices into a single customer service centre in Cheltenham, which is linked to Travelzest’s Canadian operations. "These measures have created a greatly improved structure for our UK operations that the Board believes is both scalable and more efficient to mange," it said in a statement.
The new infrastructure has also enabled Travelzest to launch a new website, travelzest.com, selling all Travelzest holidays, third party content and new product lines.
"The Board believes the new marketing and distribution strategies will provide improved performance and increased market share in the coming periods," added the statement.
"The UK economic market has presented a challenging environment for our UK Operations. Coupled with the division’s numerous restructuring and refocusing initiatives, the division has continued to experience difficulties in capturing market share and maintaining margins.
"The Board believes with the continued development of the organisation and launch of new marketing initiatives, the division will now show improved performance."
By Linsey McNeill
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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