Youtravel expands into more long-haul destinations
Bed bank Youtravel.com has added more long-haul destinations for summer 2016, including Sir Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius.
It also announced plans to directly contract properties in the Maldives, South Africa, India, Kenya and South America over the next 12 months as part of its ambitious expansion plans.
Chief sales officer Paul Riches, who returned to Youtravel from lowcostbeds last November, said the company had enjoyed a record performance in January, when it saw double digit sales growth, year on year.
"After a very tough November and December, we have seen excellent trading in January, with incredible growth versus the same period last year. We have had some record trading days last month and long may it continue," he said.
"The winter lates market has been tough for everyone, due to the Egypt situation and the lack of availability in the Canaries – but we had a distinct advantage with our 34 exclusive group-owned Labranda hotels, many of which are in the Canary Islands."
For summer 2016, youtravel.com has increased its range of exclusive hotels in Greece, Spain, Balearics and Portugal but Riches said it was placing more emphasis on longhaul.
"Whilst we will continue to develop and grow in our traditional markets, we see massive potential in developing our long haul products, in order to service our existing UK and rapidly growing number of global trade partners," he added.
The youtravel.com brand celebrates its 10th year of operation in 2016 and will be holding a series of agents events and promotions.
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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