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Advantage 2012: Consortium admits to 6% fall in mainstream holiday bookings
Mainstream holiday bookings through Advantage Travel Centres have fallen 6% year on year, but members have seen "huge growth" in specialist areas, chief executive John McEwan said at this year’s annual conference in Malta.
Members have also seen an 8.5% rise in corporate travel business, in a market that is broadly flat.
McEwan said Advantage was performing well, given that the mainstream holiday market overall was 8% down year on year.
"People tend to see the TUI or Thomas Cook figure but it doesn’t describe what is happening in luxury and other markets," he said.
"The same thing is happening in cruising; mainstream cruise operators are having a difficult time, but specialists are doing remarkably well."
Advantage revenue from its leisure business is up 5% compared with last year. "That’s pretty good as far as we are concerned," said McEwan.
He said Advantage agencies would become increasingly important to independent tour operators who face being squeezed out by travel giants TUI and Thomas Cook. "Thomas Cook-Co-op is putting more pressure on the group to sell more in-house product, and we are seeing the same with TUI, which has said publicly that it wants to grow its controlled distribution, which is already at 80%.
"It’s crucially important for independent operators to have an independent retail chain, and we fit that bill."
Overall, Advantage Travel Centres’ turnover reached £3.5bn this year, a £100m increase on last year. "This makes us the largest travel retailer in the UK," added McEwan. Ninety-six new members have joined this year, including 30 from Consort in Nothern Ireland and Midcounties Co-op. "With these new members, whose figures we havent’ included yet, we are set to grow even bigger," added McEwan.
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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