Former Monarch MD joins Truly Travel

Former Monarch Holidays MD Richard Francis has joined Teletext Holidays’ joint venture partner Truly Travel as finance director.

His appointment was confirmed as Teletext announced that it was on track to deliver record bookings this year due to increasing demand in new sectors, including family, long-haul, all-inclusive and affordable luxury.

It said Francis’ appointment, together with that of Sarah Newton to the role of Love Holidays marketing director in August, would ‘ensure the current positive momentum is maintained’.

In the year to the end of September, Teletext Holidays has seen a 23% year-on-year increase in bookings across its all-inclusive product, with Turkey up 57% and Egypt up 109%.

There has also been a rise in demand for long-haul holidays, it said, with the USA up 55%, including a 205% increase to New York and 32% to Orlando, Dubai up 39% and Mexico up 46%.

Family bookings have grown 17%, with Turkey, the Canaries and the Balearics being the most popular destinations, it said.

MD Wayne Perks said: "We’re obviously very pleased with our performance so far this year and are pushing in to the final quarter to ensure the share we’ve grown isn’t lost.

"There’s a lot of uncertainty around the economy at the moment. While our numbers tell us that Brits still want to be taking holidays and are planning ahead in to 2019, the Brexit headwinds means that their purchasing habits are adapting.

"The increase in all-inclusive holidays, for example, indicates that they want to de-risk their exposure to currency fluctuations next year, and that they want to be able to budget with confidence.

"And, although demand for our core destinations of Spain, Greece and Portugal grew this year, we’re seeing more customers venturing further afield as well, especially now that flight capacity to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt is back on the increase. Some of that may be to avoid what are now often reported to be quite overcrowded resorts around the Med, but also because there is a perception of greater value to be had long haul while the Euro is strong.

"Alongside the economic uncertainty, and the unknowns of Brexit, and given the impact the warm weather the UK enjoyed during the summer has reportedly had on the market, our numbers for the year to date are particularly pleasing."

Downloads of the Teletext Holidays app have grown 114% year on year, and app-generated enquiries are up by 82% for the same period, it said.