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One in five people buys Airtours, says Barras
Global Travel Group Conference Special: Consumers and travel agents have remained loyal to the Airtours brand despite the cloud of uncertainty hanging over MyTravel, the operator has claimed. Airtours Holiday sales director Steve Barrass, addressing agents at the Global Travel Group conference in Cyprus, revealed it has captured around 21% market share since Christmas. “Consumer confidence was a concern but it is absolutely still there. One in four or five people are booking an Airtours holiday. That is not bad,” he said. “While all the problems were going on, we continued delivering a good product. We never compromised on that. Our delivery is good and I would challenge anyone to argue with me on that point.” He admitted however that it has become complacent about customer needs. It is time to ask holidaymakers what they want, he said. “We were forcing product down the throats of customers,” said Barrass. “But we’ve had a wake-up call and new innovations will be coming out soon. “We are telling our product managers get out there and talk to customers and ask them what they would like. We’d forgotten about that.” Dynamic packaging is one innovation certain to be launched, he added. Barrass also revealed that while some agents had stopped selling Airtours, many had remained faithful, including Global Travel Group with 200 of its members increasing sales by more than 50% during 2003. “A lot of agents chose to vote with their feet, which is fine, but I am now more aware of who is supporting us. I know who the guys are who we should be sending brochures to,” said Barrass. Report by Steve Jones
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