The travel division of over 50s service provider Saga saw a 10.4% rise in pre-tax profits to £14.9 million last year when it carried 211,000 on worldwide holidays.
Its tour operating arm delivered a 32% rise in profits to £11.5 million to the end of January 2017 following a shift in sales to longer-haul, higher-value holidays.
Announcing its preliminary results for the full year, the operator said it had succeeded in attracting younger, first-timer buyers to the brand after developing four themed product segments: Go for it, Discover, Unwind and Stay and Explore.
"The profile of these customers tends to be higher value, making them a natural fit for cross-selling and our membership scheme," it said. "Combined with the optimised digital approach the travel business is taking with its online offering, this is providing a quality customer acquisition route as part of the Group’s wider strategy."
Load factors on the group’s two cruise ships, Saga Sapphire and Saga Pearl II, slipped to 82% last year, and the scheduled maintenance of the former impacted its profits by around £5 million. Demand for Saga’s travel insurance also slipped last year.
The first itineraries for Saga’s new ship, ‘Spirit of Discover’, will go on sale later this year. "We have already had over 10,000 customers register their interest in our new ship with over 50% securing their place on the first set of itineraries with payment of a deposit. Indeed, these 10,000 registered customers would equate to filling our first 12 cruises," it said.
For 2018, the group has already secured the majority of its sales targets, it said, with bookings on March 18 sitting at 8% ahead of the previous year. "As previously noted in our post-Brexit poll, less than 1% of our customers said that they were reconsidering their future holiday plans as a result of the referendum result, and general economic confidence amongst our customers remains strong," it added.
