Foreign holiday online travel agent sunshine.co.uk has had a pop at domestic operator Hoseasons.
The website recently published a survey which it said showed that half of the respondents didn’t think a holiday in Britain counted as a proper break.
Hoseasons, whose brands include Hoseasons, Cottages4you, English Country Cottages and Blakes, hit back, dismissing the report that staycations were a thing of the past with figures for the first six weeks of the year showing that the UK will remain popular in 2011.
It said bookings for Cottages4you are up 11% on 2009 and 10% on 2010, while Hoseasons lodges and parks are up nearly 9% on 2009 and 7% on 2010.
But Sunshine’s managing director Chris Brown said: “We can imagine that whilst Geoff Cowley of Hoseasons was putting together his quote talking up UK holidays, he had the grey and damp British weather as his motivational backdrop.
“With warm and sunny overseas holidays often costing less than wet and rainy UK holidays we can see why a big brand is using the desperate measure of attacking a rival to try and attract customers.
“We at sunshine.co.uk suggest that Mr Cowley concentrates on his own business rather than focusing on ours. Aside from that, the poll was aimed at general holidaymakers, not our own customers, which means that even though we do not offer UK breaks, it was not biased in any way.”
by Dinah Hatch
