| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 14/08/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 48 |
| Copyright: Other |
Product update by Matt Bond
Wallace Arnold targets budget-break market
New brand promotes short-stay holidays
New brand promotes short-stay holidays
WALLACE Arnold is challenging UK coach operators and direct-sell rivals by launching an entry-level product aimed at the budget end of the market.The Breakaway brand offers short breaks of between two and four-day durations in the UK and Europe, with prices starting at £29.
Wallace Arnold’s sales and marketing director Bill Maxwell said the new brand will give agents the opportunity to compete with short-break offers advertised in newspapers and direct-sell operators.
The operator prides itself on its relationship with agents and will be supporting the launch with in-store promotions to encourage sales.
It is hoped that the product will expand the operator’s market by introducing younger clients, aged around 35, to travel by coach.
Currently, the operator’s client base is approximately aged 45 for European travel and 55 for UK travel.
The Breakaway packages don’t include many of the features offered on traditional Wallace Arnold coach tours.
The number of sightseeing excursions is more limited than it is for existing breaks and hotel accommodation is on a bed and breakfast rather than half-board basis.
The budget brand will not be supported by Wallace Arnold’s 1,600 strong Close To Home Tourlink joining point network, with pick-ups instead being offered along a restricted route system. However, the company will be introducing a scheme that allows travel agents to select their own departure point when booking a group of 30 or more.
It is hoped that this will encourage agents to become more proactive when booking tours by providing a framework for several agencies to act together in achieving this.
The company issued agents with an eight-page Breakaway supplement with this month’s bulk drop of its main autumn-spring brochure.
Destinations featured include France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and various UKresorts.
Prices lead in at £29 for two-day Heart of England breaks which depart from the south of England, and a London Shopper, departing from the north of England.
Both include one night’s hotel accommodation and en-route excursions.
Holland: included in the operator’s Breakaway supplement
sample product
breakaway options
n Wallace Arnold’s Breakaway four-day Battlefields of Flanders tour visits Ypres, with entrance to the In Flanders Field museum. Offered on selected dates in October, November, March and April, the bed-and-breakfast package costs £99. Accommodation is not specific until final confirmation, four weeks prior to departure. There is an optional pre-bookable half-day excursion to Arras, the capital of Artois, which costs from £10.
n The Breakaway Heart of England tour is for two days with one night’s bed-and-breakfast accommodation. The tour includes an en-route visit to either Warwick for departures from the North, or Oxford for departures from the south, and returns with a visit to Stratford upon Avon. Departures are weekly from October 14 to April 2, excluding Christmas and New Year. It sells for £29.
n A visit to Lille Christmas market includes four days and three nights on a bed-and-breakfast basis and is available on selected dates throughout December. The trip sells for £79. An optional pre-bookable excursion to Cite Europe, a large shopping centre with a collection of boutiques and supermarkets, costs from £10.