Thomson Breakaway bolsters city range

New destinations

Thomson Breakaway bolsters city range

Thomson Breakaway bolsters city range

Report by steve jones

Report by steve jones

THOMSON Breakaway has added a range of new destinations to its 2001 cities programme to cater for the increasing demand for exotic locations.

It has added Aman, Petra, the Dead Sea, Beirut, Ho Chi Minh City, Orlando, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Valencia and Cape Town to its portfolio, taking the total number to 103.

Commercial director Jane Colledge said the operator was looking for 50% growth.

However, she refused to reveal passenger numbers.

“Two years ago we had 36 cities, we are now over 100,”she said.

To achieve the growth, Colledge said it would look to forge closer relationships with independent agents.

“Now we have the service and product, we want to start a proper dialogue with independents,” she said.

Senior product manager Sarah Lax said the new destinations will target experienced city-break customers. “They will appeal to people who perhaps have been to Eastern European countries and want to try something different,” she said.

Most of the cities offer three hotels with a mix of three, four and five-star properties.

She said Beirut, which was previously featured by Breakaway before being dropped, has shed its image as a war zone while the introduction of Ho Chi Minh City follows growing popularity for Vietnam.

Prices in Ho Chi Minh start at £599 for five nights.

A decision on whether to sell Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will be made shortly in light of the crisis in the region.

Elsewhere in the programme, the number of hotels in Dubai has been increased from two to eight, while capacity in the traditional top-selling cities of New York and Dublin has also been raised.

Thomson Breakaway has also contracted two more hotels in capacity-squeezed Amsterdam – including the Sheraton at Schiphol airport – while Rio has been dropped following poor sales.

Also added for 2001 is the option to book transfers and excursions even when a customer has booked a flight independently.

A number of cities have been allocated as hotel-only including Singapore, Kuala Lampur, Tokyo Seattle, San Diego, Montreal and Vancouver.

Valencia: has been added to Thomson’s programme taking its total to 103 cities