AIRTOURS
Holidays is shaking up the industry where Thomson failed by scrapping major
headline discount campaigns.
Summer
prices are cut by 30% compared with this year as discounts are worked into
second-edition 2003 brochures. Airtours claims the price people see is what
they pay.
Managing
director Seamus Conlon said: “We are putting clarity back into the business of
buying holidays. We’ll take on the operators and completely change the way
holidays are priced. The brochure becomes more relevant as we are shifting the
emphasis from discounts to brochures.”
Thomson’s
no-discounts policy was axed in May last year – three weeks after a
high-profile launch – after in-house retailer Lunn Poly was torn between
backing the strategy and promoting deals from other operators.
Conlon,
who at the time called Thomson’s efforts “futile”, pledged to make his plan
work. “This is not a short-term strategy. We are spending large amounts
explaining it to customers,” he said.
Airtours
is pouring £5 million into its second-edition campaign, which launches
brochures and advertising on Thursday. Posters and billboards will attack its
rivals on price and, in Thomson’s case, on extra costs for aircraft meals and
transfers under a ‘We cut prices, they cut corners’ slogan.
The
move means Airtours’ 2003 prices are down 15% from the first edition. Those who
have already booked will be refunded.
Brochures
still include deals for early bookers and free child places, but Conlon was
adamant there would be no headline discounting in the run-up to summer 2003.
“Discounting
is out of hand – customers are cynical about it and that’s the main reason for
doing this,” he said. “We’ll have everyday low prices in brochures and will not
have high reductions. We are abandoning high promotion discounts.”
The
Airtours stance was backed by independent agents, which have been denied
discounts in the past. United Co-op Travel Group general manager for strategy
and commercial development Mike Russell said: “We will call on others to follow
suit. Airtours will face real pressure, but we hope it sticks to it.”
However,
rivals rubbished the strategy and promised to respond aggressively. Thomas Cook
managing director of tour operations Manny Fontenla-Novoa said: “Airtours is
wrong. This did not work for Thomson, or for Cosmos and Travelcare.”