City-break specialist Travelscene is urging agents to divert bookings from Amsterdam to Brussels to offset the continuing capacity crisis in the Dutch city.
Sales director John Harding said tour operators are being denied any additional capacity in Amsterdam as hoteliers can charge higher rates to the increasing number of business travellers and to visitors walking off the street.
Launching Travelscene’s 2000 Cities brochure, Harding said: “Hotels are not willing to up capacity for tour operators simply because they don’t need to fill their rooms.”
“We want to develop a greater awareness of Brussels where there is a lot of capacity. Many people just want to go away for a break and do not have a particular city in mind so we are urging agents to look at Brussels rather than Amsterdam.”
The operator has introduced a Privilege Package at hotels in seven cities which gives customers a late check out of 4pm or 5pm and a room upgrade for between £5 and £10 per person.
“It really is an irritation for customers to check out at 10am on the day when they are leaving,” said Harding.
New cities in the programme include Sorrento, Turin, Miami, Salonika and Miami while Jersey and Guernsey are also featured for the first time.
Also new is a diamond hotel category to cater for the growth in five-star hotel short breaks.