TELETEXT is to ditch its name on a new luxury and long-haul website to attract more upmarket customers.
The site, which is yet to be named, will be launched in January and will be one of five new websites selling niche holidays.
Online commercial director Matt Cheevers admitted although Teletext is a leading brand in the mass market it lacks clout in the luxury sector.
“Brands are still important but an online brand name isn’t as important as it was three or four years ago. Customers have become more promiscuous when it comes to who they book their holiday with,” he said.
Most of the holidays will be sold as packages as a result of recent research, which revealed 75% of all customers using Teletextholidays.co.uk are looking for a package holiday. However, customers will also be able to tailor-make holidays.
The other niche websites will cover markets such as cruise and activity holidays.
No launch dates have been set for these sites.
Cheevers said Teletext is looking to grow its business but not at the expense of the core website. However, he said there would be some rationalisation of the 140 agent and operator advertisers currently using Teletextholidays.co.uk
“We want to keep a wide range of holidays but we want to get rid of a certain amount of duplication,” he said.
Meanwhile a ‘lingubot’ called Jodie will be added to Teletext’s website within the next month.
The interactive icon will be able to have one-to-one conversations with customers, directing them to what they are looking for, and will provide travel agents with information on how customers search.
Click here for a timeline on Teletext’s evolution
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