THE owner of collapsed tour operator Tapestry Holidays has warned niche operators fully committed to flights and bed stock could soon find their business models unworkable.
Nick Wrightman blamed Tapestry’s failure on its 100% commitment to beds and flights each season, as well as concentrating too much capacity in certain destinations.
Fighting back the tears, Wrightman said he is battling to keep hold of the Chiswick home he shares with wife Viv, a Tapestry director and company secretary, and 22-month-old daughter India. Viv is pregnant with the couple’s second child, due in February 2007.
More operators could soon face a similar fate to Tapestry, he predicted.
“Gone are the days where operators should be committed to a whole summer Season’s flying programme as you’re simply not going to be able to sell all the seats in May and June.
“It is good to be partially committed to some very good stock that you know will sell but only to a very small amount.”
He said this should be no more than 10%, adding that only specialist companies owned by the big four could still afford to fully commit as their owners can absorb losses in a bad year.
Tapestry was unable to sell around 120 of its committed seats on July 22/23 the busiest weekend of the year.
The company¹s business model also left it inflexible in the face of dynamic packaging, while even its own affluent customers brought problems.
Wrightman added: “My clients are well-heeled. They will want to buy properties in Turkey because they have been there for years. If they do that, we have lost them, and if their friends do that, I have lost them too.”
This year’s spread of bird flu into Turkey, where Tapestry was operating 48% of its programme, also killed the business.
New programmes introduced for 2005 in Corfu and Croatia failed to tempt customers. Problems were compounded by two significant incidents. In 2000, an individual who cannot be named for legal reasons allegedly blew more than £1 million of the company’s cash on fast living.
Then sales director Andrew Lee quit in 2003 to form rival operation Exclusive Escapes, taking with him two of Tapestry¹s best properties, which brought in more than £1.2 million annually.
Wrightman hopes to find a new job in travel and has vowed to continue to organise this year’s Alternative Travel Awards, now in its 15th year.
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