Lastminute.com is to focus on becoming more efficient and take fewer risks than in the past, according to managing director John Bevan.
Speaking at the Institute of Travel and Tourism’s Odyssey Supper at the House of Commons last night, Bevan said: “We [lastminute.com] have been bought by Sabre. We are now more about about efficiency and less about taking big risks.”
Bevan, who joined lastminute.com in 2004, said the focus for the company now was to secure its position as a sizeable online travel company. “We are still innovating but we have to tidy up a lot of technology. Having integrated a lot of companies so fast we still have some legacy technology this year that we need to sort out.”
In the early days, lastminute.com took more risks and was more adventurous in its approach under founder Brent Hoberman. “Brent’s view was try it and if it didn’t work fix it and move on.
“In those days he was absolutely right. Sometimes the site would go down for an hour and he would say the customers will come back and they did and over the course of the day it made no difference.
“Things have really changed. Now user expectations have changed and people are used to fast efficient websites.”
Another focus for the online retailer is customer service, which was not always priorised, admitted Bevan. “The quality of service was not always there because we used to ignore the phone. We have always had a call centre but what we are doing now is investing in training and making sure we meet people’s needs.”
Meanwhile, Bevan, who is also an ABTA board member, said travel regulation surrounding package holidays and bonding had to be “cleaned up”.
“Travel regulations have to be simplifed. It’s an absolute nightmare. Companies are packaging holidays and sometimes they don’t know they are packaging. We need to clean it up,” he said.