Two former First Choice staff have launched The Internet Traveller as an online travel agency with backing from industry entrepreneur Steve Endacott.
Craig Kean and Charles Clark, joint managing directors of the business, have 25 years’ travel experience between them and met at First Choice, where they both worked in reservations.
Kean, who worked as a reservations supervisor at First Choice-owned Unijet for four years and previously worked at BA Holidays, said: “We have spent around ten months developing the product and have both invested in the business. But it’s only recently that we have secured backing from Steve [Endacott, On Holiday Group chief executive] to take this product into the marketplace.”
Kean is confident the retailer, part of the Freedom Travel Agents’ Consortium, can break even within its first year despite the credit crunch. “People are still taking holidays and The Internet Traveller is a strong brand,” he added.
The website, theinternettraveller.com, is fully bookable online and backed up by a call centre in Burgess Hill. It sells dynamic packages, via partnerships with selected bedbanks, and packages through tour operators such as Thomson, covering destinations worldwide. It is still finalising partnerships with airlines.
The company aims to target specific destinations at different times of year to capitalise on booking trends. It is currently focusing on all-inclusive holidays as consumers increasingly demand trips they can budget for because of financial constraints.
It also plans to launch niche sites such as The Dubai Traveller focusing on specific destinations and hopes to develop a social networking section within six months. The latter would include the option for holidaymakers to download videos from their holidays and write up reviews.