Advantage Travel Centres has reported a 36% growth in winter sports revenues for members who have joined one of its specialist programmes.
Chief executive John McEwan said members who had joined the winter sports specialist programme had seen the growth in the relevant revenues following a 34% growth in passenger numbers in the sector.
Now, as the key ski booking period begins for winter 2008/09, McEwan is urging more agents to join the 30 members, with 90 shops between them, in the programme.
He added: “We started the initiative halfway through the last ski season, but the initial results were spectacular and it shows what you can do if you are committed to a particular area.
“Good independents need to stand out from the pack. The way to do it is offer genuine expertise and great deals. We believe focusing on high-value niche market such as cruising, luxury and ski offers a real point of difference.”
The programmes were originally launched last year with the intention of allowing agents to target different niche markets in travel.
Once signed up to a programme specialists receive targeted sales support and dedicated offers from operators as well as additional training and marketing support.
Member of the ski programme Paul Cusak who owns Cockermouth Travel in Cumbria said: “I had five or six staff who were not massively confident about selling ski, but after the training they came in completely enthused about the market.”