Youtravel.com is unlikely to be up for sale for at least two to three years, chief executive and founder John Kent has said.
Originally, Kent aimed to sell the business three to four years after its launch. But he said: “The market is very different to a few years ago. It may take five years before we sell it.”
Since launching in October 2006, the company has had three offers, one within a week of launch, he added.
Group managing director Graham Nichols said: “If you thought you could increase business significantly for another two to three years, why wouldn’t you grow it first? That’s what we’re going to do.”
The admission came as Kent predicted two more bed banks will disappear from the market within eight months amid continued rumours that Thomas Cook will buy medhotels.com. This has been vigorously denied by both parties.
Nichols said removing competitors from the market could only be good news for the bed bank.
Meanwhile, Kent and Nichols were adamant the dynamic packaging market will survive the downturn and aftermath of the XL Leisure Group collapse. New start-up Kiss Flights and extra flights from Monarch Airlines and easyJet were encouraging, said Nichols.
He said: “Gradually it’s coming back and bookings have improved in the last two weeks. Logic says if there is a gap in the market someone will step in and a lot of the cancelled holidays will be rebooked.”
Despite reports of holidaymakers returning to book package holidays, chief executive John Kent said it was unlikely dynamic packaging companies would revert to traditional sales models. “I don’t think it means this model will disappear,” he said.
Both are confident their agency customers will survive current trading difficulites, including hits as a result of XL’s demise. “I don’t think it’s terminal for our large customers,” added Nichols.