THOMSON has scrapped all its early-booking incentives in its long-haul Faraway Shores and Florida programmes after they failed to increase sales and left customers confused.
Head of long-haul planning Phil Boggon said: “Research showed that on certain markets, including long haul, the perceived benefit of saving on high revenue holidays through early-booking offers was not that high,” he said. “Basically it was not an effective selling tool.”
He said consumers were often unsure about how much they would save and that availability would be tight on the early offers. “We were costing in the saving to the price of the holiday and that will now be taken out,” added Boggon.
The Red Sea has been added to the programme with Boggon predicting a further recovery in Egypt. Three and four-night cruises on the Nile have also been added. Safaris in Tanzania are new along with a seven-night tour of Sri Lanka. All flight supplements have been scrapped.
In Florida, the range of twin-centre options has been increased from 20 to 34. The operator has also introduced a villas section in the brochure following growth of 100% in the past three years.
“Florida has had a fairly tough time in the past couple of years, but we adjusted capacity ahead of the market which ensured we had healthy load factors,” said Boggon.