John Harding is, without doubt, one of the travel industry’s best loved characters. Known for strutting his stuff in leather trousers at ABTA conventions, John’s travel career has spanned half a century: 50 years in which the industry could not have seen more dramatic changes.
This month, Harding will bow out to enjoy his retirement. He officially leaves hotels4u.com in December, but is on gardening leave from the end of this month. He is certain it is the right time to go. “I’ve had a fabulous career, but the industry is too focused on technology.
The skills and benefits I brought to the business are overshadowed by technology,” said Harding, who has experienced the highs of ABTA presidency, and the lows of Travelscene’s demise.
The early days
When Harding joined the industry, aged 16, in 1959, the package holiday era had not started. It was the year the Boeing 707 jet airliner came into service, cutting eight hours from a transatlantic flight, and the first hovercraft was tested on the Isle of Wight.
Harding’s first job in travel was loading luggage on P&O’s Stratheden and Himalaya from Tilbury to Australia. “I took the job as it was travel. I wanted to see the world, although I wasn’t earning much more than the paper round I did at school,” he recalled.
His first real taste of the industry came in 1962 when he sold transatlantic charters to closed user groups as general manager of World Tour Consultants, owned by Scottish agent James MacWilliam, one of the first Caledonian Airways shareholders.
This was followed by a job at Global Tours. In 1963, Global was the third largest operator behind Clarksons and Horizon. Working for industry heavyweight Sydney Perez, Harding negotiated the company’s first time charter with Caledonian Airways – a commitment to fly 1,700 hours a year.
“The early 1960s was the start of the air revolution. My job was to sell seats. We chartered the whole aircraft and sold seats to other operators. If I sold them at a £1 profit [each] that helped; it was as competitive then as it is now,” he said.
One of the highlights in Harding’s career was when he represented seven out of nine test cases through the Tour Operators Study Group (precursor to the Federation of Tour Operators) to the Civil Aviation Authority in a bid to dismantle Provision One. This required all package tours to be priced above the comparable scheduled service airfare on the route.
Pricing structure
Harding said: “Provision One restricted the expansion of the market. The demand was there, but could not be satisfied at the prices we offered. We won, and that changed the pricing structure and allowed more volume,” Harding said. “The cases were pivotal because the market was no longer artificially restricted.”
This resulted in cheaper holidays. “Three-night packages to Palma started at £12.50,” Harding said.
A string of high-profile positions followed at companies such as Caledonian Airways’ operator Blue Sky Holidays and Rainbow Holidays. He was also charged with developing the Kensington Roof Gardens to become Regine’s club, which was bought by Richard Branson.
Another highlight for Harding came later as ABTA president from 2003 to 2004. “Being president was the last thing I was going to do before I retired. The industry needed to bring retailers and operators together and I could do that,” he said.
“A personal highlight was going on one of Concorde’s last flights.”
But his presidency was cut short by one of the biggest lows in Harding’s career – the collapse of tour operator Travelscene in 2004, where he was sales director, leaving £3.5 million owed to about 2,000 creditors. He was the first president to resign in office in ABTA’s history.
“It put ABTA in a difficult situation. There was no point trying to resurrect myself – I would rather admit defeat than go quietly,” he said.
While the operator was fully bonded, its accommodation-only subsidiary Citybedz was not. “Technology caused the problem in the early days; you could get to [non-bonded] accommodation through the package website. We didn’t hide it, but it wasn’t obvious. That’s why people lost money.
“Nearly 30% of passenger sales were accommodation-only, but overheads were geared for the operator [model]. Transaction values were less. We were close to selling Travelscene, but it went bust because it was not making enough to cover overheads.”
Closing loopholes
Ironically, a year earlier, Harding had called for the failure of a no-frills carrier to highlight the dangers of DIY packaging while campaigning to have bonding loopholes closed.
It remains a bug-bear for Harding that the issue of financial protection remains unclear. “The industry is in the same parlous state. There is no clear protection for dynamic packaging companies. This has to be addressed,” he said.
Harding now works for Thomas Cook-owned bed bank hotels4u.com, which, combined with sister company Med Hotels, is the biggest accommodation-only player in the UK. Had it not been for the persuasive efforts of Steve Clark, then a shareholder in Travel Trust Association’s bed bank Trust Accommodation, now hotels4u.com, Harding would have left the industry after Travelscene’s demise.
“Steve said I was respected enough to develop an accommodation-only business with financial protection,” Harding said.
He joined as consultant in February 2005, later becoming sales and marketing director, and delayed retirement when Thomas Cook bought the company last year. In 2004, annual turn-over was £2.5 million. By 2007, it was £100 million.
Sociable industry
Harding feels fortunate to have enjoyed life in an industry as sociable as travel, although he doesn’t think it will stay that way.
“The fact that companies can sit around a table and solve a problem to the benefit of all, rather than taking a competitive advantage, is one of the great things about our industry. I don’t think that will continue because of technology.”
Man in leather
But, there is a more burning question. What happened to Harding’s leather trousers? Six years ago they were sold at an auction at the Alter-native Travel Awards to Travel Trust Association (TTA) director Todd Carpenter.
“I believe they are at the TTA’s offices in a glass frame. People still ask me where they are,” said Harding, with a grin.
Photos and comments
John is a true inspiration. I had the privilege of working with him for 4 years. Have a wonderful retirement!
Louise, Somak Holidays
John Harding’s CV
- 2006 to date: sales and marketing director, hotels4u.com
- 2005-2006: chief executive, Centurion Holiday Group, and sales and marketing director, Trust Accommodation
- 2005: consultant to Trust Accommodation
- 1981-2004: sales director, Travelscene
- 1980-1981: vice-president sales, Strand Holidays, Toronto, Canada
- 1980: general manager, Rainbow Holidays
- 1977-1980: general manager, Rama Superstores, Regine’s Club, Rama Restaurants
- 1976-1977: managing director, Exchange Travel Holidays
- 1970-1976: British Caledonian Airways: managing director, Blue Sky Holidays and general manager, Golden Lion Travel
- 1969-1970: managing director, Rentavilla
- 1963-1969: aviation manager, Globalair Holidays
- 1962-1963: general manager, World Tour Consultants
- 1960-1962: Canadian Pacific Steamships
- 1959-1960: P&O Steamships
Other appointments
- 2003-2004: ABTA president
- 2001-2003: Truly Independent Professional Travel Organisation chairman
- 1986-2004: ABTA board member
- 1966-1968: Tour Operators Study Group board member (precursor to the FTO)