DOMESTIC operator Blakes Holidays is targeting customers who travel abroad for their main holiday in a drive to boost second or third-break sales.
The operator decided to refocus its promotional work after research showed that 80% of its customers have taken overseas holidays in the past three years, with between 40% and 50% likely to have travelled abroad this year.
Managing director Roger Peverett said: “A domestic holiday is for many people often a second or third holiday purchase after an overseas holiday.
“For the travel agent, the Blakes brochure presents an excellent opportunity for incremental sales. Only about one in five of our customers take a cottage break as their main holiday, so we are encouraging agents who book a main summer-sun holiday for a loyal customer to promote a Blakes break for later in the year.”
Blakes, which is part of Thomson’s Independent Holidays Group, has added 50 cottages to its 2000 portfolio taking the number to around 1,450. The operator has focused its expansion plans on the Cotswolds and the north.
The number of holiday parks, which were introduced for the first time this year, has risen to 60 – a 10% increase on the inaugural season.
Peverett said the parks had proved popular despite a sluggish year for the domestic market.
“We are looking to build on the successful start,” he added but declined to give growth targets for 2000.
Early-booking offers include a £5 deposit on week-long holidays booked before December 31, with savings of £15 per week on selected holiday parks booked before before April 29. The operator is also offering savings of £100 on a second holiday if it is booked in the same year.