THOMAS Cook has decided not to offer on-line booking on its upgraded Internet site because it believes customers prefer to purchase holidays over the telephone.
The operator has spent £2m upgrading its two-year-old site. But rather than taking credit-card details over the Internet, Thomas Cook said it will offer a call-back service. The service means that the operator’s staff will telephone a customer once they have made an indication on the site as to the holiday they want.
The move bucks the trend towards e-commerce but does follows research by the operator and National Opinion Poll which found that 60% of potential customers would prefer to use the telephone to book holidays.
Marketing director for Thomas Cook Interactive Alexa Clark explained: “The research has shown us what people want, so that’s what we have done.
“It also told us that people like searches to be quick and simple and to include facilities that allow them to say what they want. This site does exactly that.”
Thomas Cook claims that the upgraded site now offers access to 2.5m holidays, more than any other travel Internet site. Foreign exchange will also be available on the site, which will have real time or up-to-date inventory.
The operator has also reacted to research findings by providing pictures of destinations and an ability to clearly state holiday criteria when searching on-line.
Previously Thomas Cook’s site held only 1,000 holidays and the process from the customer browsing to finding exactly what they wanted took much longer.
The company says the site is a third distribution channel which will be equally as important as its 750 high-street branches and Thomas Cook Direct. The operator is planning to spend £30m on new media over the next three years.