A2B Transfers has revealed plans to compete more aggressively in the mainstream holiday add-ons market in the trade following its acquisition of transfer company Resorthoppa from Lowcost Travel Group.
Chief executive Renaldo Scheepers has revealed the company will be expanding its product offering to include airport hotels and lounge passes within the next six months under a new trade and consumer website A2Btravelextras.com.
It already has A2B Airport Parking and ultimately aims to include attraction tickets in its portfolio. The move would see it competing head-on with Holiday Extras, the dominant player in the add-ons market in the trade.
Scheepers said: “I think there is room in the extras market when it comes to the trade for another player. We want to expand into other products. Combined we have 2.2 million passengers and we know where they are going to and from and we can offer them something else. We will soon go live with airport hotels and lounge passes.”
As a result of the Resorthoppa acquisition, the company is predicting that prices in the transfers market will stabilise and margins improve.
Sales and marketing director Phil Norris said: “Prices got to a level that was almost unworkable, cheaper than three or four years ago. This deal means we can buy better and help margins as well as give a wider product range.”
The company is also eyeing expansion for both A2B Transfers and Resorthoppa in Europe and worldwide, in terms of distribution. Scheepers added: “We see volume growth coming from Europe and from upselling our products.”
In terms of the Resorthoppa brand, there are no plans to change this and it is “business as usual”, according to Scheepers. Resorthoppa has a stronger direct customer base while around 90% of A2B Transfers’ sales are through the trade.