BRIEF Travel Weekly visited agents in and around Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, this week to get their views on summer sun 2000 programmes. Agents said they had had some interest and a few bookings for 2000 but were still mainly selling late bookings for summer 1999. See how Thomson, Airtours, Sunworld and First Choice performed under the spotlight.
Compiled by Julie Baxter
*****
Agents award stars for:
* Brochure design and ease of use
* Operator service and support
* Product range and quality
* Client feedback
* Product popularity
All agents remain anonymous and no additional information will be given out.
FIRST CHOICE
Brochure: Summer Sun.
Description: 436-page brochure of summer holidays to Florida, Spain, the Canary Islands, Portugal, Malta, Tunisia, Cyprus, Italy, Turkey and the Greek islands. Includes hotels, all inclusives and self-catering, kids’ clubs and Suncenters resorts with extensive entertainments programme.
Reservations: through SPACE
Agents’ verdict: “Nice looking front cover, very similar to previous years.”
“Quite easy to follow and pretty informative.”
“Easy to book through the system which has a useful accommodation search and search and match options.”
“Can be hard to get through on the telephone but otherwise very straightforward to deal with.”
Rating: ***
THOMSON
Brochure: Summer Sun.
Description: 500-page brochure of summer holidays to Spain, Portugal, the Canaries, Malta, Cyprus, Tunisia, Italy, Croatia, Turkey, Egypt, Greece and the Greek islands. Includes hotel, self-catering and all-inclusive holidays and kids’ clubs.
Reservations: through TOPS
Agents’ verdict: “A very similar format and look to previous years.”
“All the information you need is there, supplements are clearly shown and it is easy to follow.”
“Probably one of the best reservations systems and you can normally get through to staff if you need to.”
“Clients know the name and ask for this brochure specifically but we don’t get nearly enough supplied.”
Rating: ***
AIRTOURS
Brochure: Summer Sun.
Description: 388-page brochure of holidays to Spain, the Canary Islands, Portugal, Madeira, the Greek islands, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus, Tunisia and Italy. Includes hotel, self-catering and all-inclusive holidays and kids’ clubs.
Reservations: tel. 0161-745 7000; Istel and Fastrak 1#
Agents’ verdict: “A bright, attractive brochure which is certainly eye catching. The layout is good and easy to follow with plenty of information.”
“Easy to book through the system, but clients don’t often ask for this by name and it tends not to be the one I search first.”
“Staff are usually helpful.”
“We have had some problems with administration, but it is generally okay and we get plenty of brochure supplies.”
Rating: ****