SANDALS Resorts is planning an expansion of the group’s business in Europe, aimed at doubling the number of bookings out of the region in the next two to three years.
Germany and Italy will be the first target markets for the Caribbean all-inclusive group, according to new managing director UK and Europe, Steve Garley.
Garley has appointed former SuperClubs senior executives Martin Grass and Sue Case to spearhead the new drive into Europe.
Formerly SuperClubs’ vice-president sales and marketing, Grass will be responsible for raising brand awareness in Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Eastern Europe, while Case, formerly SuperClubs’ European sales manager, will oversee operations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Africa and Australasia.
Grass and Case join Jeremy Brook who is responsible for Sandals’ UK sales force.
“We want to do in Europe what we have already done in the UK,” said Garley. “Germany and Italy in particular have huge potential and Grass and Case’s experience and contacts from their SuperClubs days are invaluable.”
The UK represents 13% of Sandals’ worldwide business, while the rest of Europe accounts for only 6%.
To achieve the planned growth, Garley admits that the upfront, US-style Sandals image will have to be toned down.
But he does not believe that the group’s highly recognisable look should be lost altogether.
“We are not going to try and reinvent our image either for the UK or Europe, instead we will be tweaking it a little and giving it a more European feel,” said Garley.
He added: “Our new literature will be more informative and we will be using models that are more like real holidaymakers in all our advertising and promotions.”
Another priority for Garley over the next six months is the group’s relationship with the UK travel trade.
Former Thomson Travel retail development managing director Nigel Cleevely has been signed up on a consultancy basis to review how Sandals works with its key travel agents.
“Nigel will be looking with Jeremy Brook at the way our sales force works and helping to design training packages that fit into the existing training modules operated by the big travel agency chains,” saidGarley.