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Agents blame Balkans crisis for sales slump


AGENTS are suffering from a serious downturn in bookings this month as a result of the NATO bombing campaign in the Balkans.



Sales have also been affected by the fact people do not have the money to spend as they did last year when many holidaymakers benefited from building society windfall payouts.



May and June are generally flat months in the industry but operators and agents are saying the situation is worse than it has been for several years.



Co-op Travelcare national sales manager Roger Gray said: “Sales have been patchy in the last couple of weeks and business is harder to pull in. Summer 1999 is tougher than summer 1998 as there has not been the windfall money for people to spend. Tour operators have found May and June harder months to sell, despite there being good deals around.”



Gray compared the damage being inflicted on the industry by NATO’s action in the Balkans with the harm caused during the 1991 Gulf War.



He said sales to Turkey had been hardest hit. However, Gray said clients were switching to Spain instead as long as the price was right and they could get free child places.



Thomas Cook retail and director business managing director Andrew Windsor admitted May was looking poor but added sales for the high season were going well.



“May is last year’s June. It is not looking great and there are some fantastic deals around,” he said. “Prices are tempting people back but the margins are obviously poor.”



The best deals are to Turkey where Thomas Cook is offering seven nights self-catering from £99. Other offers include a week self-catering in Gran Canaria from £199.



Windsor said bookings to Turkey were down 5% but blamed the terrorist threat by the Kurdish PKK rather than the war.



Industry observers said operators have concentrated on getting their pricing right for June at the expense of May.


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