Could this really be the end of the package holiday, as we know it? A clear message to the customer that they must book early in order to receive the holiday of their choice? Or yet another hidden extra to squeeze that extra margin from a very poor early season booking position?
I refer, of course, to the position taken by Thomson to charge extra for a number of elements previously included within the advertised holiday price, such as transfers, standard luggage allowance, resort representation and, if required, facilities such as children’s clubs in resort.
These costs, along with ticket on departure charges and other hidden extras, most of which are currently included within the advertised price, will now be added by default, and only removed should the customer specifically request this.
If, in future, Air Passenger Duty was also shown in addition to the advertised price, then we could very soon be in a situation where customers could very soon be paying around £50 in extras for a holiday being advertised as an inclusive tour.
So, will the customer fully understand why they are paying for all these extras, or simply see them as a surcharge on the advertised price? All this is now happening within a so-called mature travel industry – surely not.
Of course, operators such as Cosmos need to compete in a very price-sensitive lates market and therefore will monitor the situation carefully. We feel that certain elements of the package holiday should always be included within the advertised price. However, the attraction of the additional margin may be too much for the ‘majors’ to resist.
I predict we will quickly see, as we have with TOD charges, that these added extras would soon become standard throughout the industry.
So where does it stop? Will this now prompt a wave of creative ideas in order to add much-needed margin onto those late sales? Why not a charge made for the representative to escort the transfer coach? A booking fee added to each ticket? An increasing scale of surcharges for all bookings made within six weeks of departure?
As we are aware, a great deal of time and effort is currently spent within our industry to build brand loyalty, through various direct marketing and customer service initiatives.
It is therefore surprising that the continued loyalty of these same customers would now seem to be at risk.
This move will certainly not help to increase that loyalty when basic elements, such as a lift to the hotel and the extra space needed for those much treasured holiday souvenirs, will now cost these customers the equivalent price of a curry in a local.
Paul Riches is sales and marketing director of Cosmos