COACH holiday operator Gold Crest is sending 150 travel agents on an educational to Paris in October in the first of a series of trips to Europe.
The company, which sells its European coach holidays exclusively through the trade, said the move followed a poor response to its agent incentives.
Sales and marketing manager Simon Ayers said: “You can give agents a few Marks and Spencer vouchers but you are not really influencing anyone. We are saying, come on, we’ll take you over to Paris to have a good laugh and hopefully you’ll sell our product more and you’ll come again next year.”
Gold Crest was bought by Vocational and Drama Tours three years ago and the brand taken on as the new name for the company. Then the firm was carrying around 800 passengers a year. It took 20,000 in 1998.
Ayers said when the company was purchased the possibility of whether to sell direct was looked at but it was decided the trade was too valuable to the operator.
He said: “When you look at the prices we offer, our product is tailor-made for reader offers and Teletext, but we decided that doing this would just alienate the good will we have with the agents, so we are committed to selling 100% through them.”
The company is also launching a competition for selected ARTAC Worldchoice members in Gold Crest pick-up areas. Five competition winners will receive a free Disneyland Paris holiday for two.
To qualify, members must answer some questions on a Gold Crest form and return it before the end of March.