BRITTANY Ferries plans to increase its own inclusive tour business by 50%, to 500,000 annual bookings by 2001.
It is confident of achieving this figure after building up what it believes is the largest self-catering holiday home selection in France for sale on the UK market.
The ferry operator now carries about 2.5m passengers from the UK, of which 20% are on other tour operators’ packages and 14% booked from a Brittany Ferries’ brochure. The rest is point-to-point traffic, using Brittany’s services into western France. Managing director Ian Carruthers said the company is now keen to expand the holiday business.
“We played a key role in the revival of gites in the UK market and have developed the concept of holiday homes so that we now offer about 2,800 self-catering units in France,” he said. “This is an important part of our business and one we want to grow.”
Carruthers said a new yield management system and ú8.5m computer reservation system, are key to achieving the growth.
“The yield management system took two-and-half-years to adapt from those used by airlines and enables Brittany Ferries to increase returns by targeting offers for maximum effect,” he said.
“The new CRS allows reservation staff to make holiday or ferry bookings faster so we can take more without increasing staff levels. The system also takes in more details, so it is easier to tailor-make a holiday.”
All of Brittany’s self-catering properties are on an Internet site which shows latest availability. They are also on a CD-Rom, trialled last year with a limited number of holidays.
Carruthers said this approach was more economic than posting brochures and has been expanded for 1999.
n Brittany Ferries plans to develop a series of tours by audio cassette for passengers on one of its short breaks to France.
The first, a 90min cassette telling the story of the 1944 D-Day landings and a booklet with recommended routes, was launched last month. It is free for short-break clients, and also on sale on Brittany’s ferries, priced ú9.95. Others covering food and wine, culture and garden tours are planned.