ON-line Internet bookings will be underway with Cresta and Bridge by the end of the year, say parent company Airtours.
Group finance director Tim Byrne played down the impact the move would have on travel agents. He said that in Scandinavia, which is a direct-booking market, only 16,000 of 2m bookings have been made on the Internet since it was set up in August.
“You are hard pressed to find a travel agent in Scandinavia, yet Internet bookings are still very small,” he said. “If I was an agent I would not be too concerned.”
He estimated that of a turnover of almost ú1bn, only ú5m will be via the Internet by the end of the financial year. Bridge is likely to be first on-line as it already has a Web site, while moves are being made to establish a Cresta site.