Saga is to unveil a full brand marketing push for its relaunched travel arm in February.
The disclosure came as the over-50s travel and insurance group reported in a trading update as being on track to make an annual pre-tax profit of between £20 million-£30 million.
However, the company revealed that its tour operating business will report a small underlying loss before tax for the full 2022-23 financial year, after allowing for marketing and administrative expenses, despite revenue increasing tenfold over 2021-22.
More: Saga unveils new tailor-made travel initiative
Saga Travel adds more tailor-made long-haul options
A return to profit in 2023-24 is projected, with booked revenue 13% ahead of last year at £110 million at January 22.
The company said: “Following the successful relaunch of our travel business earlier in the [financial] year, we continued to expand the range of products that we offer our customers, including our new Egyptian tours on the Nile and a further two private jet tour departures in 2023-24 following the bookings success of our first tour, along with our 2024-25 programme which launches in late February.
“As a result, we have observed exceptionally high levels of customer calls in the first three weeks of January, with volumes higher than those observed prior to the pandemic.
“Ahead of the full brand marketing launch, planned for February 2023, our ‘Tailor-Made by Saga’ proposition has been enhanced through 15 new worldwide destinations, self-drive and motorhome holidays, and private touring options across south-east Asia.”
Load factors for Saga’s ocean cruises are expected to reach 84% for the six months to give a full year level of around 75%, with 100% annual revenue growth anticipated.
Ocean cruise bookings ‘strong’
The company described ocean cruise bookings as strong for 2023-24.
River cruise is expected to report a small pre-tax loss for the current financial year.
Saga Group chief executive Euan Sutherland said: “Saga continued to demonstrate progress in the second half of the year, delivering a trading performance which is broadly in line with expectations.
“Our ocean cruise business saw strong customer demand and an encouraging pipeline of forward bookings while, in travel, we launched our new digital offer and continued to expand our range of products.
“Overall, we are well-placed to continue our growth as we make progress against our three-step plan which is focused on maximising our existing businesses, step-changing our ability to scale while reducing debt and positioning Saga as ‘The Superbrand’ for older people in the UK.”
He added: “Today we are laying out our plans as we pivot Saga for growth and sharpen our focus on building the largest and fastest-growing business for older people in the UK. This is all part of the wider plan to make Saga the leading Superbrand for, what we call, the ‘Experience Generation’.
“As a business, we understand this generation better than anyone else – and as they change and adapt, we will build on this knowledge and continue to serve older people better than anyone can.
“This is a group which has, too often, been overlooked or misrepresented. By fully leveraging insight and data and building a bespoke media business, we are focused on providing the services and products that matter to our customers, while, at the same time, moving Saga to a business with high customer engagement and a higher purchase frequency.”