BAYON TARGETS SALES OUTLETS

A NEW business run by ex-DanceXport managing director Mike Bayon is targeting a major sales hike for the Seligo and Valley Vacations brands.

Bayon set up Essential Holidays to open up sales channels for accommodation-only specialist Seligo and sister company Valley Vacations, a flight consolidator and tailor-made operator to the US, Far East and Australasia.

Under the new partnership, the brands’ combined portfolio of 800 properties is to increase to 2,500 to appeal to a wider customer base. Self-catering properties will be targeted to make up 20% of the portfolio.

Other sales channels will be Teletext, the Internet, call centres and digital TV.

Bayon, who left DanceXport last month, also plans to run Essential Holidays as an on-line retailer from January.

This will sell mainstream packages, accommodation-only and attraction tickets.

It will also target the youth market, focusing on the Ibiza club scene.

Bayon said: “We’re in discussion with some clubbing brands and the Ibiza clubs themselves, a lot of which have their own hotels.”

He helped set up Seligo’s Ibiza Club-IN Pass, sold as a holiday add-on, and will also sell the passes on the new site.

Essential Holidays is in talks with three call centres and two home-working divisions to take telephone bookings. Accommodation-only and tickets will be bookable on-line. Bayon has already expressed an interest in buying the majority stake in his former company, on-line youth agency DanceXport, which holding company Urbanweb is considering selling.