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Enable Holidays banks on trade to spur growth in sales
Enable Holidays is targeting significant growth in trade sales and aims to double its passenger numbers within two years.
The accessible travel specialist said travel agents, who account for 40% of sales, will play a “big part” in the expansion of the company, which is celebrating its 21st anniversary.
Enable Holidays carried about 1,200 passengers a year pre-Covid and last year took between 800 and 900 holidaymakers away, although average booking values have increased in the period.
Chief executive Ben Kirby, son of founder Lynne, said the operator aims to boost its trade profile and return to pre-Covid passenger numbers within 18 months.
He said: “We understand it will not be easy but, realistically, within 18 months there should be no reason why we can’t get the numbers back up and grow further.
Within the next couple of years we want to double the number of passengers, and the trade will play a big part in this.”
Kirby said the operator is looking to expand the range of destinations it offers and work with more agents, and hopes to increase awareness of the brand among the trade. “Even though we have been here 21 years, there are still agents who have not heard of us,” he added.
He said the company planned to build on its reputation in the trade with more product and sales training materials and events, and called for more agency head offices to raise awareness of accessible travel at branch level.
“There is a lack of communication from certain agents so head offices need to communicate better,” he said.
The company anticipates agent sales growth of 30% over the next two years, bringing the share of business sold via the trade to about 50%.
Kirby was optimistic despite the sector taking longer to recover post-Covid, the continued lack of extra guaranteed accessible rooms, which restricts growth, and more competition in the market.
He said: “Although it’s more challenging with more competitors, you can take it as a compliment, being a pioneer for accessible travel.
“And we are still the only ones doing the full package out of the UK with flights and assistance, carers, accessible rooms and equipment hire.”
The operator marked 21 years of trading with an agent celebration near its Birmingham headquarters.
Enable Travel history
Enable Holidays was set up in 2004 after founder Lynne Kirby spotted a gap in the market for package holidays for clients with accessible travel needs.
Head of marketing Jeremy Cooper, who has worked at Enable since it started, recalled: “One of Lynne’s associates had an accident overseas and said she didn’t realise how difficult it was to travel once you were in a wheelchair. That sparked an idea.
“Lynne’s experience in the travel industry and her willingness to look at new ideas led to the start of Enable Holidays.”
Kirby and Cooper, who met at the Apollo Travel Group, decided to canvass the views of disability groups, which also provided the operator’s name.
Cooper said: “When we engaged with these groups someone said “I wish I was able to go away” and we said “what if we enable you and your family to go” which gave us the name Enable Holidays.”
He added: “It was very much the case in 2003 that disabled people thought it was impossible to travel abroad so they would go to Butlin’s or stay somewhere in the UK.”
The company decided to audit suppliers, from airports to airlines, hotels, beaches and places of interest, to find out what product was available and put together dossiers of information on each.
The first brochure was launched in 2004 on a team of six staff, which grew to almost 20 staff pre-Covid. It currently has 11 employees.
In its first year it sent away 148 passengers on holidays to 70 properties in seven destinations in the Mediterranean and Florida.
Its portfolio has grown to more than 500 properties in more than 50 destinations worldwide, including the Far East, the US, Africa and Egypt with options from safaris to scuba diving on offer.
Cooper admitted it was hard work to get the company off the ground.
“It was a challenge bearing in mind we didn’t have agents at the start or a website and relied on direct mailings and events. It was very much a case of listening to the disabled community and how we could answer those questions,” he added.
The operator has worked for agents for more than a decade and seen the share of trade sales increase from 20% to its current 40%.
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