Classic Collection Holidays is mulling a separate branding for its most expensive tailor-made “ultra-luxury” products.
Oliver Garner, chief executive, said the company has a focus on three core segments: ultra-luxury, Classic Collection’s luxury offering, and Classic Package Holidays’ ‘fly-and-flop’ products.
The Worthing-based operator has a concierge team that services the needs of the ultra-luxury customers, and bookings can be worth more than £200,000.
“We are thinking about whether we need to differentiate it to our core proposition,” said Garner.
“Whether we do rename it or not, it’s more about differentiating the service proposition.”
Si Morris-Green, agency sales and marketing director, said the company is seeing “a lot” of private jet enquiries this year and even a private yacht request.
“We had a customer in Ikos, in Greece, who wanted a piano delivered and piano teacher to teach lessons for their son,” he added.
Garner said top-level clients have been able to travel the most through Covid and are “the most resilient from a financial perspective”.
“In depths of Covid, we had our highest ever booking, for £264,000,” he said.
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Morris-Green said the operator is now like a “one-stop shop” for agents, with its luxury and ultra-luxury holidays, alongside its expansion into long-haul destinations and bucket-and-spade beach holidays with Classic Package Holidays in 2019.
“We’ve got something for every agent, in long-haul and short-haul, across our whole product range,” he said.
He pointed out that Classic Package Holidays now offers 15 airlines, 30 airports and 4,500 hotels, as well as the option to fly out with one carrier and return with another.
Parent company On the Beach supplies the products and technology while Classic builds the holidays and supports the agents, he added.
“Agents come first, they are our bread and butter,” Garner continued, explaining how many agents dual-brand the holidays from Classic Package Holidays.
Morris-Green commented: “We can take the buying power of the group and tailor it to trade partners, bringing the benefits to the trade.
“It is incredibly important to know that Classic Package is only bookable through travel agents. It is not traded B2C.”
Garner said there is “more to potentially come” on the product side but currently the team is “finessing” its current range – adding new properties in Italy, Greece and the Caribbean, for example.
“We’re happy with where we are and there is a much bigger opportunity for a wider agent network to be selling the products,” he said.
“We have got a significant number of agents active on the system…we believe we have got a really good opportunity to offer a wider breadth than anyone else and as a result of that, much more competitive prices.
“We want to sign up more agents. We want them to transact with us as frequently as possible and search the platform for an alternative to others.”
Picture: Shutterstock/Juice Flair