Caribtours chief executive Paul Cleary has urged luxury travel brands to avoid a return to pre-Covid price matching.
Speaking at the 2023 Leaders of Luxury Conference, organised by Travel Weekly sister title Aspire, the owner of the Caribbean tour operator argued companies needed to have confidence in the value of the holidays they were offering, based not just on price but also the service and product.
He told a panel debate: “Don’t go back to how things were before [pre-Covid] to price matching. Don’t go back to the old ways. We are better than that.”
Cleary attributed the move away from price matching as one of the positive lessons to come out of the pandemic for travel firms.
More: Agents and operators still 22% behind pre-pandemic level, says ONS
Global air passenger traffic tops 90% of pre-covid levels
Caribtours’ average booking values increased during Covid and the need to match competitors’ holiday prices had lessened, he said, adding: “We have learnt to value ourselves more than before. We value our talent and service.”
He admitted that British Airways’ sales could “fill us all with dread”, in reference to the pressure felt by operators and agents alike as a result of competitive prices offered by the airline’s direct-sell arm BA Holidays, but stressed: “We are holding our own. We enjoy now doing less price matching.”
At the same time he warned companies not to use the current market conditions as an excuse to hike up prices. “Equally don’t be greedy,” he said.
Carrier managing director Natasha Towey told the panel that price matching still existed but agreed the industry less focused on sales volumes had “moved on a bit”.
She said Carrier did not “flood the market with offer-led messages” in its promotional campaigns as that would attract lower spending clients to the operator’s agent partners.
“That will drive agents earning potential down so we focus on the value agents bring, not just the product,” she said.
More: Agents and operators still 22% behind pre-pandemic level, says ONS