Discussion
TheDeuce said:
REALIST123 said:
Do you have any links to reliable information that supports what you’re saying?
Everything I can find (quite a bit out there) shows a resurgence of the package holiday in recent years with further growth predicted.
I agree that it’s not hard, necessarily, to ‘DIY’ but packages seem to still be the most popular way of doing it.
I obviously can't point to any media interpretations of the situation which are more realistic than I hear from those actually working in the industry.Everything I can find (quite a bit out there) shows a resurgence of the package holiday in recent years with further growth predicted.
I agree that it’s not hard, necessarily, to ‘DIY’ but packages seem to still be the most popular way of doing it.
When things enter decline, it's rarely a constant downward trajectory. There are periods of steep decline, then a little resurgence for a while, then more decline. Factors such as the recession, Tunisia and turkey, and a super hot summer last year pushed holiday trends down beneath the overall decrease in package holidays. In between such isolated events, there is a little resurgence.
Another factor is Jet2, who entered the market by offering more for less.. Competition is great for consumers so that too helps to buck the trend for a while.
Then you have to also consider that the package holiday stats are themselves massively skewed in the last couple of years. If you book a hotel and flight through a single service, many now complete the transaction as a 'package' (even though you assembled it yourself) and include ATOL protection. So that's a 'package' holiday, fully self assembled but still counts. TC didn't see that coming so had no offering - all of a sudden them banging the 'ATOL protected' drum to put people off booking their own hotels and flights fell a bit flat.
The media won't hype such dull details - far more likely to paint a picture of corporate greed at the top causing the loss of thousands of jobs..
Jet2holidays is a good example. 24% growth in package holidays last year, 6.5% growth in flight only/hotels.
It also seems that TC’s problem wasn’t the amount of business they were doing but their overheads and debt.
REALIST123 said:
Sorry, I’m not convinced. Every survey I’ve seen, beginning with ABTA and ATOL shows steady recovery and growth for a few years now.
Jet2holidays is a good example. 24% growth in package holidays last year, 6.5% growth in flight only/hotels.
It also seems that TC’s problem wasn’t the amount of business they were doing but their overheads and debt.
The entire package holiday industry in the UK is (or was, ahead of TC exit) fighting over too small a pool of holiday bookers. Of course Jet2 stats are sky high, they came in and offered more for less, so they won over a massive amount of business. Their individual ascendancy does not mean that overall package holidays, in the traditional sense, are increasing in popularity.Jet2holidays is a good example. 24% growth in package holidays last year, 6.5% growth in flight only/hotels.
It also seems that TC’s problem wasn’t the amount of business they were doing but their overheads and debt.
I agree TC problems were down to debt, read back and you will see I said just that. They essentially found themselves in a three way battle vs TUI and JET2, but they were fighting from a weakened position due to the debt.
And again, these days a large number of 'DIY' holidays are technically sold as package holidays, even though it was the customer themselves that packaged them (upon booking flight AND hotel through a single provider, they 'package' it so can add ATOL). So long as that situation is distorting the stats there isn't really very much point looking at the stats.
MissChief said:
Wasn’t there also some sort of huge debt repayment that was due this year that they couldn’t afford to pay? I heard hundreds of millions which they didn’t have.
The full details aren't clear but they had a rolling debt of well over £1bn. There was some sort of repayment, probably just one of many on their timeline. It's been that way for a very long time. Although in fairness, the same is true of many 'too big to fail' companies.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff