Opportunities around Europe
Leigh Knights
There is no reason for holidaymakers to be apprehensive over their foreign holiday plans in 1975, in spite of events that have shaken people's confidence in 1974, for the travel industry is in far better shape than it may seem. Anyone worried about reliability should remember that many airlines and hotel groups are linked together financially and offer holiday packages, usually in conjunction with tour operators and agents.
British Airways, for example, operate Sovereign and Enterprise holidays covering all popular European destinations and somefurther afield. Others are backed by long experience and sound financial support: owned by large commercial enterprises, who would not permit their reputation to be damaged by relatively small travel subsidiaries.
In these catagories are Thomsons, Cosmos and Laker involved with their own aircraft and hotels. They also cover European and certain wider destinations, Then there is the old faithful with a new image and name, Thomas Cook, with a world wide programme to suit all tastes and pockets, steering clear of running hotels and aircraft.
But size is not everything: there must be well over a hundred much smaller tour operators who for
many years have quietly provided conscientious service to clients, who book mainly through recommendation. Wings and the Travel Club, Upminster, spring to Mind, as do Swans with their extensive rail holidays, and the family-run Bales Tours with their long-distance holidays.
Then there are the highly specialised small businesses like Paris Travel, Cadogan Travel, Hosts, and the tailored tours of Fairways and Swinford. Such people have to be sought after because most of them don't advertise extensively. Mostly they book on scheduled services and reserve hotel rooms as required, thus cutting their risks and improving reliability.
Car holidays linked with villa rentals is booming business in Europe and catching on fast here. Townsend Thoresen car ferries operate across the Channel, Tor Line to Scandinavia and Swedish Lloyd to Spain. Grand Metropolitan Hotels, Esso and Trust Houses Forte have hotels, motels and holiday villages dotted around Europe for do-it-yourself motorists. National Tourist Offices like those in France and Spain have lists of sophisticated camping sites to match.
Let us not forget the unusual holiday: unusual both in place and purpose. Such a one is remedial holidays at a spa in Hungary, operated by Wakefield Fortune, subsidiary of the mammoth ICI and Holland America Line.
In the longer distance market, companies like Pan American, Air France and Alitalia for example, cover the world pretty well, including South America. They are usually linked with tour operators, as are Sheraton, Holiday Inns and Intercontinental Hotels. Most of the world's leading hotels are represented in London by people who will book or offer advice, old hands like William Galley, R. M. Brooker and Windotel.
These are but a few of the people who know their way around — indicated just to help restore your confidence. Why not go to your local travel agent for advice? You should certainly book through him. He is on the spot, and unlikely to disappear down the telephone or through an empty letter box.
One problem may be finding a package to book. Not only will fewer be on the market, but local residents in many countries are resisting tourist development. They don't like what they have seen in places like the Costa Brava. Spaniards are saying money which could be better spent on local improvements is being squandered on foreigners who don't pay enough to make it worth while. Many areas are likely to remain unspoilt therefore, and new projects .like Aquitaine in Southern France are being developed to avoid the charge of `tourist pollution.' Remember everyone in the travel business has been hurt to some degree this year. By protecting themselves they will be protecting you.
Leigh Knights, Managing Director of KEC Travel Management, is chairman of the Travel Industry Marketing Group
Previous page
