NEWS
Operator opens fi rst retail outlet in Birmingham
Sun4u expands
into high street
Jackie David
travel.weekly@rbi.co.uk
A tour operator is defying the recession
by expanding into the high street with
its own agency in a coffee shop.
Sun4u, which has been operating for
fi ve years, began trading from its shop
in Birmingham on Monday. It is the
fi rst of a number of planned high-street
openings across the West Midlands.
As well as selling its own and other
operators’ products, it has signed up
about 200 agencies to sell its holidays
via its website onthecasetravel.com.
Chief operating offi cer Simon Purchase
said the downturn had helped
the company realise its ambitions to
have a presence on the high street.
“Lots of landlords are offering very
competitive prices and we’ve been
offered favourable terms which have
enabled us to keep costs at a reasonable
level,” said Purchase.
Sharing the retail space with an
existing business was a mutually benefi
cial concept, said Purchase. “They
have existing footfall and we’ll bring
some in and we’ll be looking at joint
promotions. Although we have costs,
we shall share the risks.”
The agency has a staff of two who
have more than 20 years’ experience
between them, plus managing director
Tina Patel. “We’ve also joined Elite,
which has been supportive,” said
Purchase.
TRAVOLUTION NEWS IN BRIEF
UK TRAVEL MARKET ‘VERY
WEAK’ SAYS EXPEDIA BOSS
Expedia chief executive Dara
Khosrowshahi has said the UK travel
market remains “very weak” due to
the falling value of the pound and the
economic downturn. The business
has pulled back its marketing eff orts
in the UK as a result.
CTT GROUP REFRESHES
PACKYOURBAGS WEBSITE
Kent-based online agency CTT Group
has revamped its Packyourbags
website with a refocus on package
holidays. The company has signed
a deal with rich media company
Trailstream to put 1,500 videos on
the site, with the fi gure expected to
double in the coming months.
TRAVELODGE TO LAUNCH
IPHONE APPLICATION
Travelodge plans to unveil a mobile
booking application for the iPhone in
www.travelweekly.co.uk
From left, are Julie Franklin, Elite
Travel Group and Simon Purchase
Having a high-street presence gives
the company access to customers who
were uncomfortable booking holidays
through its website.
The Birmingham outlet is just the
beginning, said Purchase. “The guys
who own the Coffee Lounge have quite
a few others and if this is successful we
can roll it out across the West Midlands.
“Our target for 2009/10 is to have
four or fi ve outlets, but the next one we
are looking at is Sheffi eld, where we
have a call centre. We know what the
catchment is like there.”
Purchase admitted some might fi nd
the company’s decision to expand during
a downturn surprising. “You have a
choice: you can stand up and be counted
or just shrivel up.”
the next few weeks. The technology
is currently being approved by Apple
and will be available to download
to the iPhone free of charge.
NEW EBOOKERS CHIEF
WARNS ON PROFITS
Ebookers is unlikely to make a profi t
again this year, new chief executive
Barney Harford has revealed. He said
the economic slowdown in Europe
has outweighed the cost benefi ts of
shifting its 13 European businesses
onto a single platform.
CANADIAN DIVISIONS UP
TRAVELZEST TAKINGS
Travelzest’s Canadian divisions
boosted the company’s fi nancial
results in 2008 as the economic
downturn began to hit other areas
of the business. The company posted
a 15% increase in revenues from
£38.5 million to £44.3million for
the 12 months ending October 31.
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