Ray of sunshine for package holidays

Apr 1 2008 by Rhodri Clark, Western Mail

INTERNET users who have had bad experiences with holiday flights and accommodation booked online are returning to package holidays or traditional travel agents.

For several years the outlook for tour operators has looked fairly bleak as customers rushed to their computers to book flights and hotels direct from the companies responsible.

But now there are claims some people are becoming disillusioned with DIY holidays for a range of reasons, including:

the complexity of getting flights, accommodation and transfers to match up;

a lack of reliable online feedback about hotels, with reviews potentially open to distortion;

inability to communicate with staff after bookings are made;

concerns about fraud if holidays are bought online by credit card.

Peter Phillips, Cardiff airport’s head of marketing, said, “It looks as though the charter market has reversed its decline.

“It appears as though many people are returning to the idea of getting everything at a one-stop shop.

“It can be quite a lot of work to try to put together a holiday. There are many uncertainties. You have to get the flights [to match] when you’ve got the accommodation.

“There’s a market that has tried it and thought, ‘That was a lot of work.’ There’s another market which says, ‘We saved a lot of money and we’re very pleased with that’.”

The Association of British Travel Agents said package holidays had declined but the latest figures available showed an increase.

In the first nine months of 2007 15.4million package holidays were sold – up from 15.3million in the first nine months of 2006. (A holiday for a family of four counts as four holidays.)

In the whole of 2004 UK residents took 19.8million package holidays. That dropped to 18.9million in 2005, but stayed the same in 2006.

Abta spokeswoman Frances Tuke said, “Generally our members say they’ve had customers in who’ve said they put in the wrong date by mistake, those sorts of things. There’s nothing anybody can do about it. It’s your error.”

People may have had self-booked holidays ruined by the chaos at Heathrow’s new Terminal Five, she said.

“If you had booked a flight to Australia and a separate tour at the other end, it’s your problem if BA cancels the flight and you miss the tour.

“If you book a package, the tour operator will sort you out.”

At Gill’s Holiday Centre, in Llanishen, Cardiff, package holidays continue to decline because people increasingly book them online.

But retail manager Haydn Jones said growing numbers of customers were asking his agency to book everything they needed – sometimes including restaurants – for their holidays.

This service was appreciated especially by adventurous middle-aged people going off the beaten track, where packages were unavailable, after their children had left home.

“A lot of people don’t like giving their card details online,” said Mr Jones.

“Some people say they’ve had one or two problems booking holidays online, and could never get someone to talk to.

“We’ve had people who booked online and came in for our help. They’re going in two weeks’ time, the money has gone but they’ve heard nothing. They’re wondering if it’s booked or not.

“People are going to go on doing it that way until they have a problem. That’s when they tend to come back. They say, ‘We did it this way last time. We won’t do it again.’”

Last autumn Holiday Which? magazine warned consumers to be wary of website reviews of holiday destinations. One resort had told staff to ask friends and relatives to post positive reviews, and a holiday company offered discount prices for good reviews.

Mr Jones said travel agents knew hotels from experience or customer feedback.

“Quite often people come in and say they’ve seen details of this hotel. I can tell them, ‘I know that hotel and it’s not suitable for you.’ It’s good, honest advice.”

TUI Travel, formed last year by merging Thomson Holidays and First Choice, said families appreciated the security and extra facilities of package holidays. “There’s a range of things they wouldn’t get if they did a DIY package,” said Emma Waddell, head of public relations.

“Some hotels offer their own kids’ clubs, locally run and therefore to local standards. People know if they go with a UK operator, the kids’ clubs representatives will be British, trained to UK standards and CRB checked.”