p7 oct3 1/10/08 18:59 Page 7
ttglive.com
xl fallout news
PROGRAMME SUSPENSION.
Cook anger at lack of
government reaction
Allbury cancels Greece
THOMAS Cook has voiced its disappointment
about the response by regulators to the recent THE COLLAPSE of XL Leisure Group forced Allbury that XL had a 20% stake in Allbury had no
failures in the travel industry. Travel Group to cancel its programme to Greece a impact on the running of the group. That stake is
Marc Bennett, director of commercial month before it was due to end, chief executive now in the hands of XL administrators Kroll.
relations, said the confusion and jargon Eamonn Ferrin (pictured) has revealed. Meanwhile, the problems it had with Greek
surrounding bonding and consumer protection The group decided the timing of the collapse, hoteliers over what they claimed were unpaid
had to be cleared up. near the end of the season, meant it was not bills by Argo Holidays were now resolved,
The collapse of XL prompted demands from financially viable to look for replacement Ferrin claimed.
the industry to the CAA and the government airlift to continue with the programme. Although Allbury was not responsible for the
departments it works for (the Department for Ferrin said this had affected a few thousand debts, he said it had paid some of them
Transport and the Department for Business, customers, all of which were offered and was now working with “all the
Enterprise and Regu- alternative holidays or refunds. hoteliers it needed”.
latory Reform) to sort
TTG September 19
The operator was able to find He hoped this would end the
out the consumer replacement flights to its other key speculation about Allbury’s
protection mess. destinations, Cyprus and Egypt. future and restore confidence in
“Now is the Ferrin said there could also be scope the Libra and Argo brands.
time for the for increasing capacity next year follow- “There are a lot of rumour
regulators to ing the demise of rival Kosmar, mills but there’s not much I
stand up and be part of the XL group. can do about that,”
counted,” he said. He added that the fact Ferrin added.
“They could
have been more
visible than they
have been to date
with the failures.”
‘PROTECTION FACTOR’.
Package sales at
Advantage soar
ADVANTAGE members have seen a 30% increase
in package holiday sales since the collapse of
XL Leisure Group and the negative publicity
surrounding unprotected flight-only sales.
Commercial director Julia Lo Bue-Said said:
“Customers now just want to know that they are
booking confidently in terms of protection and
are seeing the value in a traditional package.”
She said members were rebooking clients on
alternative breaks and selling holidays for 2009.
“Customers are coming to our members
saying ‘this has happened to me and I want to
rebook to somewhere else’ – and they are specif-
ically asking about the protection factor.”
Lo Bue-Said said packages were selling well for
both forward business and late deals.
“Even before XL collapsed, forward bookings
were strong for us – and forward bookings aren’t
really where the independent agent’s forte lies.”
Sales at the end of August for summer 2009
were 25% up on the same time last year.
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