TOUR OPERATORS:GILLIAN BOWLER is aiming to start a price war in the travel business with the launch of a new travel company that promises to sell 10,000 holidays at prices up to 33 per cent lower than other travel operators.
Clickandgo.com will be offering holidays to Spain, Portugal, the Canary Islands and Madeira for four, seven, 10 and 14 nights. The new company will go head-to-head with Bowler’s old company, Budget Travel, which was bought from a liquidator in February by Club Travel. Budget Travel offers holidays to similar resorts and destinations.
Bowler says Clickandgo.com will operate against the “cosy market” dominated by the big two overseas-owned tour operators, TUI and Thomas Cook Group, by offering better prices and flexibility in holidays.
Principal shareholders in the new company will be Bowler and Bob Haugh, of the Travel Department, which specialises in escorted tours. The company will be based at the same offices as the Travel Department and operate under a travel agency license held by Simply Sun Limited.
Employees of the company include former Budget Travel executives Eugene Corcoran and Paul Hackett, who will be chief executive. Other Budget Travel staff will have key positions.
The package holiday market has fallen from a high of over one million seats in 2006 to an expected 350,000 to 400,000 this year. Kevin Nolan, chairman of the Irish Tour Operators Federation said “10,000 is a lot of seats to sell and it may be difficult for Clickandgo.com to sell holidays at competitive prices unless they have agreed pricing with Aer Lingus and Ryanair”.
Ryanair issued a statement yesterday to say it had no agreement with Clickandgo.com and has sent them a legal notice to require that they immediately stop unlawfully selling Ryanair’s flights.
In the past five years Ryanair has taken legal action against a number of travel companies in Europe for unlicensed selling of its seats, it is called “screen scraping”.
Clickandgo.com will operate as a travel agent and use scheduled flights from Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Sata Airlines for Madeira. Holiday accommodation will come from a range of providers familiar to Budget Travel holidaymakers.
In recent months there has been a revival in the travel industry. New travel agencies and brands have appeared. Tropical Sky, partly owned by Harry Sydner, is opening a new shop in Dublin next month to cater for the long-haul exotic market.
Topflight, one of Ireland’s best known local operators, has launched WeTravel2.com, which will also specialise in the long-haul market.