THE arrival of major British travel operators First Choice and Thompson Holidays on the Irish market has further raised the combative temperature in a business operating on wafer thin margins. Thompson's contention that its influence and purchasing power can further cut prices has been publicly challenged by Budget Travel which this week requested the Director of Consumer Affairs to investigate its rival's claims. Budget has also adopted an aggressive promotional stance to counter the Thompson's challenge.

While the growth in demand for sunshine holidays mirrors aspirational values in the secular new Ireland, Joe Walsh Tours (JWT) has decided that old fashioned piety can still turn in a virtuous profit. JWT, having disposed of its sun holiday division to First Choice for £5.3 million, is to spend more than £500,000 on acquiring the pilgrimage division of Cara Holidays, a major player in the specialised pilgrimage market. The pilgrimage market is believed to be worth around £20 million per annum, the main destinations still being Lourdes, Rome, Fatima and the Holy Land.