Derek Jones

Many independent travel agents will never really trust that Kuoni can run its own chain of retail stores and continue to support them to the same degree that other ‘trade only’ suppliers do. I always knew it was going to be a challenge to keep the trade onside once we decided to open Kuoni branded shops. Let’s be honest, the track record of those that went before us wasn’t good. I remember being told by a top independent agent some twenty years ago that the reward for winning Thomson ‘Agent of the Month’ was a certificate for the back office wall… and a Lunn Poly shop next door! And as if the threat of a store next door wasn’t enough, this was followed by in-house discounting levels that were uneconomical to follow and eventually by permanent online price reductions. It’s no wonder nobody trusts us. Agents have learnt that trusting the word of Foxy Loxy tour operators, like dumb Chicken Lickens, is not a sensible long term strategy. So it’s worth taking a moment here t...

I worry that somewhere, sinking under the flotsam and jetsam of unsolicited e-mails in my inbox, is the one that really is going to quadruple my sales conversion, take my business to another level, create a world class digital experience, halve my printing costs, deliver sustainable double digit growth, cure my male pattern baldness and improve my sex life. Worse, I worry that there might actually be a proper e-mail in there, maybe even one from my boss asking me a critical question that needs to be answered yesterday … or last week … or last month! I’ve done everything the IT doctor told me I should do. I’ve ‘moved to junk’, replied ‘opt out’, blocked and unsubscribed. I’ve even been crazy (and desperate) enough to reply to a few, before realising that, in this direction, madness lies. Accepting then that there is nothing to be done other than reading at the least the first few lines of each fresh attempt to change my life, I have become a reluctant expert on the tricks, tacti...

Innovation has always been at the heart of travel. The great travel pioneers of the 19th century created mass-market leisure travel by packaging components together to create affordable rail trips for working class families. In the 1960s the same concept was applied to Mediterranean beach holidays, harnessing the benefits of jet propulsion technology developed during the Second Word War. Less than 20 years after the first British passenger jet aircraft, the De Havilland Comet, entered service in 1952, commercial flights began on the Boeing 747. By the time Concorde took to the skies in 1976, the speed of passenger air travel had increased by a staggering 1,000 miles per hour in less than 25 years. Incredibly, in the 40 years since, it’s actually slowed down by 700 miles per hour. A brand new Airbus A320 has a cruising speed less than half that of Concorde. This wasn’t supposed to happen; progress is supposed to do just that – progress! But in the case of civil avia...

So Virgin Holidays has decided to stop offering its products for sale through travel agents, saying: ‘It’s just the way things are going these days.’ The rationale, according to Virgin Holidays is that when they sell through the trade they don’t talk to the customer directly and they need to make sure that the booking experience is in line with theirs, which they can only do if it’s direct with the customer. But hang on… is this really just the way things are going these days? I suppose that depends what they mean. If your strategy is to constantly and aggressively offer lower prices in your own channels than in other travel agents then of course that’s the way things are going. No sensible agent is going to support a tour operator that blatantly undercuts them on its website – there are only so many 10% weekend discounts an agent can take before they decide it’s not worth the biscuit anymore. Coincidentally 10% is the share of Virgin’s business that was left...

Volkswagen's sneaky software and rigged emissions tests have revealed that not only are the diesel engines in question a little dirtier than we thought – so too is Volkswagen’s reputation. Up to 11 million customers could be affected worldwide, with owners disappointed with the company’s dishonesty and underhand tactics. It’s an erosion of trust that will take years rather than months to overcome. Customers’ feelings are understandable; this is a company that’s been giving it the gung-ho in relation to green policies. Only last year the company claimed in its sustainability report: “We aim to be the world’s most successful, fascinating and sustainable automobile manufacturer. This is the target we set ourselves for 2018.” Oh dear! The environmentally-friendly diesels were a myth and Volkswagen has had to slope off to its awards room and hand back accolades including Green Car of the Year. So when it’s all gone wrong, where do you start in rebuilding your reputation? The a...

Kristina Wallen, the dazzling Managing Director of Harp Wallen was kind enough to invite me to a beautiful al fresco celebration of their 20 years in business.   I joined them on the roof of the Marriott Hotel at Marble Arch to share some memories and to toast the future.   It’s a testament to Kristina’s success over the years that most of the great and the good of the travel industry turned up for the event. For me, it was my first public outing since the Kuoni Group announced that REWE had acquired the UK business (subject still to EU approval) and a chance to gauge the industry reaction which, I’m delighted to say, was wholly positive.   A reminder once again that the Kuoni brand enjoys huge affection from colleagues in the industry and that they too had a stake in securing a positive future for the business and the people who work for us. As well as offering up congratulations on a successful outcome, many colleagues were intrigued to hear more about the process...

I hesitate to tell you about Catherine Barnett.  Catherine is head teacher at Eveswell Primary School in Newport, and last week she reignited the debate about children being allowed time off school to take holidays during term time.  In a triumph of lateral thinking, Catherine decided to schedule all of next year’s teacher training (inset) days during the same week in June, meaning parents of pupils at her school can enjoy a lower cost holiday without being penalised with a fine. The reason I’m loathe to bring her plan to the wider attention of the travel industry is because somewhere in the dusty recesses of a tour operator’s head office, those who practice the dark art of yield management will be noting this information and trying to find out exactly which week in June these teachers are to be trained.  After all, such a spike in demand should be worth at least an extra £100 per family on that weekend’s Cardiff departure to Majorca. I exaggerate of course - there...