Cook has unveiled a trial scheme at two hotels this month allowing holidaymakers to pay €25 (£22) to choose and book a specific lounger. It will then be extended to 30 resorts for the summer season.
Customers will even be able to check out the exact location of the lounger from an online map.
The “Choose Your Favourite Sunbed” service is being trialled
at two hotels in the Canary Islands and only some sun loungers will be bookable. It will be available across Cook’s other markets as well as the UK, including Germany.
“Like Choose Your Room [a scheme that Cook launched last year] this isn’t a service that is sold at the time of booking a holiday – it’s something customers can opt into, if they wish, just before departure,” said a Cook spokesperson. “It’s another tool for agents to talk about and one that differentiates Thomas Cook.”
Cook rival Tui responded to Cook’s plan by using its OTA Holiday Hypermarket to offer £22 on bookings for the two resorts participating in the sunbed trial – Sentido Lanzarote Aequara and Sunprime View Suites & Spa in Gran Canaria.
The bookable sun lounger plan has been met with mixed responses from agents.
A TTG poll attracted more than 400 responses from readers, but only 35% thought it was good for customers, while the majority (65%) claimed it was a bad idea as it would be “an extra cost and complication” for customers to think about before their holiday.
