Three years in the making, Holiday Best – backed by Turkish entrepreneur Hakan Kavalci, announced itself to the trade last month after gaining its Atol, and will establish a dedicated trade team with on-the-road support.
“As part of our longer-term vision, we want at least 35% of our business to come from agents – and we will do all we can to engage with them,” chief marketing officer John Milburn, who joined the business in January after a 19-year stint at Hays Travel, told TTG.
Holiday Best has framed its ambitions around restoring “the real package holiday” proposition, where all extras – such as luggage and transfers – are included in the original price. “When you book a holiday with Holiday Best, you’ll get a real package holiday,” said Milburn. “From the moment agents book to the moment their clients return, we’re here with you all the way.”
Milburn, though, told TTG Holiday Best would – in the first instance – prioritise the launch and development of its consumer-facing website to make sure “everything was running as it should be and we have the right product and functionality", with the launch of its agent portal pushed back to September.
Holiday Best has started engaging with travel’s major consortia after securing an Atol for just shy of 81,000 annual passengers for the period through to the middle of next year.
“We will have a dedicated support team available [to agents] and we will be looking to get someone on the road once we’re up and running,” Milburn continued.
He said Holiday Best would look initially to recruit one head of B2B before sharing the load across multiple roles. To encourage agents to book once B2B operations are live, Holiday Best will offer price parity and ensure its packages are fully commissionable.
The operator is also hopeful of launching an agent fam programme in September, as well as agent incentives, competitions and discounts.
“It’s about having conversations with the consortia and really building those trade relationships ready for a September launch,” said Milburn. “And then between September and December, it’ll be about getting under the skin of the agents, getting to know what works for them and their markets, and where we can add value.”
Holiday Best will initially offer around 50 destinations, including Turkish and European beach hotspots, as well as the US and the Maldives. Agent with clients keen to head to Turkish beach resorts such as Antalya and Dalaman will be able to access regional airlift from nine UK airports next summer.
The company is hopeful of expanding its destination portfolio by dipping into the medium- and long-haul market, with designs on launching the US in particular.
“We filled most of the key destinations for Europe so probably over the next few months we’ll look to fill in gaps in the mid- to long-haul category, as opposed to short-haul,” added Milburn.
