The new look for long-established luxury brand Classic Collection will launch online and in-resort tomorrow. Meanwhile, a new logo for agent-only Classic Package Holidays brand, which launched in 2019 utilising parent-company On the Beach’s platform, also goes live tomorrow.
Oliver Garner, chief executive of Classic Collection Holidays, said the company had been expanding product across both brands over the past four years following Classic’s acquisition by On the Beach in August 2018.
“For Classic Collection, we have been focused on product differentiation and more complex product to increase market share, [while] agent-only Classic Package Holidays has seen considerable investment in technology and resources to support the travel trade and new destinations and hotel product," said Garner.
"As one of the UK’s leading business-to-business holiday retailers we need to sell strongly differentiated brands which cover the different price points of the UK package holiday market.”
Classic Collection now features hotels in 37 countries and works with 3,000 agent partners. The operator reported that complex and multi-centre itineraries now make up a significant proportion of its bookings.
Classic Package Holidays now features 4,000 hotels and works with more than 2,500 agency partners in the UK. Garner told TTG he believed the brand’s rapid growth since 2019 had been down to two main factors.
"A gap opened in the market particularly as a result of Covid, because of the risks that came with dynamic packaging; we’ve removed that risk for agents," he explained.
"But some agents have also been looking at where they’re putting their business, and if they’re over-exposed or the partners they’re working with are complacent, then new entrants into the market are always welcome," he added.
Garner said "goodwill" towards both brands is currently at an all-time high, with agent partners recently rating the operator with an exceptional score of 84.9/100 through Institute of Customer Service ranking.
"There’s a lot of goodwill for us; we’re open and transparent. We don’t always get it right, but agents know we listen and that they can trust the brand," he said.
