Problem of perception

Gathercole has a problem, though. First Class Holidays is an umpteen award-winning company.

It’s bagged the British Annual Canada Travel Awards’ Best Tour Operator gong 15 times. It also has an Aito outstanding service award. First Class Holidays should be an easy sell.

“Everything’s there in terms of foundations – it’s just never sold itself,” he laments.

“It’s always been inward-facing. We’re known for Canada. I believe we send more people to Canada than any other tour operator, but we’ve never talked about other destinations.

“Going forward, it’ll be Canada, Alaska, the US, New Zealand, Australia – and more,” he vows.

“The big opportunity for Canada is telling people how good we are at it; the big opportunity for the rest of our core product is telling people we actually do it.”

Canada at the core

The importance of Canada to First Class Holidays cannot be underestimated.

It receives 5,500 bookings a year with around 2.13 passengers per booking – 75% of all business. Average spend per First Class Holidays booking is £8,500, placing it firmly, Gathercole says, in “four-star territory” – and it’s going up every year.

In short, Canada is worth a colossal amount of money to First Class Holidays. Rumours that Harry and Meghan honeymooned there was also a welcome bonus.

The US, by comparison, has always been “fairly flat”, says Gathercole. “It’s such a competitive market.” “I’ve looked at the stats – our conversion rate is half what it is for other destinations.”

He admits, however, the onus is on him to change this: “We need to look at different product for America. We’ll look at changing brochures to bring in more self-drive, more national parks, things more suited to the rest of our product. Wildlife is big for us as well. That runs through all our destinations.”

The operator will add South Africa next year, and it is already in Asia and the Middle East. It’s all indicative of the change under way at First Class Holidays. Gathercole is targeting 25% growth in revenue by the end of 2019, with trade sales currently accounting for 92% of sales.

He admits when he arrived, he saw direct-sell as a quick win for First Class Holidays but thought again when he saw the volume and strength of its trade sales.

“The difficult thing is we can’t really be properly aggressive with consumers. We don’t want to annoy the trade,” he says. “We don’t undercut, though. If someone comes to us direct, the price is the price we give agents. In fact, we regularly refer consumers to agents, as we don’t have a shop or a face-to-face presence. We’re laying new foundations on the trade side.”

Gathercole reveals First Class Holidays is strengthening its sales team and key account programme, and has redeveloped its website (due to launch this week) with trade logins and more imagery.

Ambassador role

The operator is also looking for a celebrity ambassador and an official charity, and has TV ads coming in July, while more destinations and holiday types have been added.

“I’d describe what we’re doing as professionalising the business rather than modernising it,” he adds with a smile. “There’s a lot of clutter. We used to have six or seven incentives a month, so we’ve brought in a ‘one message per month’ rule.

“We now have monthly conference calls with the consortia. We want to be seen as a good company to work with – friendly, fun and professional.”

Gathercole recognises all this activity won’t result in “loads of business straight away”, though.

“We had a record January this year, so I think next January, core season, will be a good benchmark,” he says.

First Class Holidays’ trade performance, spread across around 700 accounts, is all the more remarkable considering its small trade sales team – albeit one far from lacking experience.

National sales manager Jonathan Whiteley has been with First Class Holidays for more than 20 years, while south-east regional sales manager Katie Daniels spent 10 years with Kuoni. The operator will add another on-the-road regional sales manager to handle the Midlands by the end of the year, Gathercole reveals, while a new key account manager will start in July.

Pivotal year ahead

For Gathercole, these foundations are vital. He sees 2019 as a pivotal year for First Class Holidays.

“We decided in March to guarantee 2019 pricing, including flights,” he says. “We were getting so many enquiries – 40% of our Canada enquiries in March were for 2019.

“Our guarantee means agents can give clients quotes now. Some 2019 flights aren’t even out yet, so we’re taking a calculated punt on pricing. Some we’ll win, some we’ll lose. It’s a big selling point. I’ve not seen anyone offering what we are on long-haul.”

To meet 2019 demand, First Class Holidays brought forward new product and prices in its latest brochures and introduced its first “bestseller” collection. “It’s not one you would rack,” Gathercole says. “It’s more coffee table.”

“Why do it then?” I ask. “We had loads of paper left,” he shrugs, with a smile.

First Class Holidays is planning new agent events in Manchester and London in September and October. The sessions will feature senior staff and include dinner and entertainment.

“They will have more of a conference feel,” says Gathercole.

There will be fam trips too: Canada east and west later this year and next, along with Australia and New Zealand. “Most of them go to our key partners,” he warns. “But if someone shows they’re proactive and wants to work with us, we’ll obviously look at it.”

So why, I ask as our meeting draws to an end, should agents choose to book with First Class Holidays?

Gathercole fixes me with a firm stare and says: “It’s our level of service. We have 22 years’ experience, 750 years between our staff.

“We’ve won a multitude of awards and have guaranteed pricing for 2019. Our message to agents is: why would you book anywhere else?”