Cooper told TTG the group, which operates in both the B2B and B2C space, had observed trends on both sides of the divide, and remarked on how he felt existing purchasing habits had become more entrenched during the Covid crisis.
On the Beach was launched in 2004 and is now the UK’s largest OTA, authorised by the CAA to carry just shy of 1.37 million Atol-protected passengers in the year to the end of March 2022.
However, in August 2018, the group acquired Classic Collection and went on to build and launch a new agent-only online booking portal, Classic Collection Holidays.
Cooper, though, rejected out-of-hand any suggestion that the pandemic had triggered a shift back towards consumers seeking more human interaction when it came to making purchasing decisions, a common prediction during the Covid crisis.
"Look at the companies that grew fastest during the pandemic, the Amazons of the world," said Cooper. "We have a strong B2B proposition in Classic Collection, and there will always be customers who want that element of hand-holding.
"Similarly, there will always be customers who want to book their holidays online. So having a presence both sides is fantastic and mitigates any impact one way or another."
Cooper said he had observed some "polarisation" in terms of lead times, with more confident consumers using online operations like On the Beach to book near-term getaways, while others had taken the pause necessitated by the pandemic to engage more closely with travel professionals to plan their post-pandemic travel.
"I think we’ve seen some people become more wedded to online given the experience of the pandemic, and people who want that level of expertise and hand-holding go the other way," said Cooper. "But we’re representing both sides, and we are well set."
‘Crystal ball gazing’
Reflecting on the OTA’s summer 2021 off-sale period, Cooper said he felt On the Beach had "gained massively" from a reputational perspective, adding the business hasn’t entirely ruled out the prospect of another.
"It’s very difficult to crystal ball gaze more than a few weeks out," said Cooper. "Never say never, but let’s remind ourselves we took that decision in May 2021 after five months of lockdown. Travel restarted and there was a green list. We thought the very data that feeds those lists was itself going to be influenced by the flow of travel.
"What we thought we were going to see was a whole load of people jumping in and booking holidays to Portugal in June, July and August – then lo and behold, Portugal came off the list.
"So I think it [the off sale period] was the right decision because we were booking quite short-term. Clearly, you wouldn’t say in January that you’re not going to sell August. But in that short-term window, it worked."
