Steve Endacott, Seamus Conlon and Will Waggott have joined forces to create an online web resource to host information and advice on how to “survive today… to rebound later”.
The site will feature blogs and advice from the three, as well as other professional advisors, and will encourage companies to make contact if they need further assistance.
Endacott said he believed the sector would likely see an “ultra late market for summer 2020 and an ultra early market for 2020 fuelled by customers shifting deferred holidays from the current lockdown period”.
“How companies communicate and retain customers during the lockdown period will be crucial to their rebound and strategies need to be discussed and implemented now,” he added.
Conlon said: “Businesses need to get their heads around the post-coronavirus world being a slightly different place, with homeworking much more the norm and an explosion in social communications channels providing new and different marketing opportunities.
“Will your customers want to go back to faceless phone calls after three or four months of constant facetime, skype or zoom?” he pointed out.
The new website created by the trio is designed to advise travel companies in distress on how to navigate out of the current crisis, examining cash control, cost control, restructuring and options for financing/refinancing.
“Unfortunately, during my career as well as success, I have had to manage businesses like MyTravel and On Holiday Group through extremely challenging times and, in the case of On Holiday Group, administration,” said Endacott. “This has given me an extensive knowledge of what management teams can and can’t do to manage cash/resources, without putting themselves at legal threat during times of crisis and potential collapse.”
Waggott has been involved with large plc restructures at Airtours, Tui and Thomas Cook and also has experience of running smaller travel businesses, more recently Travelopia.
“Many travel businesses are going through an incredibly difficult time and I would like to use my experience to help these businesses rebound when the upturn comes,” he said.
Conlon added: “During my time at Cruise.co.uk, we had to reinvent our customers acquisition strategies several times to move away from high-cost channels to lower cost and evolving changes like Facebook, Instagram etc.
“This is just one of the strategic re-evaluation many travel companies need to do over the coming months and I look forward to helping with this process via Rebound Consulting.”
The site is available at reboundconsulting.co.uk
