“Long-haul is now 8% of our total business and it’s growing very fast,” said chief financial officer Shaun Morton said on Tuesday (16 May). “We expect it to be one of the fastest growing parts of our business in the second half of the year.”
Morton’s comments came after the OTA reported record transactional value of £495 million for the six months to 31 March 2023 due to an increase in both the volume and value of bookings new On the Beach bookings.
In particular, Morton – who was speaking to TTG alongside outgoing On the Beach chief executive Simon Cooper – said the firm had strengthened its foothold in previously untapped segments, such as premium and long-haul.
He revealed five-star reservations have increased 17% compared with last year, while the average value of long-haul bookings has increased by more than a quarter (26%). “We’re now doing double what we were pre-pandemic in that premium segment,” Morton continued.
Posting its first-half results on Tuesday morning, On the Beach recorded a 38% year-on-year increase in revenue during H1 2022/23 to 73.2 million, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 11% year-on-year during the same period to £4.1 million.
Morton put the positive results down to continued investment in the brand, including On the Beach’s largest-ever offline marketing campaign, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”.
“Continued investment in the brand and expansion areas over the last few years has brought more people to us,” he said. “I guess we’re now back in volume and value terms, and well ahead of pre-pandemic levels.”
Looking ahead, Morton – who will take over from Cooper as chief executive on 30 June – said his main objective would be to grow the size of the business over the next couple of years.
He added On the Beach was on track to increase significantly in size over the next two to three years "by taking action in the areas we have discussed". “We have big ambitions,” he said.
