Holidays 'will soar in price' next summer after mergers

Published on Friday 21 December 2007 21:23

HOLIDAYS will be more expensive next year and travellers will have less choice because of recent consolidation in the travel industry, it was predicted yesterday.

Travel agents said the merger of four major tour operators means there will be 1.25 million fewer summer holidays to choose from, creating demand which pushes up the price.

However, industry experts in Scotland said the market for cheap holidays north of the Border was better than ever because of an increase in destinations from Scottish airports.

Mike Greenacre, chief operating officer for Co-op Travel, said the merger of Thomas Cook with MyTravel and Thomson with First Choice was bad for the consumer because the companies will cut offers in areas where they overlap.

"The mergers of these four companies mean there will be fewer flights and hotels for families to choose from," he said.

Since coming together, the large tour operators have stripped out over-supply to short-haul favourites such as mainland Spain and the Balearic islands of Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca.

In November, Thomson's parent company TUI announced 12 per cent cuts and Thomas Cook slashed the former MyTravel programme by as much as 23 per cent.

Mr Greenacre said holidaymakers will notice the difference when they come to book their summer holidays and recommended getting in early.

"Holidaymakers have got used to having plenty of holidays to choose from, which has fuelled the growth of late-deal breaks," he added.

"We predict there will be fewer package holidays to choose from later on in the season, particularly if you are a family and want to go at a particular time of the year and to a particular destination."

However Tom Dalrymple, chairman of Scotland's low-fares airline Flyglobespan, said it was a better time than ever for holidaymakers.

He argued people are no longer relying on package holidays but instead book their own flights and hotels because of an increase in low-fare airlines and the ease of the internet.

"Holidaymakers can now go online to low-fare airlines and not only buy flights but also put together their own holiday package with transfers, or car hire and accommodation – at considerably less cost than buying someone else's ready-made arrangements," he said.

Mr Dalrymple said it was a particularly healthy market in Scotland – even though it is often harder to get good deals from airports north of the Border – because of an increase in destinations.

"As far as Scotland is concerned, we now have more direct flights to holiday destinations from our main airports than ever before.

"Despite gloomy predictions from certain sectors of the business, we expect the traditional post-Christmas holiday rush period to be as busy as ever."