Daily Mail

Dawn of the ‘pick and mix’ package holiday

Multi-million pound revamp by Thomas Cook to bring family break into digital age

- by Matt Oliver

BRITAIN’S biggest travel agent has launched an overhaul of its business to herald a new era of package holidays.

In a multi- million pound revamp Thomas Cook is to transform family holidays by allowing customers to tailor individual bits of their trip to their needs.

Families will be able to choose types of rooms, meal options, views, or leg room on flights to make their holiday as swanky – or as cheap – as they like.

So for example, customers will be able to buy a traditiona­l offthe-peg package deal, but then decide not to have full-board if they like to eat out and have a room facing the sea or one that is particular­ly quiet.

Thomas Cook is also investing millions in building hotels, and in offering boutique accommodat­ion for a more luxury break.

The overhaul marks a dramatic shift in the battle among Britain’s biggest travel firms to fight for business. The industry is rebuilding after fending off the threat of online rival Expedia, but has also had to combat huge changes in consumer demand because of terror threats in North Africa that have even affected bookings in resorts in Turkey. Peter Fankhauser, Thomas Cook’s chief executive, said it was part of efforts to ‘reboot package holidays for the 21st century’.

He added: ‘The days of onesize-fits-all package holidays are long gone, and by offering more flexible options in a range of hotels that are carefully tailored to every type of customer we’re attracting people who might not have thought a Thomas Cook holiday was for them.’

Thomas Cook, which was founded in 1841 as a rail booking service, has already launched a service letting customers choose their hotel room at 50 locations, with plans to expand this to another 250 this summer. The service – fronted with a campaign featuring TV presenter and property expert Amanda Lamb – is the first of its kind offered by a UK travel agent.

The packaged holiday was invented in the 1950s – becoming hugely popular in the Seventies – as a way for families to have one way of booking everything they needed for a trip.

However, the internet has heralded an era in which many travellers want to book flights and hotels themselves.

Despite an initial threat from online rivals, travel agents have survived but have acknowledg­ed that they need to be more flexible to keep business. Fankhauser, 57, has sought to modernise the company since joining in 2014.

The latest plans have emerged as travel operators are in the midst of their busiest month.

Thomas Cook expects to take about 25pc of its annual bookings in January.

Fankhauser has focused on promoting all-inclusive deals and sold thousands of the firm’s franchised hotels to focus on quality.

He has also launched stylish ‘ boutique’ Casa Cook Hotels, which promote package holidays to a younger generation.

Each Casa Cook is designed to be different, with the chain so far having sites on the Greek islands of Kos and Rhodes.

The company is planning to build its own hotels for the first time as well.

Until now, its own brands – including Sunwing, Sentido and Casa Cook – have been franchised or managed, with the hotels leased from landlords.

But after investing in Swiss property group Aldiana, the partners have agreed to spend about £150m on at least another five hotels which they will own and directly manage.

In a separate move, Thomas Cook has partnered with Expedia to let people snap up spare seats on flights or vacant rooms in hotels at a discount.

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