AAT KINGS ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
IF frequent flyer points could be traded for cash, Anthony Hayes would be sitting pretty. After a 16 year career with Qantas and seven year stint with Queensland Tourism, he’s literally been around the world on the job. But he’s since traded in the air miles for coach travel in the role as managing director of AAT Kings. Speaking with travelbulletin last month, Hayes admitted that the transition has had its challenges – namely turning the company around and ditching its rusty branding which was losing touch with the Australian market. Stepping into a role which had been left vacant for six months, he admitted the AAT Kings brand was down on its luck and it was a “struggle” to bring it back from the brink. “We were way behind in terms of sales, we had let our partnerships slide and we weren’t engaging with agents or consumers,” he recalled. “To be honest, we were really doing it tough.” But Hayes didn’t waste time getting his hands dirty and within six months launched an aggressive strategy to re-position the brand to the market. Going further than new uniforms and a jazzy tagline, he completely overhauled the brand, ditched its long term strategy, and re-positioned the company to closer align with the “real” coach touring market. “We had been trying to position ourselves as being stylish and sophisticated, but that’s not what we’re about,” he said. “Coach tours aren’t for the luxury market – it’s not rocket science.” With the hope of positioning the company as the “perfect cliché of a genuine Aussie holiday”, Hayes also rolled out a new brochure with a strong focus on its staff. After a long consultation process with agents, AAT Kings also added food and wine product to the books, launched new product in Western Australia and Tasmania, rolled out some new cruising product and packaged everything to make it easier for agents to sell. It also bid farewell to the 10 bottom performers as part of a “fierce” strategy to re-build the product. Twelve months on from the re-brand, Hayes said the changes were breathing life into the once-tired brand, with guided holiday sales up 25% and short breaks up 45% on last year. The figures are impressive, but Hayes said the turnaround didn’t come easy. “We had a dramatic drop off in sales after 2010, and we had to say goodbye to a lot of good people to turn things around,” he said. “The economy and low consumer confidence were brutal for us and we really struggled to convince people to take holidays at home.” Hayes admitted the company was ruthless in its approach but said there was no
We had to put the business back together in the right way and make some hard decisions to overheads’ reduce
alternative: “We had to put the business back together in the right way and make some hard decisions to reduce overheads.” With “several million dollars” returning to the company’s bottom line over the past 18 months, Hayes is convinced the worst is behind the company. But mindful of the past, he’s been quick to implement change. AAT Kings this year launched a more aggressive earlybirds campaign and stepped up its marketing focus on the domestic market to re-engage with Australian travellers. The company is also “heavily investing” in its agent partnerships with new incentives and initiatives to help agents sell. Looking forward, Hayes expects the softening Aussie dollar will allow the company to reclaim its 2010 position when it was making some “real money”. “We’ve had some ups and downs over the past 18 months, but we’re finally in the right place and on the road to recover y,” he said.