Bohemia Suites and Spa - the jewel of Gran Canaria

Delighted to be working once more with all the team in the fabulous Bohemia Suites & Spa. The ambiance and service of this hotel is truly unique and an amazing place to relax away from the hustle and bustle of its contemporaries on Gran Canaria.

Eagles Palace and Villas - pure Greek luxury

We are delighted to be working once more with the iconic Eagles Palace & Villas and the TOR Hotel Group in Halkidiki and Thessaloniki in northern Greece. Eagles Palace & Villas are members of Small Luxury Hotels of the World and have established a reputation for refined luxury with a beautiful location overlooking the sparkling Aegean. We will be working with the team in Greece to ensure that the TOR Hotel Group continue to satisfy discerning clients with their fabulous selection of beach and city hotels.

Freebird Airlines - Turkey's leading independent airline

Intelligent Travel Solutions will be working with the teams at Freebird Airlines and Sven Carlson Aviation to help grow the profile of Freebird in the UK markets.

Freebird are operating scheduled services from London Gatwick to Antalya and Bodrum and from Manchester to Antalya for summer 2022.

Freebird Airlines have a fleet of 8 A320s and are part of one of Turkey’s premier integrated aviation and services group, Gozen Holdings. More information here.

We are delighted to be working with both Freebird and Sven Carlson and look forward to establishing Freebird as the leading choice for independent travel groups sending tourists to the thriving Turkish market.

Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort, Halkidiki, Greece

We welcome the stunning Miraggio Thermal Spa Resort in beautiful Halkidiki to our portfolio of partner hotels. With one of the biggest hotel spas in Greece, its own marina, luxury rooms and an amazing, secluded, beachfront location, this hotel fills a gap in the Greek luxury hotel market

UK Market Update - January 2022

As the UK (hopefully) passes the crest of the Omicron wave, we look at recently published research into consumer sentiment; how the major tour operators are shaping-up and give our thoughts on the market for 2022. You can read the full report HERE

Is your Tourism business ready for the upturn?

A recent report from McKinsey suggested the following steps to take-

• Bring back capacity - in staff, rooms, services. Train and invest now to be giving maximum customer satisfaction come the upturn.

• Invest innovatively in the entire customer journey - customers need more help navigating the endemic COVID world

• Reimagine commercial approaches - travel companies need every source of insight to anticipate demand and optimise revenue

• Learn from critical moments and the wider ecosystem - look at the wider industry to discern trends, anticipate issues and build relationships

  McKinsey & Company “A Travel Boom is Looming. But is the Industry Ready?” July 2021

We have helped travel and tourism businesses bounce back from global shocks before. As our world looks forward to 2022 with some hope, let us help you navigate the new landscape of the travel industry and drive your business to the forefront.

Airline fleets are being shuffled to position for recovery

Interesting snippet in the news today from easyjet -

“This relaxation and removal of restrictions has sparked a positive booking momentum across Europe with the majority of our bookings showing a strong swing towards Europe – when in normal times it would be a 50-50 split with the UK.”

I would imagine a lot of their aircraft will be re-positioned in easyjet’s key European hubs - such as Berlin and Milan - with consumer confidence no doubt returning with the announcement of the EU COVID passport being effective from 1 July.

Expect the islands of Spain and Greece to be the best initial performers, with Portugal also benefitting from their (so far) successful management of COVID.

Early summer 2021 market indications

Some insights for summer 2021 from the team at Forward Keys (www.forwardkeys.com) was published just before the UK’s latest announcement on “Green list” countries.

Firstly, by comparing flight ticket sales sold in 2021 against 2019 to date, Forward Keys compiled the below list of the most "resilient” destinations -

Whilst it is no surprise to see destinations that are traditionally more popular with couples than families (e.g. Chania and Thira / Santorini) selling well, did you expect to see those hedonistic twins, Mykonos & Ibiza, holding the top 2 spots?

But after 12 months of lockdown, who can be blamed for wanting to let off some pent-up steam? Whether it will be a return to supercharged clubbing, or more sedate beach bar vibes remains to be seen.

What is also interesting is that 7 of the top 10 destinations are islands. It looks like customers are remembering that last summer the islands often remained on the “green” list, whilst their mainland was more restricted (e.g. Canary Islands).

This is also highlighted in further analysis by Forward Keys looking at UK bookings for travel between July and September against the same point in 2019 -

Being a country with some of the most famous holiday islands in Europe, it is little surprise that Greece is capturing a lot of the bookings for the 2nd half of this summer as the UK consumers make their travel plans. The appearance of Cyprus and Malta on this list also bears out the popularity of island destinations and no doubt a large chunk of Spanish bookings will be to its’ famous islands.

For the UK, figures from Skyscanner published today (10 May) showed that Madeira had the largest increase in flight searches, up 625%, as Portugal and its territories were put on the “green list” 4 days earlier.

So it looks like our predictions for the market we made in March are coming true, with bookings by (vaccinated) couples and non-family groups leading the way, very often to “familiar” destinations where they know what to expect. What is now becoming clearer is that island destinations will be incredibly popular as consumers remember the pattern of last summer. Also, some demand will be removed as people prioritise visiting friends and family after lockdown (as seen by the strong showing of Poland in the above graph), rather than booking a holiday.

How to make the most of this market ?

• Be prepared for lower yield in family rooms in July & August and think of strategies to sell larger rooms to non-families (e.g. upgrade offers)

• Lower discounting levels in the last quarter of this summer, the market is looking positive here

• Attract families in October, plus prepare for airlines to have extra capacity to cover the late October school holidays

• Contact us to discuss your European distribution strategy to ensure you capitalise on opportunities as they arise. Email - steve@itravelsolutions.co.uk

ITS UK Market update March 2021

The UK vaccination programme continues at pace and all hopes are pinned on the UK Government’s announcement on international travel on April 12. But some trends are emerging and you can read our latest thoughts in our March report HERE . For now, here are our thoughts on this summer in 3 images -

UK demand - summer 2021

Thanks to BVA-BDRC Clear Sight March 21

Know your past customers & win them back

Price to maximise the upsides and plan to overcome the downsides

ITS UK Market update November 2020

For November, we compare the ATOL projections of the top 50 UK tour operators in 2021, against how they performed in 2019.

You can download our November analysis HERE.

Below is a summary of how the top 50 UK tour operators have changed their volumes since 2019 -

In these turbulent times, we are happy to discuss our deeper analysis and strategies to adopt to best position you for the subsequent recovery, just drop us a line.

We look forward to hearing from you.

ITS UK Market update September 2020

ITS have today released their September report on the UK outbound tourism market and consumer sentiment.

You can download your own copy here

ITS UK Market update June 2020

With the COVID pandemic upon us, how are consumers viewing outbound travel from the UK and how quickly will business come back?

In our June report, we look at these points and present our strategies to manage the “new normal”.

You can download our June report here.

ITS and the Bohemia Suites & Spa

The simply stunning, Bohemia Suites & Spa in Gran Canaria. Probably one of the most amazing hotels in Europe…

We are looking forward to meeting with Fernando and the team at ITB in Berlin. This hotel is simply stunning in it’s interiors and design and the level of service is impeccable. Highly recommended for an adults-only stay in pure comfort.

ITS and the MarBella Collection

We are delighted to announce that we will now be working with the team of the MarBella Collection to provide them with their UK marketing strategy and strategic business development.

From the iconic MarBella Corfu, the group have grown rapidly, adding the adults only MarBella Nido in 2018 and are planning on opening the stunning MarBella Elix on the Greek mainland in summer 2020.

The MarBella Corfu has been recognised by Conde Naste as one of the best family hotels in Greece and our partnership will allow the group to further increase their profile in their key markets of the UK & Ireland.

More info on the group can be found here - www.marbella.gr

International Travel & Tourism Awards

Steve Stewart accepting the award

Best Tourism Marketing Agency 2018 - silver award

Steve Stewart of ITS accepted this award on behalf of one of our clients- Inova Hospitality Management.

The award recognised the work of Steve and the Inova team in growing the sales & revenues of a succession of independent hotels.

The award was peer reviewed by 30 international tourism professionals and presented by the vice-president of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

Commenting, Steve said “I am delighted to accept this award and it is a testament to the hard work of all the team concerned”.