JTA looks to further profitable years
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Consolidator JTA Travel is confident its streak of profitable years will continue following the launch of a new cruise and Med tour operating programme.
The consolidator’s new B2B cruise brand Needacruise.co.uk has been its most successful launch, with bookings in the last two weeks outstripping those seen in a month of JTA’s previous launches. The website had been in the pipeline for two years but has coincidentally launched as more cruise ships come to Europe and commission levels continue to hit headlines.
Speaking to Travel Daily, Wayne Darrock, managing director of JTA said the site’s ability to package cruise holidays easily and offer commission with a competitive price had been an advantage.
“The fact more ships will be in Europe this year is a coincidence. When we started looking at the concept we looked at the frustration with both booking a cruise and adding flights, where sometimes the flight cost was far too much in comparison to our rates. We wanted to give travel agents the opportunity to give competitively priced packages online and driven by an easy-to-use selection,” he explained.
Its cruise launch follows the introduction of a European tour operator programme named MedSun that is said to be performing “really well”. Despite the heatwave in the UK its bookings have not been hit.
“We’ve had a great July and every month this year has seen growth. It was slow in the first week of July then it went crazy. We have not seen an impact on sales from the heatwave here and everything has been positive,” said Darrock.
The successful launch of Needacruise.co.uk and Darrock’s continued optimism comes as the group heads towards another profitable year. Its diversification has helped the company to triple in size during the last two years and see profits rise more than 25% in the last three years.
“We never sit still and the challenge we face, like all consolidators, is that we are more than just that. We introduce these brands like Needacruise.co.uk and MedSun under the JTA brand to cement that,” Darrock added.
JTA has also expanded its long-haul programme with the addition of Sandals and Beaches’ resorts.
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