Face to Face: Stephen Rhodes, Funway
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Funway Holidays has been making more noise about its travel agent schemes in the last year, we spoke to managing director Stephen Rhodes to find out how business is doing.
How did 2012 fare for sales and bookings at Funway?
2012 was a successful year for Funway as we continued to grow business for our USA programme. Florida and Las Vegas showed extremely strong growth with the latter posting a 31% year-on-year increase in revenue. Our Caribbean business with Sandals Resorts also saw sustained growth due to increased marketing activity with passenger volumes to the Caribbean exceeding 50% year-on-year increase.
How is 2013 looking so far?
This year started particularly strongly, we were seeing huge year-on-year growth in the first quarter, especially for our USA and Mexico programmes which saw more than 50% increase. The growth has somewhat slowed in recent months but we’re still maintaining our growth targets and trading up year-on-year. We’re seeing a higher proportion of multi-centre business which is increasing the average length of stay and average booking values. Approximately 38% of our bookings 2013 year-to-date are either a twin or multi-centre booking.
What product developments have there been recently?
We’ve recently revamped our Mexico product offering to offer a much more extensive portfolio of hotels (showcased in our new dedicated Mexico brochure). We now offer Secrets Resorts & Spas, Dreams Resorts & Spas, REAL Resorts, Palace Resorts, Excellence Resorts and more to provide a truly compelling Mexico proposition for travel agents.
We’ve also continued to position ourselves as true USA experts as we’ve added even more to our USA programme including fly-drives covering New England and the West, the Amtrak rail network and hundreds of excursions all bookable by Funway. If there’s anything you’re looking for in the USA, it’s more than likely that Funway have it covered.
Have you noticed any trends within bookings and sales?
Our average length of stay is increasing, as multi-centre business continues to grow. Average length of stay is now above 11 days for all destinations.
We’re seeing a much higher proportion of bookings made online via our trade booking site www.funway4agents.co.uk which has in turn impacted on our marketing strategy to a digital focus.
The highest proportion of business is booked at least 91 days before departure which shows customers are still booking far in advance.
Our top five selling destinations are New York, Las Vegas, California, Mexico and the Caribbean.
What challenges does Funway face?
The quality of service and standard of products sold are always the most important for any customer but we are seeing increasing pressure on price. We aim to be the best value in the market and our Price Match Promise ensures travel agents know we will be the best for service, quality and price.
The travel market is particularly fluid and unpredictable which can make it difficult to plan far in advance. This means we have to be flexible to keep on top of macro-environment trends and react accordingly.
We have long term goals and plans but we must react to changing trends and competitor challenges to ensure we are market leading in every area we sell.
Are there any other up-coming developments you can share?
The unique new agent loyalty scheme, MoneyCard has just launched. This is an innovative scheme which provides the travel agent with an actual VISA Debit Card whereby they accumulate money on their card for every booking they make through Funway. It’s a revolutionary new scheme that will prove hugely successful with our travel agents.
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