First Choice is buoyed by determined sunseekers
Travel operator First Choice said its business had not been stymied by the high street spending slowdown as customers were scrimping to ensure they could still “get away from it all”.
“Fundamentally there is a very strong demand for travel experiences,” said First Choice chief executive Peter Long. “When I feel good I trade up, I do lots of exciting things. When I don’t, a holiday is even more important so I’m going to take it and I can do that at the expense of the latest new plasma television.”
First Choice said it was confident of delivering double-digit earnings growth in the year just ended thanks to reduced exposure to the cutthroat package holiday market. The category now accounts for just a third of its mainstream holiday business.
In the year to 31 October mainstream holiday sales rose 13 per cent. Within that the long-haul trips business increased 18 per cent. Sales of mainstream winter breaks were up 6 per cent as holidaymakers made for the sun in Goa and Morocco.
The travel firm said it “does not chase volume” and has reduced capacity in its mainstream winter holiday category by 6 per cent for this season. However, despite carrying fewer passengers, margins remain strong. Broker Panmure Gordon upgraded its forecast for 2006 by 5 per cent to £122m.