New Tour Operator

saveapenny

Hidden extra's and unkowledgeable staff. When asked for info on the Azores I was once asked which resort those apartments were in.
Junkies freebies that bump the cost up..like little plastic wallets thats got the companies name splattered all over it..TACKY
If you want to offer freebies with promo stuff on get telephone cards with your contact details on so if there is a problem they know who to contact
Best of luck

jonesMUFCforever

I would agree with some of previous posters - if you don't have interenet booking I will look elswhere - sorry but in this day and age it has to be. I haven't booked a holiday at a travel agent or by telephone for 5 years or more.
One other thing which nobody seems to have mentioned is that my money must be secure if booked through you - ie all the relevant ABTA bonds etc must be in place (and I would check if booking through a company I had never heard of or dealt with before.)
Good luck with your venture.

budgetflyer

Most of its been covered I think.

I really think an 0800 number gives a professional image.

ATOL bonding is also important if you are a tour opp.

NO credit card charges.

Clear pricing.

As you mentioned, your own photos, lots of them, not stock photos.

Sample menus, if food is included would be a good idea

INSTANT Online booking option is a must,definately worth getting someone to design you a system that can dynamically package a holiday. Even if you have to phone them up later to advise/fine tune the booking.
To not have it will lose you tons of business.

An Affiliate scheme is a great way to get others to promote your company with tracking to identify people who pass business to you. A simple discount code would do and the honesty to pay affiliates for their referals.
(No offence meant, its amazing how many companies try to circumvent paying affiliates their due amounts)

A nice, quality paper brochure,pics of yourself and staff gives the personal touch.
I booked my Dubai holiday with If Only. Their prices were the same as other tour opps or self packaging. I just felt their brochure quality and image gave them a more luxurious,special feel for what was a special holiday

Wish you luck

Alikay

If you're doing tailor-made long haul, please get the tickets out on time. When I worked in travel the biggest name in that area of business (beginning with K) would never never get the tickets out to us until about a week before departure. Customers who've paid a couple of grand plus for their holiday expect their documents on time and I used to spend ages hanging on their 0870 line for some arrogant plonker to casually say they'd be despatched in a day or two. Tour Operators must remember that what is an ordinary day's work to them is their customers holiday of a lifetime.
Good luck with the venture - and if you're selling through travel agents, please look after the independants!

Alikay

Regarding tour operators who have impressed me: On a much cheaper and simpler scale I guess, but holidays4u who do packages to Turkey have impressed me and customers who use them. They have good local reps, who are unobtrusive, helpful and knowledgeable and not just flogging coach trips. They have a good pricing structure without too many mandatory add-ons and a good relationship and communication with accommodation owners -so if a customer wants adjacent rooms, they will try hard to arrange it.
Travel 2/Travel 4 are also very good and offer a good selection of ground arrangements (trekking, safari's, city tours etc).

barron_2

Hi Sam,
Thought I would put this up,instaed of our PM.

It's strange,nearly everyone that has commented,has said the things that we have been banging on about for .........................how long!!

The people that say internet booking is a must.........yes..........but!!

To enable us,the tour op and independant,to give you the holiday you want,it's imperative that the personal touch is given.
The bigun's cant do this,your holiday is yours,we dont employ reps,but a local contact is given ,should the need arise.

Do you all remember the days of the corner shop,personal service.
Those days are coming back,people WILL pay the little extra for the "touch".

Read the posts,nearly all complaints are about the BIGUN'S.

Say's something for us indies,you dont see the TC's and TUI's giving free advice.!!

Go for it Sam,hope to put some biz your way(visa versa ,I hope)

To everyone else.
Happy Hols

Sam_Bee

Thanks everyone for replying. It's interesting to see what does get on everyones goat; mainly lack of communication, and knowledge.

Internet Booking: it's very difficult to compete with the 'big boys' who pump millions into online technology. However, as I hinted, our specialism will be South East Asia, with an emphasis on small, locally owned hotels, and also relatively new destinations such as... Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Christmas Island. I don't think for a minute that any of you would try and book a trip to these destinations online; infact, you wouldn't be able to.

Also you would want expert knowledge from yoru consultant to advise you on these destinations. I don't want to compete with the big boys; just carve out a small niche! Not looking for market share as sufficient people will appreciate expert knowledge and reliability.

Of course our website will be a mine of information, and you can book by e-mail...

Unknowledgable Staff Not an issue. All of us have lived and worked in these areas, and will have been to almost every hotel you stay at (this is why I think companies like Audley Travel and Rainbow Tours are so good; their staff know the destinations inside out, and the companies send them abroad all the time.)

Junkies freebies that bump the cost up..like little plastic wallets thats got the companies name splattered all over it.. A fair-trade set-up near Yogya in Indonesia (not far from where the recent 2nd Tsunami hit) are working on our ticket wallets, with batik fabric, our logos, a bit more user friendly I hope. Everyone will have a business card with our Direct Line (the simple things are easy!).

my money must be secure if booked through you Yes, the ATOL bonds are a legal requirement. We won't be ABTA as we are a Tour Operator, not a Travel Agent, and anyway, ABTA has removed bonding protection and is pretty much a lame duck organisation (IMO) now. ATOL is governed by the Civil Aviation Authority.

As you mentioned, your own photos, lots of them, not stock photos.Sample menus, if food is included would be a good idea I agree with the 1st (a professional photographer will travel to our hotels), and really like the 2nd idea. Spa Menus as well possibly?

NO credit card charges. Unfortunately, not an option, and as a lot of consumers hate this I'll explain why. The Merchant Banks charge Travel Companies around 2% to cover credit card transactions (not debit cards / cheques). You, the consumer, have driven margins down in travel to exceptionally low levels (flights 3-7%, package holidays 10-12%, tailor made 15-20%), margins that would not be commercially viable in other industries. Therefore we HAVE to pass these on, or mark up elsewhere. Would you rather have the option of paying by cheque / debit card for 0%, or automatically be paying 1.5% extra to cover other peoples credit card surcharges?

All travel companies in my experience have to charge them - the exceptions (Trailfinders - don't know anyone else) simply have to cover the charges elsewhere so you end up paying for them anyway.

if you're selling through travel agents, please look after the independants! My opinion that is if you have found a good, knowledgable Travel Agent who looks after you, finds you great deals and provides great holidays - then they are worth their weight in gold! Treasure them, show loyalty, and refer your friends to them. I will work with some Travel Agents (Aito Specialised Agents are mostly wonderful skilled staff) that I know will provide the same level of customer care we will.

To enable us,the tour op and independant,to give you the holiday you want,it's imperative that the personal touch is given.I agree 100%!

Thanks for continued comments, I am taking them all aboard!

budgetflyer

Sam_Bee wrote:

Internet Booking: it's very difficult to compete with the 'big boys' who pump millions into online technology. However, as I hinted, our specialism will be South East Asia, with an emphasis on small, locally owned hotels, and also relatively new destinations such as... Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Christmas Island. I don't think for a minute that any of you would try and book a trip to these destinations online; infact, you wouldn't be able to.

The bold bit in the quote I highlighted.

I would,given enough information, and I could, if you offered the facility. You could be the first!
You could do sample itineries that could be booked online. Virgin can offer this with 2/3 centre holidays, but more complicated trips would maybe need advice and planning. This could involve LONG PHONE CALLS, hence why I feel an 0800 no is important. If Im spending 5/6K pp on a holiday of a lifetime,at least cover my call;)

Sam_Bee

budgetflyer wrote:

The bold bit in the quote I highlighted.

I would,given enough information, and I could, if you offered the facility. You could be the first!
You could do sample itineries that could be booked online. Virgin can offer this with 2/3 centre holidays, but more complicated trips would maybe need advice and planning. This could involve LONG PHONE CALLS, hence why I feel an 0800 no is important. If Im spending 5/6K pp on a holiday of a lifetime,at least cover my call;)

We always would call back. But am I right in thinking that with your regular usage of the internet, you'd prefer to use e-mail; particularly if you knew you'd get an accurate, quick response?

Miss_M_3

In September 2006 I booked a holiday through go2spain.co.uk.
I will never use them again and I would advise others to beware as they don't know the meaning of customer service.
I travelled to Fuerteventura, just myself and my 3 year old daughter.
The reason I booked the accomodation at The Fuerteventura Beach Club was because go2spain.co.uk advertised that the accomodation had 24 hour reception, phone in the room and babysitting/childcare services.
The accomodation did not have 24 hour reception,babysitting/childcare facilities and the phone in the room did not work.
On other sites the accomodation is still advertised as having a kids club which they do not have.
On arriving at the accomodation, I found the room to be absolutely disgusting, the accomodation is in need of a complete refurbishment.
I complained about the room and they moved me to a room which was just as bad.
There was still plaster falling off the walls and the enamel was all chipped off the bath.
I arrived on a wednesday, on the friday my water went off completely, I did not have continuous running water again until the monday evening.
During this time I phoned go2spain.co.uk on numerous occasions to ask them to change my accomodation.
They said that they couldn't because the only other accomodation they had would cost 3 times as much and they were not willing to absorb the cost.
The go2spain.co.uk representative advised me to seek compensation on my return home.
I have done so and the only compensation they have given is £35 to cover the costs of phone calls I made to them.
:mad:
They deny that they advertise 24 hour reception and babysitting/childcare even though I have copied, paste and emailed the page to them.
Basically what they are saying is that they can advertise whatever they want even if the accomodation does not have those facilities.
:mad:
I hope that when you start up you provide better customer service than go2spain.co.uk.