Tour operators failing to pursue new destinations

Fingers are being pointed at tour operators for failing to open up new travel destinations, due to their fixation on following the lead of no-frills carriers.

The Institute of Travel and Tourism Conference in Paphos, Cyprus, is criticising charter airlines and industry operators for not sourcing new routes.

John Grant, the managing director ASM, an airline strategy consultant, noted that operators should be engaged in discussions with UK airports.

He commented: “Over the last 10 years as an industry we have allowed airline route development to be driven by the low-cost airlines. We have become paranoid and spent our time chasing them.

“Operators should be proactive rather than going back to the same destinations. They should leverage more support out of the UK market instead of always looking at the other end of the route for support.”

Asian and Caribbean destinations are clearly ripe for development, he continued, but charter airline volumes related to these destinations “have gone nowhere” in the last decade.

Grant reported that UK airports found it difficult to engage the decision-makers at major tour operators to discuss the development of new routes.

Even with the gloomy economic forecast, Grant indicated that the time is right for operators to work with airports on new deals and to be planning ahead so that new offerings are ready when the economy improves.

“Airports are paranoid about losing business and money so now is the best time for the industry to collectively strike back at the low- cost airlines. Stop bleeting and do something about it.”