The package holiday market has changed a lot since the early days of domestic holidays and escorted train travel. Now, holidaymakers can visit the far corners of the world with the help of a tour operator, who will happily smooth the route as part of a bespoke holiday or provide a huge choice of off-the-shelf holidays to sun-drenched destinations.
Today, tourists can not only find holidays online and book with a few simple clicks; they can also compare each and every holiday, weigh up the costs, choose between B&B or all inclusive, and even carry out thorough research with the help of user-generated sites such as Trip Advisor. This has encouraged hoteliers to be more transparent about their standards and react more quickly to issues or problems. It has certainly empowered the customer and for the most part, helped to improve the tourism industry.
And for those who need to stick to a budget on their next holiday, the package holiday market is bursting with deals and discounts. Take Thomas Cook for instance. As a well-established and respected tour operator, Thomas Cook is also one of the biggest – meaning that they have significant buying power and in turn can offer large discounts on many holidays. In particular, their late deal range is highly popular – meaning customers can book last minute holidays with Thomas Cook and enjoy huge savings on the original cost of the holiday.
For those who like to plan ahead, such companies will also offer discounts on early bookers to help boost next year’s sales’ figures. This is great news for customers as it also gives them the chance to pay off their holiday in instalments, not to mention more time to put some spending money on one side.
Not to be sniffed at, today’s package market is an exciting place and one that’s full to the brim with possibilities.