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Press Release

Big names lag behind independent tour operators, says Holiday Which?

10 January 2008

Customers of independent tour operators* are generally more satisfied than people who travel with the ‘big two’ tour operators**, shows a Holiday Which? member survey released today.

Nine independent tour operators achieved customer satisfaction scores*** of 80 per cent or higher. At the top of the table, Titan and Riviera Travel**** also achieved above-average ratings for their tour reps, journeys and overall organisation.

In comparison, Airtours, Crystal Holidays, First Choice and Thomas Cook – all owned by the ‘big two’ companies – languished at the bottom, faring below average for organisation and overall satisfaction. Only independent Cosmos received a lower customer satisfaction score.

Portland Direct was the exception to the poor showing of the big groups; six in ten customers would definitely recommend them to a friend. But they also had the joint lowest ‘value for money’ score and one of the lowest proportions of customers who were very satisfied with their tour rep.

The survey showed that Spain***** is still the country most travelled to, Riviera Travel, Expedia and Inghams were best for short-haul destinations. For long-haul trips Kuoni, Saga and Trailfinders came top.

Lorna Cowan, Editor, Holiday Which? magazine, says:

“With the rise in the number of do-it-yourself holidays, none of the tour operators are in a position to rest on their laurels.

“However, it’s great to see the independent tour operators performing so well in the face of big competition. Thomas Cook and TUI Travel could learn a lot from Titan or Riviera Travel about how to keep their customers happy.”

Research notes

* Any tour operator not owned by either the Thomas Cook Group plc or TUI Travel plc is defined as ‘independent’.

**The ‘big two’ refer to parent companies Thomas Cook Group plc and TUI Travel plc.

*** Customer satisfaction scores are a combination of members’ overall satisfaction and their likelihood of recommending the tour operator to a friend.

**** Titan scored 91 per cent, Riviera Travel scored 89 per cent for customer satisfaction.

***** The figure for Spain includes the mainland, Balearics and Canary Islands.



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