EXCLUSIVE: The best travel bet according to Perry

EXCLUSIVE: The best travel bet according to Perry

The Aussie dollar is a hot topic, and a big player in the travel game.

But with a number of destinations pegged as ‘too expensive’ for Aussie travellers, Cox and Kings’ ceo Damian Perry believes Europe is the best place to get bang for your buck.

Against the Euro, the Aussie dollar is holding strong, and when comparing product prices overseas today to last year, Europe looks like the best option.

While the product pricing in the US and UK has risen 25% and 18% respectively from August 2014 to July 2015, European prices have risen less than 3%.

And Perry says this is key for driving new travel trends, particularly with Europe Earlybird sales coming up.

“The greatest challenge for the travel industry at the moment is to decouple the dramatic 23% currency change in the USD /AUD from a minor Euro / AUD differentiation of less than 3%,” he said.

“Often travellers from Australia benchmark their spending capacity to the exchange rates of the GBP and USD.  Both of these currencies have had dramatic changes of late and the follow-on impact is, of course, the more conservative buyer behaviour.

“However; this minor change in the Euro to the AUD represents the best market opportunity and greatest value for travellers currently.  In addition to the ongoing competitive flight offers in the market Europe alone can deliver the best offers to travellers.

“Smart travellers are shortening their booking to travel period to take advantage of these offers and travelling early as we are seeing an abnormally high late season Europe bookings. Our core programs such as Greece and Turkey, France and Italy are growing strong with an overwhelming request for 2016 Europe pricing.”

“To support our Australian market our Spain program is honouring all early bookings to Spain on 2015 prices which is assisting that particular portfolio.

In addition to the core Europe program we are seeing overwhelming demand for our new and broader range of Bentours Scandinavian program.  Our new pricing structure is delivering best to market rates on this region including popular product such as the Hurtigruten range supplied by Bentours.

“The new pricing structure and launch of our first in a series of 2 Bentours brochures to market, industry incentives; but primarily best to market rates are delivering month on month growth beyond 50%.

“It’s a very exciting time for Europe.”

Latest News

  • Aviation

Low-cost Indian carrier SpiceJet continues to burn cash

It’s not just low-cost Australian carriers that are facing hardship. SpiceJet, India’s version of Bonza, recently announced a 72 per cent reduction in its net loss versus last year. But, despite this improvement, the airline has posted losses for six straight years. But it has secured board approval to raise up to INR 30 billion […]

  • Attractions

SAKA Museum recognised in TIME magazine’s World’s Greatest Places 2024

AYANA Resort Bali’s newly-opened cultural and events centre, SAKA Museum has been recognised in TIME magazine’s World’s Greatest Places list for 2024. Part of AYANA Bali’s resort destination, the museum integrates Bali’s rich history with state-of-the-art facilities, making it the centrepiece for the island’s spiritual and cultural heritage. TIME magazine’s inclusion of SAKA Museum in […]

  • Cruise

Silversea taps Barbara Biffi as senior vice president for global sales

Ultra-luxury and expedition cruise travel brand, Silverseas, has announced Barbara Biffi as its new senior vice president of global sales. Biffi joined the company in 2007, holding numerous positions and gaining a deep understanding of the brand, the preferences of its guests and its strategic goals, the company said. An Italian national with a wealth […]

  • Technology
  • Travel Agents

Amadeus welcomes FCM Travel as new reseller partner of Cytric Easy

Cytric Easy, the travel management tool embedded in Microsoft Teams, is to be integrated into FCM Travel portfolio. Amadeus and FCM Travel have extended their Cytric distribution agreement to include Cytric Easy. With this new agreement, global travel management company FCM Travel, becomes a reseller of the innovative travel management collaboration solution embedded into Microsoft […]