Hotel Breaks
Divisional Profiles/ Hotel Breaks
The division comprises Superbreak, based in the UK, and Bookit, based in the Netherlands, which provide primarily domestic short-break holidays to their respective markets. West End Theatre Bookings is a London theatre ticket agent that was acquired in January 2007.
Product Details
Superbreak features over 2,000 hotels throughout the UK in the core brochure and approximately 3,700 hotels in the European and worldwide programme. The division offers a complete range of short breaks, including theatre breaks, airport hotels, luxury hotel accommodation, overseas city breaks and beach resort destinations. Superbreak works with major rail operators in providing rail-inclusive packages. The acquisition of West End Theatre Bookings has allowed the division to increase its value-added sales into London.Bookit, acquired in December 2004, is an online intermediary for short-stay leisue hotel breaks. It is the largest tour operator (by number of customers) in the Netherlands. Bookit operates four main brands, Weekendjeweg.nl, the core brand, offering accommodation for two night weekend stays, Nachtjeweg.nl, providing overnight accommodation, Bungalows.nl, for self-catering accommodation on holiday parks and Hotelletje.nl offering small independent hotels.
Pricing
Prices for Superbreak trips vary according to the standard of hotel accommodation chosen and the type of break booked - accommodation only or packaged breaks (accommodation with transport or event tickets). Customers pay for the entire cost of the break at the time of booking. There are no transaction or booking fees.Similarly to Superbreak, Bookit does not take commitments for room allocations. Customers pay the hotels direct who then pay a commission to Bookit.
Marketing and Distribution
In the UK, Superbreak sells through a variety of distribution channels – traditional high street retailers, newspaper reader offers, brochures delivered directly to customers and online. In the Netherlands, the business is 89% online with the balance going through Bookit’s call centre.Office & Employees
Superbreak employs approximately 220 staff in its offices located in York. The Dutch business, Bookit, employs some 100 staff and is based in Amstelveen on the outskirts of Amsterdam. West End Theatre Bookings employs 40 staff and is based in Guildford.
