Villa firm has bright outlook in gloomy industry

Huddersfield-based Villa Parade, which rents out luxury Mediterranean villas to holidaymakers, said a targeted marketing campaign, using new email software, along with adding destinations such as Italy and Greece to its portfolio, were having a positive effect on both retaining existing customers and attracting new ones.

The travel industry is going through a tumultuous time at the moment.

Thomas Cook, which is focused on cash-strapped young families, has issued a string of profit warnings and faces an uncertain future as it battles to regain the confidence of holidaymakers and investors after securing a rescue package from its lenders.

Travel companies which specialise in niche products, such as villas and child-free holidays, appear to have the edge in a crowded market place. But it is not easy.

Ian Sheekey, managing director of Villa Parade, said: “We have some very clever email software, which we bought last summer. We can now define the client using any criteria and specifically target them for future business using information we have already got.”

Launched in 1997 with a selection of villas in Mallorca, Villa Parade has steadily expanded its portfolio to include 500 villas across the Mediterranean. It has taken on 100 new properties in recent months.

Andrew Warden, sales and marketing director, said people were not compromising on their holidays, despite a squeeze on household income.

He said: “People aren’t buying with the same frequency but they are still buying that one big holiday so there will always be that demand to get away.”

Villa Parade, which is believed to be the third largest villa tour operator in the UK, works with local travel agents in each destination to act as middlemen between the villa owners and tour operators.

However, each property is personally vetted by a Villa Parade director before it goes on the market and almost all of the properties are exclusive to Villa Parade.

Villa Parade’s prices range from £495 for a week in a one-bedroom penthouse apartment to £6,495 for a large villa.

Its customers are evenly split between families and group bookings.

Mr Warden said: “That’s probably a little bit of our success story. We’ve not camped in the three-bedroomed arena like our competitors.”

The majority of holidays are sold online but 15 per cent of its business is through travel agents including Co-operative Travel Group, Advantage travel shops and Travel Counsellors. It also has a brochure.

Although the company has grown to a £15m turnover and is expanding its 15-strong team, it said it is working hard to maintain its current position.

Mr Sheekey said: “The credit crunch has really affected the travel industry. Prior to 2008 we had been growing our turnover at 20-30 per cent a year for about five or six years.

“Straight away we plateaued out. We haven’t been able to increase prices so we’re trying to increase our margins where possible to make sure we’ve got a thriving business when it comes out the other side.”

The traditional summer season is May to October but Villa Parade has reduced the season for some of its properties to between June and September to avoid empty villas at non-peak times.

Mr Sheekey said: “We’ve increased the number of houses in the peak season by 15 per cent because we know that’s the only time we can really fill it.”

The company is also looking at adding long-haul destinations to its portfolio in the future.

In addition, it has launched a German website. “The German outbound tourism market is very similar to the British market. Their tourists are flying again and we’re trying to take a bit of that,” said Mr Sheekey.

The most popular destination this summer was Spain. “It’s always been very popular but particularly this year because of all the trouble in North Africa,” said Mr Sheekey.

“A lot of the tour operators switched their aircraft from Egypt and Tunisia to Spain because it’s a safe destination for them.”

Villa Parade is watching the euro zone crisis particularly carefully as it works in all the main countries affected. It has even written new clauses into its contracts to cover extreme changes in circumstances, such as one of its countries leaving the euro.

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