Falcon Director of Holidays Helen Caron

By TIM HEDGLEY

AS Falcon Holidays celebrates its 25th year of operation in Ireland, the leading tour operator has announced that holiday sales are on the increase.

In addition the company is anticipating a busy January which comes on the back of a strong trading period that has seen sales to date for Falcon and Thomson for summer 2013 experience double digit growth year on year.

This growth has been driven by the company’s investment in differentiated products said Falcon director Helen Caron.

“Traditionally, January has always been a key booking period for Falcon and we are preparing for a particularly busy month as indications are that more and more people want to have their summer holiday secured early. With this in mind, we have launched our biggest ever marketing campaign to ensure holidaymakers are aware of the great range and value Falcon has to offer,” said Ms Caron.

“We continue to trade in a tough economic environment but we are delighted that our strategy of driving growth through differentiation has been well received by our customers,” she added. “By this I mean popular products like our Holiday Villages and Splashworld resorts that are exclusive to Falcon customers and that our competitors find hard to replicate.

“The success of our differentiated products has definitely been one of the key drivers of growth in our business since we launched our programme back in July, with sales of our unique products growing by 53% year on year.

“Another trend we have noticed is the increasing popularity of all inclusive holidays which have experienced an increase in sales of 34% year on year in Ireland. Booking an all inclusive holiday enables customers to budget for their holiday in the knowledge that all food and drink is included in the holiday price and paid for before they go, therefore offering great value for money,” Helen said.

Another successful addition to Falcon’s summer 2013 programme is a new direct flight to Tenerife from Dublin Airport.

“We are pleased to report that our new 2013 destination, Tenerife, has got off to a flying start and is proving a popular choice with customers,” said Helen. “Taking all of this into account, we are looking forward to a very busy January booking period and, as always, we will be giving holidaymakers lots of reasons to secure their holiday early such as free child places and money savings,” she added.

“We are delighted to be entering our 25th year of operation, which we believe is a wonderful milestone achievement for the company, and we look forward to the future as we continue to develop and improve our products for our customers,” said Ms Caron.

“Our message for this year is Always Fun, Always Quality, Always Affordable which we believe reflects Falcon’s position over the years, and our commitment to delivering quality and affordable holidays for Irish holidaymakers is as strong than ever.

“We will continue to base a dedicated 737 aircraft at Dublin Airport and work with Orbest formerly Iberworld from Cork and Shannon. We also plan to increase support of Falcon’s sister brand Thomson in Ireland which will offer adults a broader choice and complement Falcon’s strong family proposition,” concluded Helen.