Press office Press office Lucky Christina wins a Mini Cooper D in the Holiday Extras® prize draw
Stafford resident Christina Noble has had a Christmas to remember after winning a brand new Mini...Holidaymakers unprepared for the worst
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Emma Jackson, who is part of the award winning contact centre team at Holiday Extras®, wins...Holiday Extras® wins CTTG Star Award
Holiday Extras®, came away victorious from the CTTG Star Awards 2008 with the award for Best...Pampered pets are the new children
An online poll conducted by Holiday Extras®, holidayextras.com, provides evidence that...Holiday Extras 'Win a Mini' competition
Holiday Extras® 'Win a Mini' competition - remember to enter before December 19Holiday Extras new look website wins critical acclaim
Holiday Extras new and improved website has been praised by Webuser, the UK's best selling...Holiday Extras® recognised by the National Business Awards
Leading travel add-ons expert Holiday Extras® would like to extend its congratulations to...Exclusive offer for the Yotel Gatwick
Holiday Extras®exclusive offer for the Yotel Gatwick South Terminal
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Low cost comfort for business travellers is now available with great hotel deals from Holiday...April 24, 2008
Holiday Extras® has just celebrated its 25th anniversary and they've been remembering the success and teamwork that have contributed to making Holiday Extras the UK market leader in airport hotels and parking with a turnover in excess of £200 million.
Growing from a business which was started on £100 with a single computer, the company now has over 300 staff at offices near Hythe and does three quarters of its business over the internet through sites such as www.holidayextras.com.
Gerry Pack, found of Holiday Extras, says: "I'd been looking for an entrepreneurial alternative to my job of 14 years with Saga, and I realised that there was an area of the travel market that had not been explored. I had noticed that there was no easy way to book leisure travellers a night at an airport hotel, that there were no discounted rates available and, because of the climate of recession in 1983, there were hotel rooms languishing emptily that would have normally housed the lucrative business clients."
He decided that this was the right time and the right venture.
He didn't give up his job immediately, but set up a booking system in his spare time. Holiday Extras started out as the Apple Booking Company in Ashford, sharing an office with another business with pre-fix 'Apple'. There were just two telephone operators working from the office. When the phones were answered the customers were greeted 'Apple'. Both businesses could be serviced from the same place. Gerry felt it was really important to keep business overheads to a minimum and kept his job on at Saga and did the books at night and at weekends.
In the first year the fledgling business sold 4,000 rooms. Now the company makes arrangements for almost four million airport travellers and sells more than half a million hotel rooms.
According to Gerry, the key to Holiday Extras' business success has been the continued pace of innovation in the products and services it sells, as well as how it delivers them to the public and travel agents.
The core of the company's business is airport hotels, lounges and car parking, and the portfolio of products and services has expanded hugely and now includes UK short breaks, London theatre breaks and theme park breaks.
"Innovation is the engine of growth," says Gerry. "This year we're planning a host of new services and products and expect to take on around another 70 members of staff. The first 25 years was fun, but we're looking forward to the next even more."
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Contacts
For more information please email Helen Gillilan or Michael Johnson, or call 01303 816 335.
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