Kuoni shops to prioritise sales of inhouse brands

Kuoni stores will continue to focus on sales of the company’s inhouse brands first despite its branches now being able to sell more third-party operators.

The company’s high street agencies now have access to a wider range of tour operators, which are not part of the Kuoni family of tour operator brands, under its membership of The Advantage Travel Partnership.

The 26-strong retail chain joined the travel agency consortium, which negotiates deals centrally with a large number of independent suppliers, last year.

But managing director Mark Duguid said the retail strategy remained to prioritise its own brands rather than becoming a full-service retailer, with sales of third-party suppliers likely to be “customer driven”.

“First and foremost it’s about Kuoni sales and the specialist brands we have within the Der Touristik group, “ he said, speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast.

He added: “But we have increased the access to third party operators through our Advantage membership and really it is customer driven is to complement the inhouse range.”

Meanwhile, speaking on Kuoni’s trade sales he said the operator’s sales had increased as a result of the operator’s struggle to “rebuild sales” through third-party agents post-Covid.

But he added: “To be honest, I think that’s because we’re not maximizing the opportunities [to sell] in other retailers in the trade.”