19 June 2008

Bakers Gold: service is key to growth

The premium end of the coach holiday market is best placed to provide growth, says Weston -super- mare based Bakers Dolphin, which has underlined its commitment with a £580,000 investment in two luxury-spec Scania Irizar PB 13.9m 36-seater coaches.

The Opticruise tri-axles join a 36-seater Volvo B12B Jonckheere, bought three years ago for the launch of its Gold Service programme. The additional coaches means Gold Service is now offered to all its European destinations.

The premium on the tour, which works out at £10-13 per day, offers passengers very comfortable reclining leather seating with extra legroom, at seat multi-channel audio (with headphones), DVD, forward facing CCTV, plus a four-seater Bistro lounge at the rear with incliner leg-rests and complimentary drinks. The Bistro, finished in gold with black marble , has two fridges, hot drinks machine, microwave and kitchen area. The vehicle also has a centre-sunken toilet and twin drivers bunk.

Operations Director Max Fletcher said: "Holidays and private hire account for 55% of our business and upgrading to Gold has been popular. We think the new coaches offer even more in terms of comfort, and the premium product is one that will give us more growth."

The firm also has a highly-active marketing strategy. Instead of regional roadshows, it says it is more effective to gain new customers by direct marketing. Says Sales and Marketing Director Amanda Harrington: "Three years ago we bought a database, and it was the best move we made. We´ve continued buying databases of potential customers - clearly targeted in age and other profiles - and this approach is consistently generating new traffic that we would not otherwise have got."

To launch the new coaches, Bakers Dolphin ran a special tour to Wookey Hole, Somerset, the venue of its first charabanc tours in 1923. Today the firm runs 73 vehicles, on work including home-to-school and local bus services. Its two daily Weston-Bristol-London express coach services continue to see year-on-year growth, despite competition from National Express, Megabus and rail company First Great Western.

The company believes that long term, concentrating on higher-end products and work will be most profitable.

As a result, it is currently paring its fleet size to ensure that its remaining vehicles see maximum utilisation.