12/06/2014 - Bakers Dolphin Go For Second Edition
Extra mid-season brochure gives holidaymakers a second bite at booking
Coach holiday company Bakers Dolphin has published a mid-season brochure for the first time ever in an innovative marketing initiative aimed at giving holidaymakers a second bite at booking.
The Weston-super-Mare based coach firm, which has been trading since 1889, printed 70,000 summer brochures earlier this year and decided to go for a second edition after they were all distributed and many holidays sold out.
Sales and Marketing Director Amanda Harrington said: "For the second edition we stripped out all the holidays that had been sold and we were able to put in new dates for hotels that had spaces that had not sold through other operators.
"We had a database of 14,000 people that have booked with us in the last two years but haven't so far booked anything with us so far this year so we have mailed the new 120 page brochure to them and it has got a great reaction.
"It meant we were able to offer some extra dates for some of the popular destinations, such as St Ives and our Delights of Cumbria tour, which had sold well with the first brochure. We also added some completely new holidays, including a summer break in beautiful Lake Bled in Slovenia and Taste of Blarney in Ireland.
"It is an additional push for our summer holidays as we are finding people are booking later than ever these days."
The brochures have also been given shelf space on Bakers Dolphin's new travel shop in Broadmead, the main shopping centre in the centre of Bristol and in the Sovereign Centre, Weston-super-Mare where the company has a shop close to Marks and Spencer.
Said Amanda Harrington: "Although online and telephone sales are significant we find a lot of our customers want a traditional brochure and a lot want to book face to face with an adviser to help them . Digital artwork and printing techniques make it easier than ever to change brochures and give people the most up to date choices.
"It also enables us to market hotel rooms that are still available and put them in front of our database."