Change of focus for Dnata Holidays?

Dnata Holidays will broaden its offering to include three- and four-star products Hoteliermiddleeast.com can reveal.

“This is in response to customer needs although our strength will remain in five-star,” said Dnata Travel Services’ recently recruited vice president of business development, Ailsa Pollard.

“We are also looking to broaden the scope of products to include new products such as cruises in the brochures.”

She said the management team was still deciding its approach as to whether or not there would be a re-positioning of the Dnata Holidays given that for the last three years it had focused on attracting high-end consumers.

However, the “current thinking” was that the full scope of product – from three- to five-star – would be incorporated into the 2010 Dnata Holidays brochures.

“We are focusing on different customer needs and budgets,” Pollard said.
 

The Luxury Hotels by Dnata division, which was “growing nicely” would continue to focus on luxury hotels only, she added.
Dnata Holidays received a re-vamp in 2007 when the then general manager Nick Sheppard and product manager Nathan Adams came on board.

They stipulated that the brochures – and the broader online Dnata Holidays product – were targeted at the “discerning traveller”, particularly wealthy ex-pats, featuring five-star hotels and resorts only.

The change of approach comes as Pollard sets about reviewing the Dnata Travel Services business units and where improvements and synergies can be made.