Competitor Analysis Portfolio
21128396
Paula Haddad
Dr Chris Parsons
14/11/14
2
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Single’s Holiday Market
Who are the competitors?
In-depth Analysis of Competitors
Greatest Threats
Emerging Competition
Vulnerable Competition
How are Competitors meeting Customer Needs?
Conclusion and Recommendations
References
Appendices
2
3
3
5
6
7
7
8
9
11
1
Introduction to the Single’s Holiday Market
Holidays taken by single adults have become more popular over recent years as people’s views on
travelling alone are now changing. The whole singles market has been ‘reinvented’ to become more
sophisticated and glamorized which is what is attracting single adults to take an interest in these
holidays (Dehghan, 2012). As society is now changing their views on this niche market, the market is
slowly growing as more companies begin to cater for solo travellers..
From Mintel report, Holiday Review – UK – 2014, research has shown that overall consumers took
94.1 million holidays in 2013 and the holiday market is forecasted to steadily grow over the next 5
years as consumers are regaining their confidence after the economic downturn. By 2018, the
market is anticipated to grow by 8.9% and is expected to drive the market value up to £42 billion up
from £36.2 million in 2013. The solo travelers market represents 31% of the whole holiday market.
In comparison, the singles holiday market outperformed the overall holiday market between 2007
and 2012. Although the singles holiday market had fallen by 2.7% in 2012, the overall holiday market
had fallen by 4.9%. As a result of this, the overall number of holidays taken by singles increased by
some extent by 0.8% between 2007 and 2012. (Singles on Holiday, UK, Mintel, 2012).
In the UK, approximately 42% of adults are single, however only 31% represent the overall holiday
market. Companies are now trying to close this gap by introducing new holiday types and
destinations to attract more single travelers. Around 3.5 million adults in the UK took a ‘solo’
holiday in 2012. The number of people taking a purely solo holiday outnumbered the people going
on a ‘group solo’ holiday where solo travelers join a group tour on holiday. Adding group tours as an
option increased the number of people going on solo holidays, as they felt safer. The main issue that
solo travelers found was that holiday companies were charging for single supplements and therefore
flying solo was a lot more expensive than it should be. However companies are now adjusting.
Overall the singles holiday market is looking good with forecasts showing it to continue growing over
the years. However for companies in this market to stay ahead they must constantly find innovative
ways to attract more singles and to keep their current customers. In order to do this the companies
must attempt to fulfill their needs and wants.
2
Who are the competitors?
Using a competitor’s wheel (appendix 1) the competitors of Solo’s Holidays have been identified and
categorized. They have been categorized into three sections to identify the level of completion they
pose to Solo’s Holidays. The three sections are:
Direct Competition: These companies are specialized just for single travelers, just like Solo’s Holidays.
They all offer very similar products and services with very similar pricing and marketing strategies,
for example Just You offers almost the same packages and holiday types as Solo’s.
Indirect Competition: these companies offer a much wider range of products and services and are
not specialized to any type of consumer. Within their product range they also offer holidays to single
travelers but it may not be their main focus. These indirect competitors will most likely have very
different pricing strategies and marketing strategies as they target different consumers however
they may have some similar aims and strategies.
Substitutes: these companies offer single travelling options but they use different forms of travel to
Solo’s and the direct/ indirect competitors. For example, some consumers may want to travel
abroad by train and therefore may use the Eurostar.
In-depth Analysis of Competitors
In order to analyse the competition further a strategic chart was produced to help identify who the
biggest competition was (appendix 2). The strategic chart looked at the range of services against
who their market is. Once the chart was complete it was able to help identify which companies
should then be considered as the biggest threats and any emerging competition (Brassington and
Pettitt, 2006). They competitors were also put into a cross comparison table (appendix 3) to identify
any similarities they may have and what their differences are.
Just You- Just You is a direct competitor to Solo’s Holidays as it is also a holiday company specializing
in singles holidays. It is owned by Page & Moy travel group, who also own Travelsphere (All Leisure
Group, 2014), a top contender in the escorted group tours market. This company has been chosen
for further analysing, as it is a top contender in the singles holiday market and poses as a threat to
Solos because of their pricing strategy.
3
Friendship Travel- This small company has been chosen, as it is a very innovative and forward
thinking company in the singles holiday market. Their critical success (Johnson & Scholes, 2009)
would be their ‘legendary house parties’ stating they are the most popular attraction amongst solo
travellers. It is a very innovative company and often tries to improve the customers experience
online and on holidays. They were the first company to offer double rooms to single occupants
without any extra charges and first to introduce an online chat room (Friendship Travel, 2014).
Thomas Cook- British Travel Company under the full name Thomas Cook Group plc, owned by
shareholders and is one of two of the biggest leading travel groups in the UK (Mintel, 2013), in 2013
they had 4.3% market share, positioned 6th biggest UK airline company. Although Thomas Cook is an
indirect competitor, it was chosen to be analysed further as it is a major competitor in the market. It
has introduced its new Smartline services aiming to move 50% of their bookings online by early 2015
(Johnson, 2013).
Explore- Explore is an indirect competitor to Solo’s holidays and is an expert in adventure and
activity holidays, founded in 1981. According to the Travel Market Report, 2012, the highest demand
from solo travellers is for adventure and activity holidays. Between the founder and everyone who
works at Explore they have a lot of experience as they have all taken part in the adventure tours.
This is a potential emerging competitor if consumers continue to demand more adventure holidays.
Eurostar- Eurostar is a high-speed railway service and acts as a substitute for Solo’s holidays for
consumers who may want to travel short-haul and may not want to travel by plane. Carries
approximately 10.1 million passengers per year (Mintel, 2014) and has links to over 100 destinations.
Using the Eurostar can be a lot cheaper than flying for customers who are going directly to France or
Brussels and there is no difficulty or extra charges for travelling solo.
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Greatest Threats
One of the greatest threats to Solo’s Holidays is its direct competitor Just You. The Page and Moy
group have over 50 years experience in the group tour market (Berman, 2014). Although Solos
holidays has been around for longer, Just You has used their expertise of their holder brand to thrive
in the growing market of solo travelling and have been able to catch-up with the big contenders such
as Solos. The destinations and holiday types that both brands offer to their customers are very
similar and also have very similar pricing. However the one feature that puts Just You at a
competitive advantage is their ‘price match promise’. They promise that they will be able to match
any low price from any of their competitors for the same holiday package. A big issue for solo
travellers is often the pricing and any extra supplement charges that they are often overwhelmed
with (Travel Weekly, 2013). Just You understood this and introduced their price match promise and
they do not charge for any extra supplements. In order to make their customers aware of their
pricing strategies, they promote it greatly. Advertising in the press is used for most of their
promotion with slogans such as ‘explore the world, and not a single supplement in sight’ (see image
below) (Creative club, 2014). This kind of promotion immediately attracts the target audience, as
they are likely to appreciate the idea of cheaper solo flights as the extra charges are the biggest put
off for solo travellers (Mintel, 2012).
(Creative Club, 2014)
However, their product range is not differentiated from those on the market and they are not very
innovative. If Solos Holidays is able to create more holiday types/ packages to suit more customers
needs and wants they may be able to avoid this threat from Just You.
5
Emerging Competition
After analyzing the competition, it is clear who the emerging competitors are, or the competitors
who have the potential to grow in the singles holiday market. Firstly, Explore is a strong emerging
competitor and although it is an indirect competitor it has the potential to thrive in the singles
market. Explore has over 30 years experience in adventure tours and has been welcoming single
travellers from its launch, however they have now increased and there is generally a 50:50 split
between singles and others (Explore, 2014). As the singles holiday market grows, according to the
Travel Market Report, 2012, the highest demand from solo travellers is adventure and activity
holidays. Therefore, being an expert in this market and offering over 500 different adventure
holidays, Explore is at a competitive advantage.
Solos must introduce more adventure/ activity holidays in order to stay ahead. Although they
currently offer these kinds of holidays, they are not a big product for solos; maybe marketing
towards their adventure/ activity holidays could bring in some new customers.
Thomas Cook is also a strong emerging competitor in the singles holiday market. As Thomas Cook is
one of two of the biggest holiday companies in the UK they have a large established customer base
and its customers trust them to offer the best holiday deals. Not many of these customers may be
aware of Solos holidays or any similar companies specializing in singles travel. Many customers
interested in solo travelling may look straight at the bigger holiday companies, which they already
know and trust. Many consumers will also most likely recognize the brand from their large marketing
campaigns, although the campaigns do not focus on solo travellers, they are likely to check Thomas
Cook as it is a brand they are familiar with. They have now introduced a new line of hotels which are
cheaper and cater to all customers including single travellers (Thomas Cook, 2014). This competes
with solos range of exclusive hotels, therefore Solos needs to make customers trust them as a brand
and remember them when looking for a holiday.
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Vulnerable Competition
A vulnerable competitor in the single holiday market is Friendship Travel. Friendship Travel claims to
be an innovative company with their technology by introducing features such as their online chat
forum for customers to speak to each other and their phone app. However, products are not
innovative or creative, and this is what customers are looking at. Their main holiday element is their
‘legendary house parties’ abroad. However, most of the reviews online in the review centre (2014)
were negative comments on these parties and on the poor customer service provided on the trips
from the tour guides and Friendship travel representatives. Receiving bad reviews could potentially
ruin the reputation of a brand (Forbes, 2013) meaning that Friendship Travel is very vulnerable
compared to its competitors and therefore does not appear to be a threat to Solos holidays.
How are Competitors meeting Customer Needs?
Consumers are often faced with a wide selection of choices when looking for a product or service,
however when looking at their options they look at which company is able to achieve most of the
needs and wants (Solomon et al, 2010).
Research form Mintel (2013) shows a major factor effecting travellers decision is price. Just You,
Friendship Travel and Explore are all meeting customer needs in the same way as they do not charge
for any single supplements. Eurostar acts as a cheaper alternative to travel to France and Brussels
from just £69 (Eurostar, 2014) therefore meeting consumers’ financial needs.
Looking at the list of most preferred holidays in appendix 4, Just You and Thomas Cook are both able
to offer most of these holiday types to their customers. However Thomas Cook charges extra
supplements for single travellers on most of their holidays (Thomas Cook, 2014), which may put solo
travellers off from using them.
Reviews for Just You on Feefo, an independent review site, were amazing with 97%, out of 3113, of
customers saying the service was excellent and 96% said the product was excellent (Feefo, 2014). A
lot of the reviews stated they would definitely recommend Just You to others therefore Just You
must be meeting a lot of their customers needs to be achieving such great responses.
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Conclusion and Recommendations
After identifying and thoroughly evaluating the competitors it is evident that solos is a leader in the
market and a top competitor. However in order to avoid the competition threats and emerging
competition, Solos must stay ahead of them.
Firstly, solos must create more marketing for their brand. Currently they only advertise in press and
direct mail, which may be working to bring in a small number of customers. However if solos
considers using online advertising it may drive more traffic to their website. Their competitors Just
You and Thomas Cook both promote their brands well and seeing as Just You is a major threat to
solos and Thomas Cook is an emerging competitor in this market, solos must do all they can to
promote themselves for customers to choose them over their competitors.
With their new line of solos exclusive hotels coming in 2015, they have an opportunity to create a
campaign promoting these along with the solos brand.
Moreover, as the adventure/ activity holidays are a growing demand amongst solo travellers, solos
should increase their holiday types by adding more adventure tours. Explore is doing currently well,
although their turnover is has decreased (Mintel, 2014) they still continue to make a high profit,
however solos can take this opportunity and use Explores decrease in turnover and try attract some
new customers by creating new holidays.
Many reviews on Solo’s Holidays claim that their pricing is very expensive and the holidays are not
worth the price (Review Centre, 2014). Therefore solos must try and change this by introducing
different and cheaper options to their different kinds of customers as not everyone may be willing to
pay a large price for a solo holiday.
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References
All leisure group, (2014). All Leisure Holiday Companies. [Online] Available at:
http://www.allleisuregroup.com/history.html[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Berman, C. (2012). Page and Moy bought by All Leisure Group. [Online] travel weekly. Available at:
http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/articles/2012/05/16/40496/page-and-moy-bought-by-all-leisuregroup.html [Accessed 12 Nov. 2014].
Brassington, F. and Pettitt, S. (2006). Principles of marketing. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Creative club, (2014). Jut You. [Online] Available at: http://creativeclub.co.uk[Accessed 12 Nov.
2014].
Dehghan, S. (2012). How singles holidays are getting hipper. [online] The Guardian. Available at:
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/aug/03/singles-holidays-rome-italy-solotraveller[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Eurostar, (2014). Eurostar Train - About Eurostar. [online] Available at:
http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/about-eurostar [Accessed 10 Nov. 2014].
Eurostar, (2014). Eurostar Deals & Offers. [online] Available at: http://www.eurostar.com/uken/eurostar-deals [Accessed 12 Nov. 2014].
Explore, (2014). About Us. [online] Available at: https://www.explore.co.uk/about-us/meet-theteam[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Forbes, (2013). The Dark Side Of Reputation Management: How It Affects Your Business. [online]
Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/05/09/the-dark-side-ofreputation-management-how-it-affects-your-business/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2014].
Friendship Travel, (2014). Home. [online] Available at: http://www.friendshiptravel.com/ [Accessed
11 Nov. 2014].
Johnson, B. (2013). Thomas Cooks £10m campaign guns for families and independent travellers.
[Online] Marketing Week. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.com/2013/12/20/thomascooks-10m-campaign-guns-for-families-and-independent-travellers/ [Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Just you, (2014). Customer support; booking conditions | Just You. [online] Available at:
http://www.justyou.co.uk/customer-support/booking-conditions/[Accessed 12 Nov. 2014].
Mintel, (2013). Singles on Holiday - UK - March 2013. [online] Available at:
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http://academic.mintel.com/display/638005/[Accessed 12 Nov. 2014].
Mintel, (2014). Rail Travel - UK - July 2014. [online] Available at:
http://academic.mintel.com/display/679737/[Accessed 10 Nov. 2014].
Mintel, (2014). Holiday Review - UK - January 2014. [online] Available at:
http://academic.mintel.com/display/679605/[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Mintel, (2014). Group Holidays - UK - 2014. [online] Available at:
http://academic.mintel.com/display/701062/[Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
Review Centre, (2014). Friendship Travel www.friendshiptravel.com. [online] Available at:
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews204522.html[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Review Centre, (2014). Solo's Holidays www.solosholidays.co.uk. [online] Available at:
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews101424.html[Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
Solomon, M. (2010). Consumer behaviour. Harlow, England: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.
Thomas cook, (2014). Pricing Terms and Conditions. [online] Available at:
http://www.thomascook.com/pricing-terms-conditions/[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Travel Market Report, (2014). Solo Travel Is Booming, and Suppliers Are Responding. [online]
Available at:
http://www.travelmarketreport.com/content/publiccontent.aspx?pageID=1365&articleID=6512&LP
=1[Accessed 11 Nov. 2014].
Travel Weekly, (2013). Traveling solo. [online] Available at: http://www.travelweekly.com/TravelNews/Tour-Operators/Traveling-solo/[Accessed 12 Nov. 2014].
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Competitor Identification and Analysis for Solo’s Holidays Travel Company
Cruises Train and
Silversea / Ferry Coach Trips
Eurostar
P&O
Leger
Specialized
Holidays
ACE Cultural
and
NCL
Tours
Adventure
Archers
TUI UK
Noble
Holidays PEAK
Direct
Adventure
Caledonia Thomas Cook
Dunabe
Travel
Travel
Express
Solitair Holidays
Redpoint
Fred
Republic
Holidays
Olsen
Shearings
Thompson Cold
STA Travels Skiworld
Fusion
Solo’s
Norwegian Andante
Door to
Spice
chalets
Cruise Line
Holidays Just You
door coach
Exodus
Expedia
holidays
Go
Learn
to
Royal
Easyjet
One
Grand UK
Caribbean
Traveller
Friendship
Contiki
Interational Saga Holidays
Travel
Explore
Eurotunnel
Travelsphere
Companies
offering
single trips
Other
National Car
rental
DIRECT COMPETITORS
Companies offering same specialized
holiday trips as Solo Holidays, aimed
at single travellers.
INDIRECT COMPETITORS
Companies that offer similar
services as Solo Holiday’s within the
companies varied range of options
and packages aimed at a wider
range of travellers.
SUBSTITUTES
Companies that offer singles
holidays using other forms of travel.
Wild Frontiers
GAD
adventures
Budget Car
rental
Park
Holidays
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Appendix 2: Strategic Groups
Nonspecialized
Thomas Cook
P&O
TUI
Eurostar
Travelsphere
Explore
MARKET
Exodus
STA Travels
Friendship
Travel
Specialized
Just You
Saga
Solos Holidays
Solitair Holidays
HIGH
LOW
RANGE OF PRODCUTS/ SERVICES
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Appendix 3: Cross Comparison of Competitors
Competitors
Friendship Travel
Solo’s Holidays
Just You
Background
Formed in 1982, it was
the first company to
specialize in holidays for
single travelers.
Licensed to carry 10,341
ATOL protected annual
customers.
Was part of the Page
& Moy Travel Group
and sister company to
tour operator
Travelsphere. They are
both now owned by
All Leisure Group.
Specialist singles holiday
group tour operator,
which was founded in
1999. The company is
now licensed to carry
2,490 ATOL protected
customers annually.
Who are their
Customers?



Customers are usually
around the age of 35,
where 65% of them are
women.
What do they
offer?
They offer both short
and long haul group
holidays with a range of
different holiday types.
For example they offer
sun holidays, discovery
tours and cruises. They
Regular customers are
in age range of 4570’s, ABC1 Empty
nesters. Under half of
the customer profiles
are retired, two thirds
of the consumers are
women and either
divorced or widowed.
Just You describe their
consumers as ‘onlinesavvy’.
Offer escorted group
tours to over 40
countries. They also
offer ‘stay-put’ resort
holidays, cruises, rail
holidays and short
breaks (city breaks
35-50 year olds
‘Single and happy’
Enjoy being single
Friendship Travel
describes their group
holidays as laid back with
a sense of ‘house party’.
It offers resort holidays,
cruises, beach holidays,
skiing resorts, and city
Thomas Cook
Explore
Eurostar
In 2007 Thomas Cook
AG and My Travel
Group plc merged to
form Thomas Cook,
one of the two biggest
leading travel groups
in the UK. They carry
3.4 million ATOL
protected customers
annually.
Thomas cook has a
wide range of
customers such as
families, couples,
groups and singles.
This could be because
of the smaller subbrands which Thomas
cook owns.
An adventure holiday
tour operator, founded
in 1981. Licensed to
carry 18,466 ATOL
protected passengers
annually. In 2012,
Explore launched a
brand aimed at young
professionals called
Edge Adventures.
Varied clientele of,
families, couples and
singles. Explore has
identified that
generally a 50/50 split
between single
travelers and other.
High-speed railway
service going through
the channel tunnel
connecting London,
Paris and Brussels.
Eurostar services
began in 1994.
Thomas Cook is able
to offer a wide range
of holiday types to
appeal to all its
customers using its
partner brands. They
offer package
Offers 500 adventure
and activity holidays
for single travelers and
small groups to 135
countries.
Range of waling &
trekking, cycling,
Offers trips to Paris,
Brussels, Disneyland
Paris, Lille, Avignon,
Bruges, Amsterdam,
Germany, Geneva and
Skiing to the French
and Swiss alps.
Research shows
Eurostar’s customers
are roughly 64% male
and 36% female. The
dominant age groups
of travelers are 16-24
and 25-34. Most
travelers use Eurostar
for leisure and a very
small group use it for
business.
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What is their
Pricing Policy?
How do they
Promote
themselves?
also offer specialized
activity holidays such as
tennis, ski, golf and
walking & trekking.
Solo’s also offers a
‘solo’s for one’ range for
customers who do not
want to travel in a
group. Solo’s holidays
offers extra features,
such as insurance,
airport parking, airport
hotels, lounge passes
and discounts on trains
to the airport.
and weekend breaks).
The main focus of
their product range is
tours with a cultural
element. Just you can
offer airport lounge
passes, no single
supplement charges,
individual rooms and a
tour manager. For
customers who have
never travelled alone
before Just You offers
Discovery weekends in
UK hotels as a taster.
No single supplement
charges. If customer’s
ticket fares drop after
ticket has been
purchased, they will
receive the lower price.
Solos holiday’s uses
press and direct mail for
promotion. They also
have active social sites
of Facebook, YouTube
and twitter.
No single supplement
charges. Prices vary
depending on holiday
type and package. Just
You offers ‘price
match’ of competition.
In 2012 approx. £3
million was spent on
above-the-line
advertising, using
press and direct mail.
They have an active
Facebook page where
they encourage
potential customers to
speak to previous
travelers on the ‘your
breaks. They offer both
long haul and short haul
holidays and tours
worldwide.
Their package holidays
come with tour manager;
double rooms for single
occupants (no other
company does this) and
most holidays are
supplement free. A
loyalty scheme is
available and
complimentary gifts for
repeat clients.
The company uses
YouTube as a main
channel to promote their
holidays covering 75% of
their resorts. Over
£30,000 was spent on
above -the-line
advertising mainly press
and direct mail; in 2014
they started using online
advertising as well.
holidays, villa holidays, history tours and
luxury holidays,
wildlife discovery.
activity holidays and
cruises. Thomas
Cook’s cruises are able
to cater towards single
travelers however
only double occupancy
cabins are available.
For most of its
holidays it charges a
singles supplement.
However they also
provide a price match
promise.
In 2012 they spent £5
million on their first
integrated campaign
using TV, radio, online,
press and in-store
promotion. They now
continue to use large
integrated campaigns.
They are very active
on social sites,
Facebook, twitter,
They spent approx.
£175,000 on abovethe-line advertising in
2012. Very active on
social sites Facebook,
Twitter, Google+,
YouTube and Pinterest.
Facebook is the main
social channel with
over 14,000 likes on
the page.
Eurostar offers links to
over 100 destinations
across Europe through
Paris, Lille and
Brussels. They have
loyalty programs to
encourage customers
to collect points to use
in the future. Eurostar
also gives their
customers the option
of booking a hotel
through their website,
or hiring a car at their
destination while also
offering insurance.
Cheapest trips are
from £69.
They use Facebook
and Twitter where
they have very high
follower numbers on
each. They also have
newsletters that
customers can sign up
to and have sent by
email.
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community’ forum.
What are their
Strengths?
What are their
Weaknesses?
Solos holiday’s was the
first company
specializing in singles
holidays therefore have
the most experience in
the market and
understand what their
customers need and
want. They also fly to
more destinations than
other companies in the
niche market.
Not very innovative, do
not offer anything
different to others in
the market.
YouTube and Google+.
Top contender in the
market. Good use of
technology, using
online forum to create
community between
old customers and
new customers. Offer
price match on
competitor’s prices,
no one else offers this.
Innovative company
always bringing in new
ideas for their customers.
Won two awards, for
‘best small holiday
company- singles’ and
‘best small holiday
company to Caribbean
and Bermuda’ both in
2013.
One of the two biggest
leading travel groups
in the UK.
As it isn’t specialized
to just single’s
holidays it offers more
destinations, holiday
types and packages for
all different
customers.
Travels to 135
countries, experts in
adventure and activity
holidays. Leaders in
their holiday market.
They have also won 6
awards over 2 years for
their tours.
Cheaper and easier
alternative for solo
travelers who want to
travel to Paris or
Brussels.
They do not offer
anything different
from competitors,
standard products and
offers.
Do not fly to as many
destinations as their
competitors.
Charges single
supplements for most
of its singles holidays.
Most competitors do
not charge extra
supplements for single
travelers.
Only do adventure
holidays, therefore it
won’t appeal to all
consumers who are
looking for something
different.
Limited number of
destinations, it does
not have a large
variety like its
competitors.
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Appendix 4: Preferred Holidays by Single Travellers in UK
(Mintel, 2013)
13