Marketing is the key to success says Icelolly chief executive

Effective marketing is the key to Leeds-based holiday comparison site Icelolly, despite the adversity facing its rivals, says its chief executive Andrew Latham.

“The business has gone through a lot of change in terms of stabilising, becoming more professionalised as a business,” said Latham, referring to the buyout of the business, supported by Palatine Private Equity, in 2013.

A focus on the digital space, using external metrics, Trustpilot and Net Promoter has helped Icelolly adapt and develop, compared to its better-established rivals

Formerly running a company that built hotels, Latham, who has worked in hospitality since the tender age of 12, has now been with Icelolly for three years, through some difficult times for the travel industry.

He said: “Holidays are not considered a luxury anymore – it’s more like having a TV – something that people factor into their budgeting.” Something which has benefitted Icelolly as a price-focused holiday site.

A focus on marketing and the digital space has helped grow the business, said Latham. It has 21.4m visitors a year to its site, and deals with 200m searches every year, with more than 400,000 followers on social media and a Net Promoter score of more than 50. It made a six figure investment in TV advertising in the first half of last year alone.

This simple but effective model has seen revenues rise from £7.65m in 2014 to £9.58m in 2016, despite major worldwide uncertainty.

The business, which employs more than 50 at its Park Row base, said the results buck the trend seen in the travel industry in recent years, with the administration of cheap holidays provider Lowcostholidays.com last year, as well as revenues at Thomas Cook falling 8%.

“Terrorism and political issues clearly don’t help. The collapse of the Greek economy, the travel ban to Sharm El Sheik, events in Tunisia, Paris and Northern Africa have had a definite effect,” said Latham, “but more on the type of holiday people take than the volume.”

As a site which connects to travel agents it’s not always transparent what the end user buys, but there has been a definite change in terms and focus for searches.

“The economic situation means that people are downsizing their holidays,” said Latham. “Instead of all inclusive, people will go self-catering or stay closer to home.

“The Western Mediterranean and other countries there are seeing tourists flow in, which has prompted price inflation – entrepreneurial hoteliers are getting a few quid more for a room.”

He said that from an average of 50-60% of searches for all inclusive deals a few years ago, this has risen to 70-80%. “People don’t want to run out of cash on day three,” he said.

Latham finished: “We’ve got a straightforward and simple model. Even though people are less loyal to a particular provider these days, we have something that people do always want – holidays.”