Aurinkomatkat-Suntours
Last year Aurinkomatkat-Suntours celebrated the 40th anniversary of its founding. Since 1963 this Finnish tour operator has arranged for Finns new travel experiences to sun-drenched beaches and distant paradises as well as to the ski slopes of the Alps and the metropolitan centres of the world. The company also offers packages tailored to customers' special interests and pastimes.
The build-up to the war in Iraq and the commencement of hostilities in early 2003 reduced demand for leisure travel in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean. Trips to Turkey, Greece and Cyprus as well as to Arab countries of the Middle East were cancelled and replaced by destinations in countries deemed to be more safe.
The SARS outbreak in China and certain other Asian countries in the spring reduced demand for leisure travel to China and Vietnam. The number of trips to Thailand also declined slightly, even though the country was not touched by the epidemic at all.
Sales of summer sun holidays are always partly dependent on the Finnish weather. A cool, rainy start to the summer in Finland encouraged holidaymakers to browse the travel brochures and guarantee for themselves a sunny vacation at Aurinkomatkat destinations. The improved summer demand more than made up for fewer early-season bookings than normal.
Aurinkomatkat-Suntours' turnover grew by around two per cent to 195.1 million euros. Measured both by customer volumes and revenue, Aurinkomatkat-Suntours is the market leader with a over 35 per cent market share. Last year nearly 300,000 customers travelled with the orange Aurinkomatkat label on their luggage.
Package tours are increasingly being promoted and sold via e-business channels. Around ten per cent of all Aurinkomatkat holidays are sold via the Internet, which is more than double the previous year's figure. |