| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder(s) | Gerry Pack |
| Headquarters | Hythe, United Kingdom |
| Area served | National |
| Key people | Steve Lawrence (Chairman) Matthew Pack (CEO) |
| Industry | Travel |
| Products | Airport Parking Airport Hotels Airport Lounges Travel Insurance Theme Park Breaks Theatre Breaks |
| Revenue | £155m |
| Employees | > 500 |
| Parent | Holiday Extras ltd |
| Website | HolidayExtras.com |
| Type of site | E-commerce |
| Available in | English |
| Launched | 2000 |
HolidayExtras.com, part of Holiday Extras ltd, is a UK-based online company providing pre-booked UK airport hotels and parking. The company is based in Newingreen, Hythe, Kent, operating from a purpose built building.
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The company was founded in 1983 as the 'Apple Booking Company' by Gerry Pack, an ex-employee of Saga. Pack wanted to provide an easy way for leisure travellers to book an overnight stay in an airport hotel and take advantage of discounted rates.[1]
The company shared its offices in Ashford, Kent with another business with the Apple prefix. The two telephone operators worked for both companies, so all callers were greeted with the response 'Apple'. A manual booking system was used at first, with a software and database later being developed by Anthony Williams, who ran the other business.
The company began by offering a small number of three-star airport hotels at Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton. ABC was able to offer customers discounted rates by only revealing the name of the hotel once they had made the booking.
In 1986, the company began selling travel insurance, and in 1988 it branched out into UK airport parking. As the company grew, it was renamed ABC Holiday Extras and moved to a converted barn in the nearby village of Smeeth.
In the 1990s ABC Holiday Extras brought its first car parking company, an off-airport car park near Birmingham Airport. ABC Holiday Extras branded the parking site 'Airparks' and now has sites at Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Gatwick, Glasgow, Luton, Manchester and Newcastle airports, with a total of 28,000 spaces.
The business was renamed once again in 2003 and became known as Holiday Extras. In 2005, the company went through a management buy-out.
The company's head office won Kent County Council's Building Design Award for 2003-4,[2] and it has been given planning permission to build a 1,415 square metre extension.
HolidayExtras.com have won numerous awards over the last couple of decades. Most notably the company has been listed on the Sunday Times '100 Best Companies to Work For' since 2007.[3]
The UK Based call centre have been winners of the Top 100 Call Centres since 2008 and the company was shortlisted for the Badenoch and Clarke business of the year award in 2008.
As well as B2C awards, HolidayExtras.com have also received numerous awards for their B2B work. At the Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards 2010, the company won the 'Best Insurance Provider' and 'Best Add-ons Provider' categories. The company had previously won the 'Best Insurance Provider', 'Best Add-ons Provider' and 'Best Travel Trade Provider' categories.[4]
In 2009, HolidayExtras.com launched their 'Customers' Awards'. These awards were developed to offer customers their opinion on who they felt were the leaders in the travel industry. The inaugural awards saw nearly 18,000 votes cast by HolidayExtras.com customers in categories including 'Best Airline', 'Best Airport' and 'Most Recommended airline for travelling with babies'.[5]
ln 2010, HolidayExtras.com expanded on the previous years success by adding the 'Travel personality of the year' award.[6]
In 2011, HolidayExtras.com expanded on their success in 2010 by adding the 'Most Inspirational Travel Film' award.[7]
In April 2000, Holiday Extras launched their website, which enabled them to compete in the B2C market as well as the B2B. The website allowed travel agents to realise the potential of working online and allowed them to set up their own online business.
In November 2008, as part of the HolidayExtras.com re-brand, the company's website was re-launched, incorporating over 100 user-friendly changes to improve the customer experience as well as adding in dynamic pricing and interactive number plate recognition.
In 2009, the HolidayExtras.com website was responsible for around 80% of direct bookings.