Turquoise Holidays has seen a huge surge in demand for celebration holidays over the past eighteen months, resulting in the launch of a dedicated new Special Occasions & Anniversaries Division and a significant expansion of its London store and product portfolio for 2017. 

New destinations include California, inspired by an innovative California/Tahiti twin centre itinerary, and The Philippines adding to its existing long haul destinations which include Australasia and Indochina, The South Pacific, Indian Ocean, Caribbean & Mexico, The Middle East & Africa.  

Having established itself as one of the leading honeymoon companies in the UK - a sector which buoyed the company through years of recession - Turquoise has grown up with its customers to fill a gap in the market for luxury family holidays. The latest trend for a celebration holiday to mark anything from a Silver Wedding Anniversary to a significant birthday has taken the classic 'two adult, two children' family holiday to a truly multi-generational level with every member of the family represented from grandparents to grandchildren. 

The marked upturn in the demand for celebration holidays is undoubtedly a relatively new development.  As Turquoise's MD James Bell points out, an exclusive take-over of North Island in the Seychelles to celebrate a mile-stone half century or seventieth birthday at the cost of £250,000 may be regarded as a once-in-a-lifetime holiday but it is far from a once-in-a-lifetime booking.  Bell says: “Our average spend for a family holiday is about £13500 which I think reflects the trend to embark on a holiday with children and extended members of the family to celebrate an important lifetime event.”

He continues: “We went into the family market, filling what we correctly perceived to be a blatant lack of good luxury holidays for this sector, and we haven't been disappointed by the response. We have however been taken by surprise with the marked increase in requests for 'something special' to celebrate significant birthdays and anniversaries. This has seen our average booking jump by over £1500 per holiday in just over 12 months.  We are confident that this market is largely recession-proof.  It seems that people are still prepared to spend their money on a holiday - they just need a good excuse.”

Product Manager Catherine Blanks will be heading up the new Special Occasion & Anniversaries Division.  With many years of experience in arranging luxury holidays for Turquoise clients, no one knows better than Catherine how to put on a celebration holiday.  She says: “I love creating bespoke and original itineraries to inspire and wow our clients. It's the little details and the attention we put into every holiday which makes us so unique, and my little black book is full of the world's very best hotel managers, concierge desks, wildlife guides and yacht captains!. The unusual and different are my forte.  After all who doesn't love a wonderful surprise especially when it involves a holiday.”

The average price of a tailor made holiday or honeymoon is now almost £8000. The Maldives is Turquoise Holidays' biggest selling destination by volume, followed by Mauritius, Thailand and Tahiti. Mauritius and the Maldives are the top two best-sellers for all three holiday sectors - tailor made, honeymoon and family.  The top ten highest performing destinations include the UAE (Dubai/Oman), Malaysia, St Lucia, Antigua, Tanzania (including Zanzibar), South Africa, Indonesia (Bali/Lombok) and The Seychelles.

James Bell, who as marketing director has shaped the company's brand ethos and development from its inception in 2002 as a luxury Australian specialist to its current position as one of the UK's leading boutique long haul honeymoon and family tour operators, takes over the reigns as MD taking over from Brian Barton who assumes role of chairman.  At the company's AGM held earlier this month, Bell outlined the three year plan to increase annual sales from £15 million to £25 million, with the average holiday spend forecast to rise to £9000.

Ends

3 January 2017

Susie de Carteret

Juicy Communications Ltd

T: + 44 (0) 1534 735449

M: + 44 (0) 7797742541

Skype: Susie.de.carteret

Twitter: @susiedec