Holiday offers website Shermans Travel has closed its UK operations after just four months in business. Shermans HQ in the US is understood to have diverted money earmarked for marketing the UK site to the launch of a magazine in the US, as well as other projects. Shermanstravel.co.uk was unveiled in January this year and…
Shermans Travel axes UK site
Holiday offers website Shermans Travel has closed its UK operations after just four months in business.
Shermans HQ in the US is understood to have diverted money earmarked for marketing the UK site to the launch of a magazine in the US, as well as other projects.
Shermanstravel.co.uk was unveiled in January this year and came hot on the heels of rival Travelzoo and its successful launch of a site in the UK in 2005.
The pair had taken the US market by storm in recent years and Shermans Travel was hoping to achieve similar results to Travelzoo for its dedicated UK site.
UK boss Ruth Bickerton said: “After all the hard work that we have put in to getting the website off the ground, all of us involved in the UK operation are very disappointed by the decision.
“Sales have been strong over the last few months, with a number of repeat bookings, but without significant marketing spend, as a new website we felt there was no way to make it successful, from both an advertiser or user perspective.”
Bickerton added that the UK team “understand that business strategies change and are exploring the possibility of working from the Shermans Travel US office and making a real impact to business development there”.
The Shermans Travel model is essentially a regular bulletin to subscribers in which 25 of the top travel deals are advertised. The company creates revenues through the amount of business it subsequently passes on to the company running the deal.
Marketing activity for Shermanstravel.co.uk has been centred on banner and skyscraper slots on portals such as MSN and Yahoo! during the launch phase.
