Destinology aims towards £50m turnover

Tailor-made luxury specialist Destinology has overhauled its online booking system.

Destinology chief executive Dominic Speakman told Travolution: “We have finished the project. The focus now is on optimising it and getting traffic to convert.”

Speakman plans to launch a separate site for Destinology customers to post reviews of trips.

The business has so far “been built on paid search”, he said, with leads converted by call-centre reservations staff. The ability for users to transact online will improve the paid-search returns, Speakman added, but also gives “the opportunity to work with metasearch and affiliates. Natural search is now a key opportunity for us.”

Speakman intends to launch short-haul luxury products, such as upmarket beach and city breaks, and said: “We have reached the point where we are profitable enough to spend on building the brand.”

He expects Destinology to turn over £30 million this year and plans to recruit another 40 reservations staff.

Speakman said the business had held up well so far this year. “Growth has come back, departures are up and the average booking is increasing in value, with margins only slightly down,” he said, adding that the Maldives has overtaken Dubai as Destinology’s best-selling destination.