OTA prepares for official new year launch

Online travel agency start-up Loveholidays.com is gearing up for an official new year peak booking season launch of its consumer website.

The site is advised and backed by Hays Travel managing director John Hays, lastminute.com co-founder Brent Hoberman, Roger Flynn, formerly of the Virgin Group and British Airways, and World Travel and Tourist Council president and chief executive David Scowsill.

The sister company of travel comparison site travelmatch.co.uk is under the direction of co-founding chief executive Alex Francis.

At launch, customers will be able to create their own Atol-bonded dynamically packaged holidays.

It claims to be the first online travel agency to offer customers an “unconstrained” search facility.This enables users to search for holidays without first having to know where they want to go or when. Instead, they use a range of search criteria such as holiday type, budget, star rating, multiple dates and TripAdvisor rating.

The site, which is live and in its preview phase, features holiday packages to more than 40 destinations in Greece, Turkey, Cuba and Mexico.

Customers can search for, compare and book packages from leading operators including Thomson and Thomas Cook.

It will allow customers to manage and spread the cost of their holidays by offering low deposit and flexible payment options.

Bookings can be made online or via a UK call centre with prices starting at £240 per person for seven nights at a four star hotel in Turkey.