Plan to boost ticket sales

SOME?TRAVEL AGENCIES are now allowing people to pay their airfare  and cruise tickets  in instalments to encourage them to continue travelling.
The Indar Weir Travel Centre has initiated  a Layaway Purchase  Plan that would make  it possible to afford  a vacation “even in these challenging times” by adding another payment to people’s regular monthly budgets.
In a telephone interview yesterday, managing director Indar Weir, said business in Barbados had been quite “soft” so they had to find incentives and ways  to stimulate the market.
“People are still interested in travel but it is no longer ad hoc . . . they want to plan ahead. We have come to the assistance of the people to give them some breathing space and pay a small sum over a period of time.
“That way, they can take care of monthly commitments and it will also boost sales while giving the travelling public an opportunity  to take a holiday and find time for leisure,” he said.
Meanwhile, sales and marketing manager of Going Places Travel, Alana Gray, and marketing manager  of Value Vacations, Anne Sealy, said they had been offering their customers  a similar service for  a while now.
“We have the system where you can pay down towards travel but persons who are planning travel ahead were paying down that way from before the economic situation,” Sealy noted, “so we cannot say that this would have prompted us to start offering customers the opportunity to pay  over time.”
Gray pointed out pointed out that the ticket must be paid for  in full before the ticket  is issued, adding it was also good for a cruise where only a small deposit was needed and the final payment made at least three months before the departure date.
They said the system worked in such a way that the customer must get the ticket and finish the repayments before they have travelled.
As for the conditions  of the Layaway Purchase Plan offered by the Indar Weir Travel Centre, they are that the size of the payment and the number of payments would depend on how much time existed between the first deposit on the trip and the due date of the final payment.
The initial deposit  for a tour or vacation package is usually $100 to $150 per person. Therefore, it is recommended that anyone planning to take  a trip should plan 12  to 36 months in advance. (LK)