Strengths
• Direct Ski has achieved cost competitiveness by bypassing travel agents to sell directly to customers through its website
• Direct Ski has experienced rapid growth and turnover was up from ?2.5million in 2002 to ?3.6million in 2003. At the end of the 2003/2004 ski season, Direct Ski had quickly become the 2nd largest provider of package ski holidays in Ireland with just over 15% of the market share. It also had a small but growing share of the UK market, which it had entered 2 years earlier
• Dire k Ski provides package holidays. This holiday package includes air travel, coach transfers, insurance, accommodation, ski passes, equipment hire, ski lessons and après ski equipment. It offers customers a range of holiday packages for a wide variety of budgets
• A supports of holiday reps are located in every resort
• Directski was launch in the Irish market in October 2002: The launch of the campaign combined PR, press and radio advertising which positioned Directski as a specialist and ski holiday providers. The promotional campaign also emphasised the message of lower prices. The launch period was extremely successful and in its first season Directski achieved strong sales. By the end of 2001/2002 ski season, Directski enjoyed a high level of brand recognition amongst Irish skiers.
• By March 2001, Directski introduced additional resorts to the portfolio and put in place the necessary expanded capacity and on-the-ground infrastructure for the 2001/2002 season
• While customers can buy a full package holiday, they can also choose to buy individual holiday elements such as flights or accommodation
• Directski's...