Thomson and First Choice new websites received record 17.9 million visits in January 2014

• New Thomson and First Choice websites deliver inspiring content, intuitive search and instant customisation to enhance customer experience
• Record 17.9 million visitors across Thomson and First Choice websites in January
• Over 50% of all bookings in January were made online

Luton, UK, 2014-2-12 — /travelprnews.com/ — The re-launch of the Thomson and First Choice websites has resulted in record visits in January as customers utilise its new, easy-to-use features to find their perfect holiday. Over 17.9 million visits were made to the new websites in January and 50% of all bookings were made online. 11th January was the brands busiest day, termed Sunshine Saturday, with online bookings increasing by 25 per cent compared to the same day in 2013.

Significant enhancements have been made throughout the Thomson and First Choice fully mobile optimised websites to make it even easier for customers to research and book their holidays.

Key features of the new Thomson and First Choice websites include:

Inspiring content
From the completely re-designed homepage to the individual hotel and destination pages, the new websites feature over a third more large scale images and video content to inspire customers as they browse the sites.

Intuitive search
The new, intuitive search functionality makes it even easier to find the ideal holiday with options to compare a large number of destinations and a wider range of regional airports. As a result customers in January searched for three times more destinations when visiting the websites.

Instant customisation
Whilst the new website delivers extensive search results customers can quickly personalise their selection by board basis, best for and budget. They can also identify hotels in their preferred Thomson and First Choice collections from adults only properties in the Thomson Couples range to all inclusive, family focussed resorts from First Choice Holiday Village.

The new websites are already proving a hit with customers and independent data* confirms that Thomson was the most visited online travel agency website in January. Customers have also taken advantage of the fully mobile optimised functionality to browse and book through smartphones and tablets – in January bookings made via these devices were up 85% and 93% respectively on the Thomson and First Choice websites.

The most popular destinations booked in January across the Thomson and First Choice websites were Tenerife, Sharm el Sheikh and Majorca. The most booked hotels were the Thomson Sensatori Resort, Sharm el Sheikh and First Choice Holiday Village, Red Sea.

Jeremy Ellis, Marketing and Digital Director at Thomson and First Choice, said: “After listening to our customers we have invested in our websites to improve the overall experience and make the user journey as seamless as possible. Customer feedback has been outstanding, showing the recent changes have been well received, and thanks to ease of booking through mobile and tablet devices, we’re proud to have seen a record number of visits to our websites this January.”

-Ends-

Notes to Editors
* Data from Experian Hitwise

For more information please contact:

pressoffice@thomson.co.uk

THOMSON AND FIRST CHOICE

Thomson and First Choice, part of TUI UK & Ireland, take over 5.5 million customers away each year, making them the UK’s largest holiday company.

Travelling to 88 destinations in over 30 countries, Thomson and First Choice offer a wide range of holidays for families, couples and groups alike.

Thomson Airways, is the UK’s third largest airline with 57 aircraft and Thomson Cruises is the UK’s third largest cruise line with a fleet of four ships. Thomson Airways was the first airline in the UK to take delivery of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, and is flying the aircraft on selected long haul routes.

TUI UK & Ireland is part of the TUI Travel PLC Group.

Contact
Thomson Press Office
e: pressoffice@thomson.co.uk

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