Skift Travel News Blog

On the Beach Group CEO Simon Cooper, who founded the UK-based beach holidays online travel agency in 2004, will resign his post within the next 12 months, and Chief Financial Officer Shaun Morton will take over the CEO duties, the company announced.

The precise timing of the transition, according to the company, depends on recruitment of a new chief financial officer to assume Morton’s current duties. The board hired an external team to assist in that search.

On the Beach Group credits Morton with helping to guide the company through the Covid pandemic, playing a lead role in strategic investments in brand marketing and technology, and striving to win market share in luxury and long-haul trips, and making inroads in the Group’s business-to-business initiatives.

Cooper, who remains a major shareholder in the company, will take a board seat and stay actively involved in the business, On the Beach stated. Cooper increased his shareholding in August.

On the Beach Group didn’t cite a specific reason for Cooper’s relinquishing his CEO duties.

The announcement coincided with the company’s release of its fiscal 2022 preliminary results. The fiscal year ended September 30.

For the year, On the Beach Group, which is a publicly traded company in London, recorded profit before taxes of  £2.1 million ($2.6 million) in fiscal 2022 compared with a loss a year earlier of £18.4 million ($22.5 million).

“Notwithstanding the emergence of Omicron and the disrupted airline schedules this summer, revenue was up 3 percent versus fiscal year 2019,” the company’s announcement stated.

On the Beach stated it is uncertain how the “cost of living crisis” will sway consumer behavior, adding that the company is well-positioned entering fiscal year 2023.

The value of the euro is plummeting and that means Americans vacationing in Europe will see their dollars going further, CNN reported.

The euro’s falling means the dollar and euro are almost at parity, and “the UK pound is also weak: It’s exchanging at $1.20,” the report said.

That means more expensive vacations for Europeans and British.

Even if the dollar is strong, though, compared with the euro and pound, hotel prices across Europe in May were soaring in some countries compared to May 2019 before the pandemic.

Average daily rates in May 2022 were up in Italy (23 percent), Ireland (21 percent), and Spain (17 percent) compared with the same period in 2019, according to STR Global.

Despite inflation taking a chunk out of family spending power in the UK, only 8 percent of Gen Z respondents in a survey said they would give up vacation plans to cut costs.

But the Advertising Week Europe survey, conducted by Lucid, found a generational divide on the issue. Boomers — people age 68-77 — were the most likely (27 percent) to give up on their holiday dreams because of inflation, which saw the Consumer Prices Index jump 9 percent year over year in April.

“Fewer than half (46 percent) said they would cut back on travel and holidays, indicating cancelling trips already delayed by the pandemic is out of the question for many,” Advertising Week Europe said.

The survey also uncovered regional differences on the issue within the UK. For example, survey respondents in England’s southwest, which includes places like Bristol, were the least likely (9 percent) to quash travel plans because of inflation.

However, survey respondents in England’s east, including London, as well as people in Northern Ireland, were the most ready (23 percent) to cancel their vacation plans.

Meanwhile, plenty of U.S. residents plan to get into their cars or take flights over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

The Vacationer found that 60 percent of U.S. adults plan to travel during Memorial Day weekend, up from 27 percent a year ago.