Tesco may soon be selling holidays alongside groceries

Wed, 09 Nov 2005
 
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What next for the mighty Tesco? It would seem that they are looking to break into the holiday industry. A senior executive said Tesco was looking to sell travel packages in a bid to expanding its services. They have already taken the loan, credit card and insurance industry by storm, so selling holidays should not be a problem.

A recent report by www.eveningtimes.co.uk said, "Customers at Tesco could soon pick up a trip to Torremolinos with their tomatoes and a fortnight in Benidorm with their baked beans."

Steve Clarke, director of space and merchandising said, "We believe there is a huge opportunity for us." The supermarket chain already provides travel insurance and travel deals online.

Clarke was quoted in The Scotsman as saying, "Our research shows people are more conscious of things like health and leisure time. For the first year ever, consumers now spend less than 10 per cent of their income on basic food and drink for everyday needs so it's important to know where customer spend is going. We believe there is a huge opportunity for us in offering other retail services and that touches on travel. We look at every penny that customers spend. And if we do go into travel, we would look to partner people with expertise."

This move will not be welcomed by the Forum of Private Business (FPB), a pressure group who are want the government to investigate ‘unfair dominance’ of the grocery market by supermarket giants. The Trade and Industry Secretary, Alan Johnson is being called upon to order a Competition Commission investigation as small shops are going out of business as the supermarket chains expand their market dominance, according to the (FPB).

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