luxury holidays has led Hays Travel Group to launch its own tour operation.

Vista by Hays will initially focus on product in the Indian Ocean and Dubai, closely followed by North America and the Caribbean. Other destinations such as South America will be rolled out later.

Product director Shirley-Ann O’Neill revealed that the focus will initially be on 30 routes with just five properties in each.

The tour operation will go live in a couple of weeks time in the direct to consumer market and in February next year will be available to IG group members.A specialist tailor-made team made up of 15 staff has been put in place.

John Hays does not expect the company’s relationships with its tour operator partners to suffer at all, believing that the move will in fact increase the business the group does with them as the overall volume of affordable luxury sales grows.

“This is designed to give us more volume in the long haul market and we want to have some unique product in-house that our staff really know,?that they can be trained in and that they can sell with confidence.

“Also if there is a crisis it allows us to maintain the service to our retail estate, and the quality will be consistent so that our staff can sell it with confidence.”

Relevant IG members will be able to sell the tour operator product and even brand it as if it is their own product should they wish to.

The average selling price is expected to be upwards of £1,50