Kuoni has pledged to become more competitive on price to bring itself in line with other premium operators.

The operator is to review its contracts under the helm of commercial and product director Marco Rocha, who joined in March.

New managing director Mark Duguid, speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, said this was likely to bring the operator’s prices down to a more competitive level in destinations where Kuoni hasn’t “adapted and refreshed” its product offer “sufficiently”.

“It’s his role to ensure we have a truly competitive offering out there,” said Duguid, admitting: “Because we’ve been viewed as a little bit too premium and special occasions, it means we’re often viewed as quite punchy on price.”

Duguid stressed the need for the brand to reaffirm its position in the “premium” space as part of its move to lower prices to a similar level as its rivals.

He said: “Sometimes we’re positioned too much in the luxury camp and that works against us. There’s real cachet to being perceived as great quality but if that starts to chip away at perception of value, that becomes a space.”

He ranked Kuoni alongside retailers such as John Lewis and M&S on the high street.

“I put us very much in that camp, where the range is really quite broad. It’s known for luxury and excellent service but it’s not too niche,” he said.