The Daily Mail and General Trust-owned company is taking on national tourist boards such as Enjoy England by launching a stand-alone website dedicated to the UK holiday market within the next month.
"Stay in the UK" is envisaged as a national network of hotels and B&Bs, enabling owners to upload information and photos to publicise their offerings.
A search engine will guide users to appropriate destinations and the site will host a range of advertising inventory for local businesses.
The move will place Teletext Holidays in competition with tourist boards in the UK that offer publicity through their brochures and websites in exchange for an annual subscription fee. Teletext Holidays is currently integrating the platform used on Villarenters.com, a site in which Associated Newspapers last year acquired a £3m majority stake. A joining rate has not yet been set, but initial fees will be low.
The company's digital investment has resulted in up to 40 job losses, as it reduces editorial content and spreads its commercial arm across DMGT. Editorial responsibilities are being placed on sites including the recently launched Travelmail website that links up with Teletext Holidays for its booking element. Such moves will see less editorial content on Teletext Holidays' range of sites, according to Matt Cheevers, managing director of Teletext Holidays.
Cheevers said: "We're aiming to spread what Teletext can offer throughout the group. For example, on our dating site that is aimed at (single) parents, we'll run promotions for family holidays."
He said he expects to have two or three further websites before the end of 2007 and cited cruises, skiing and activity holidays as possible areas. Earlier this month, Teletext launched its first non-Teletext branded site, inluxury.co.uk.
Teletext Holidays is relying on natural search and cross-group promotion to drive traffic to its new sites. Launch advertisers include holiday firm Warner Breaks.
.jpg)
.jpg)