Book Review - The
Waymark Story (C. Saunders)
Date first posted on eCommunity - 12
May 2009
A history of former walking and cross-country ski
tour operator, Waymark Holidays, has just been published.
The author is Colin Saunders, who worked for Waymark from 1982 to 1989
when it
was based in Fulham, London. Then, when the company moved to Berkshire
he
remained involved for a few more years, with main responsibility for
brochure
production. You can find out more about Colin on his website:
www.colinsaunders.org.uk.
He is calling his publication "The Waymark Story" and describes it as
"the
history of . . . a feisty little company that, unfortunately, has
disappeared
from the market place."
The Waymark Story includes a detailed account of the company's history
from its
inception in 1973 to its acquisition by First Choice plc in 2002 and its
subsequent absorption - merely as a brand name - into Exodus Travels.
Reminiscences by former directors and clients flesh out the
chronological
account.
The publication is available initially as a free download from Colin's
website.
The story is well told and should be enjoyed by the many clients and
leaders who
provided exceptionally loyal support to the company throughout its
history.
But it will also be of interest - as a case study - to those with a more
general
interest in the history of organised travel. For Colin could have
written very
similar stories about many other specialist companies.
Waymark was set up by outdoor enthusiasts who had previous travel
industry
experience. The new company's major focus reflected the personal
interests of
the founders, who wanted to sell the kind of holidays they themselves
would
enjoy.
Many other outdoor companies started with similar goals; examples are
Headwater,
Inntravel and Exodus. And many of them have now been acquired - like Waymark -
by multi-national conglomerates. Headwater is now part of TUI, the
German-based
giant. Inntravel is now part of Inghams. Exodus preceded Waymark into
the First
Choice stable.
And First Choice itself has become part of TUI, as if to demonstrate
that the
process of merger and acquisition has its own momentum; and as if to
emphasise
that once a specialist company is first sold, its subsequent destiny is
quite
uncertain.
As I remember Headwater's history, its original owners sold it to
another
company called Simply Travel. But soon after the deal went through
Simply Travel
was bought by Thomson. And then Thomson was bought by TUI. In the
process the
Headwater staff changed in a few short years from being a small
self-governing
group to being part of a massive institution.
Inntravel is now having a similar experience. Formed in the 1980s, it
remained
independent until 2004 when it entered into an unlikely partnership with
a rail
journey specialist and a Greek island specialist. The group of three was
then
acquired by Primary Capital in 2005. At the time it was widely suspected
that
Primary was really only interested in the rail company, and the disposal
of
Inntravel (in February 2008) has therefore caused little surprise.
Inntravel's website continues to say that: "Inntravel is based in rural
North
Yorkshire. Everyone in our small but dedicated team has a passion for
our
featured regions and the kind of holiday we offer"
Let us hope things will be able to go on like that. However in being
acquired by
Inghams, Inntravel has entered a less predictable arena than it has been
used
to, and it may be in for a bumpy ride.
For Inghams is itself part of a bigger conglomerate called Hotelplan, a
Swiss
company that, according to Inghams' website (www.inghams.co.uk) carried
almost 2
million passengers in 2005. (And Hotelplan is just part of an even
bigger Swiss
conglomerate, the Migros organisation, whose main interest is in
grocery.)
Hotelplan's website (http://www.hotelplan.com/en/about-us) shows that it
is
quite ready to undergo massive reorganisations in order to maximise
growth and
to "enable synergies". The acquisition of Inntravel is just one element
in an
aggressive strategy "to expand in promising niche markets". Another
element,
which emphasises how diverse the strategy is, is the acquisition of a
majority
shareholding in a Russian travel group. This should on the one hand open
Russian
ski resorts to the UK market and on the other hand allow Hotelplan to
organise
holidays, in southern Europe, for Russian travellers.
That is the sort of game-plan that could go in all sorts of directions,
and we
can imagine that the folks in rural North Yorkshire have a lot to talk
about.
Colin Saunders' account of Waymark's demise is, unfortunately, unlikely
to cheer
them up.
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