Donat Rétif has only been the CEO of Loveholidays since 2019, but under his leadership the vacation marketplace has experienced explosive growth across all major metrics, doubling its revenue, tripling its pre-tax profit and quadrupling its workforce.
The 12 months ending October 31, 2023, were record-breaking on all fronts. The company’s sales rocketed by 73 per cent on the previous year to £235m, while its pre-tax profit jumped 81 per cent to more than £55m, according to its most recently filed accounts.
And with Rétif forecasting the company’s UK passenger numbers will reach five million this year – up from one million in 2019 – the CEO said he believes the company is more than ready to capitalise on the ever-rising demand for overseas holidays.
“Our secret? There is no secret,” Rétif insists. “Covid was devastating for the travel industry, but we took the opportunity to double down on our technology so it was ready for when things returned.
“Basically what we’re trying to do is democratise travel to make it affordable for everybody. We do that by creating competition among the major airlines and very old holiday companies to force everybody to have a better price and offer better value.
“The way we do that at Loveholidays is through technology. We use our tech to drive competition and get better prices for our customers.
“The difference between us and a tour operator – like Jet2 or Easyjet Holidays – is that we do not own any airlines, we don’t own any hotels.
“We operate as a marketplace which means that we bring together a very large and fragmented supplier base and we combine them to create packages so you can buy together your flight and your hotel just in a few clicks.
“The advantage is it’s very simple and you get lots of value because we don’t have any exclusivity with any companies.
“You see the price for the whole package but not the individual elements, which means suppliers will offer much bigger discounts to fill their planes or fill their rooms, without it having an impact on their other custom.”
The new generation of holiday hubs
The benefits of not owning physical assets become apparent when you look at current travel trends. According to Rétif, while classic holiday hubs like Mallorca and Greece remain popular, travellers are increasingly looking for alternative destinations that offer both a novel experience and value for money.
With zero exclusivity to protect, the CEO said Loveholidays is able to quickly and efficiently meet demand wherever it arises.
He said: “We’ve seen new destinations popping up like Albania, which has seen bookings grow by 2009 per cent in the past couple of years – the demand was non-existent before Covid.
“Romania is also going up and Tunisia has been growing like crazy. I think the main reason people go there is value.
“We’ve seen over the past couple of months that local populations in very popular destinations are saying the tourism is too much, and they’re putting their prices way up to try and counter that.
“But in the up and coming destinations they’re keeping their prices low to attract tourists.
“If you’re a tour operator and you’ve put loads of money to go to Rhodes and now there’s fires, you’re screwed.
“But we don’t make more or less money on Tunisia than Mallorca – we’re not forced to fill hotels or flights – that gives us this flexibility and agility to basically bounce back very quickly when there’s a crisis.”
The Loveholidays CEO said Albania has seen bookings grow by 2009 per cent in the past couple of years. (Photo by Ferdi Limani/Getty Images)
Loveholidays eyes European domination
Not content with running the largest online travel agency in the UK, Rétif has his sights set on the rest of Europe too.
Last year, the firm ventured into Germany, Europe’s largest holiday market alongside the UK and a “very tough nut to crack” according to the CEO.
“Building trust has been key, because we don’t spend on TV advertising we have to meet people where they are on social media and with brand partnerships,” Rétif said.
Twelve months on Loveholidays said it is seeing positive growth in the country and is “actually making money” – no small feat in this economy, Rétif insists.
Over the next five years, Loveholidays hopes to expand into 10 European countries. Its Austrian branch is set to launch in November, with plans to expand into either the Netherlands or Poland in 2025.
Besides expanding its geographic reach, the company is also targeting new customer groups.
Rétif said: “At the moment young couples are our key demographic, but we want to grow our services to appeal more to families too.
“The goal is to grow with our customers as they journey from a couple in their 20s to a family with young kids, then to a family with grown children, and eventually to empty nesters.
“We’re working hard to have strong products across a spectrum of needs so we can accompany them through every stage of their journey.”