The Discerning Collection buys failed Turkey specialist Elixir Holidays

The Discerning Collection has bought out Elixir Holidays after the Turkey specialist ceased trading last week. 

The Turkey specialist operator has taken on Elixir's 309 forward bookings, some assets, its database, intellectual property rights, trading and domain names.

Read also: Turkey specialist British tour operator Elixir Holidays closes down

The deal does not cover the operator's staff, five of which were based in London, who lost their jobs following Elixir's failure on February 17. Simon Parker of insolvency firm Antony Batty & Company was appointed as administrator.

Elixir, which was set up in 2004, featured luxury, adult-only and family boutique hotels and villas in resorts on the Mediterranean coast, including Kas, Kalkan, Patara, Faralya and Datca, the Hillside Beach Club in Fethiye, the D-Resort Hotel in Gocek, and weekend mini-cruises.

Opportunity to grow

The Discerning Collection founder and managing director Nick Wrightman said he had been in talks with administrators and the Civil Aviation Authority since the operator's failure.

Wrightman, former owner of Tapestry Holidays, added: "I saw this is as an opportunity to grow our business and as way to get new clients as well as reprotect and rebook their customers. Elixir had a similar product and client base and similar service levels."

He noted that the Discerning Collection had already contacted about 30% of the 309 forward bookings due to travel with Elixir between May and October and had re-protected them.

He said: "We're pleased to see that everyone is wanting to book again. Those who haven't re-booked through us had already booked an alternative destination.

"Our staff can handle all of the re-protection - it's about allaying fears as a lot of these people had booked and paid in full."

Flight-only payment

The Discerning Collection, which operates its own trust fund and gets 80% of its sales from repeat customers, is only asking customers for the flight-only payment at this stage with the rest of the payment due four to eight weeks before departure.

Wrightman said he had already secured contracts with the hoteliers Elixir worked with. He does not plan to use the Elixir trading name. 

Around 10% of The Discerning Collection's business comes from travel agents. This is expected to remain at the same level following the buy-out of Elixir, which enjoyed a similar level of trade business.

"I welcome business from the trade. Good agents are worth their weight in gold," he added.

Commercial dispute 

Clients booked with Elixir will claim their money back from the Civil Aviation Authority under the ATOL protection scheme.

The CAA has published advice for anyone affected by the collapse of Elixir Holidays and a claim form is on its website.

Wrightman confirmed that bookings to Turkey were down but added that the Discerning Collection made a profit last year because it is not 100% committed to anything.

He said: "All our contracts are based on hotels being paid when the client returns."

Wrightman believes Elixir's demise was not related to difficulties in selling Turkey holidays, adding: "If I can cope, then other companies should be able to."

A commercial dispute between Elixir's directors has been cited as a reason for its demise

Discerning Collection's programme

Turkey's tourism has been hit by bombings in its major cities, making holidaymakers nervous about travelling there.

Earlier this month, TUI Group reported a 40% drop in summer holiday bookings to Turkey and Thomas Cook revealed it had cut its capacity to Turkey by 29% this summer.

Last week Mark Warner confirmed it was pulling out of the destination altogether.

The Discerning Collection's programme in Turkey is similar to the one offered by Elixir but the operator also features the Greek Islands, Morocco, Majorca and Italy.

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