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TWST: What is Transat A.T.?
Mr. Laurin: Transat A.T. is one of the largest integrated tourism
companies in the world, and is definitely Canada's holiday travel
leader. We are based in Montreal. We call ourselves an integrated
company specializing in the organization, marketing, and distribution of
holiday travel. Our focus is tourism, mostly out of Canada, France and,
with our recent acquisition, the United Kingdom. We are also involved in
air transportation, basically from Canada to Europe and to the
Caribbean, as well as Europe to Canada. We also are involved in value-
added services at travel destinations, which we call being an incoming
tour operator. You have got the outgoing tour operator, which is the
main business here in Canada, France, and the UK, and the incoming tour
operator at destinations in the Caribbean, Mexico, the Dominican
Republic, Greece, France and, obviously, Canada. We are also involved
in distribution travel agencies in Canada. With the recent acquisition
of the Canadian segment of Thomas Cook and Marlin Travel Agencies, we
are the major travel agency network in Canada. We are also involved in
distribution travel agencies in France with over 70 travel agencies. We
are also involved online in distribution more and more. However, tourism
packages still rely over 90% on traditional contact with agencies and
call centers. In a nutshell, that would be how we describe Transat A.T.
today. TWST: Give us the high-level view of the tour and travel industry
centered on Canada, both outgoing and incoming, and what your outlook
is.
Mr. Laurin: The travel business from Canada and most of the Western
world is very resilient to many outside factors. The big turnaround
point was definitely 9/11 in 2001, but it has been growing steadily for
many reasons. It's becoming more affordable than before to travel. The
average disposable income has increased over the years. People are more
aware and have more access to information. There is more and more of a
discretionary income component that people allocate for vacation. So
it's been growing steadily. Even worldwide, world travel organizations
expect that it should increase by more than 4% worldwide on a yearly
basis until 2020, with the advent of more Asian countries, obviously
including China, being able to travel in the years ahead from China and
to other countries. Canada and other countries in Europe are definitely
gearing themselves to be able to be part of that trend. Over the years,
Canada has increased roughly 5% or so per year, if you exclude 2001,
obviously, which was a dip. Unlike the US market, which is much more USA
centric because of the varied weather the USA has, in Canada, it's all
northern, stretching from west to east. So in the winter you have a lot
of people traveling south ' to the Caribbean, obviously, but also to the
United States as well. At Transat, we are doing mostly with the
Caribbean ' Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and more and more
others. In the summer, Canadians travel abroad to Europe. So those are
the two segments that Transat focuses on in tourism. In the winter, we
focus on the south. In the summer, we focus on Europe, and that is why
we want to be part of being a tour operator in Europe. That's why we
were strong in France because we are trying to be the number one tour
operator in Europe toward Canada, which is leveraging our business from
Canada to Europe.
Tickers included in this excerpt: TRZ:TSX
For more information call (212) 952 7433. The
Wall Street Transcript does not endorse any of the comments made by interviewees, and does
not make stock recommendations.
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