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Hoseasons 2014 Brochure

Broads01

By Broads01
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Broads01

Broads01

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I've always enjoyed receiving the new Hoseasons brochure. There's still something about having sunny boating pictures in print. However the last few years the brochure has been a disappointment in my view because the layout has been appalling and the boat photos far too small. The 2014 brochure is a marginal improvement in my view in that it's nicely laid out and logical - but the boat photos are even smaller! And it's goodbye explicit pricing and hello to 'price range' information with a direction to look at the website for the current price grrr!

 

There's even less of a presence for the Blakes brand which is mentioned but only just. There's a new designation to highlight premium boats called 'Starboard' which would be fine except none of the Richardsons new boats are included in it and nor is Royall Swan which makes you question the credibility. I'm very pleased however to see Brooms expand their fleet, even though their forward drive boat looks to be an Alpha mould which is rather counter-intuitive for an operator with such a history of building themselves.

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jeffbroadslover

jeffbroadslover

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Mine dropped onto the doormat today.

My impression is " got to produce this brochure but don't know what to do".

   I cannot understand the idea of producing a brochure which has some very nice photos of the local scenery but shows you what you are paying for in a postage-stamp sized photo. Also why go to the expense of printing it and not giving a proper price guide and assume that anyone who may be interested in a Broads holiday has access to the internet

 The idea of the "Starboard First Class Fleet" is obviously one of the ideas stolen from individual boatyards (Richardsons, Barnes Brinkcraft,  Faircraft etc) It would have been more realistic if all the boats in the highest standard were included and not just if they are based in Brundall !!!

 To me this looks like someone trying to sell something that they know nothing about.

 

 Basically, as you may have guessed, I am not very impressed !  

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Broads01

Broads01

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I agree with everything you say Jeff. Postage stamps is the best way to describe those boat photos. Aside from the size of the photos, the quality of many is very poor as well. For example Bolero at Richardsons is pictured only from the stern! There are various errors as well such as a photo of How Hill labelled as the Bure and one of Far Horizon at Salhouse labeled as the Ant. One of the new Broom boats is nearly 14 foot wide apparently.

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jeffbroadslover

jeffbroadslover

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Totally agree with you BroadScot even though I can find errors in the Richardsons brochure it is far superior. When you look at the poor quality of the Hoseasons sales brochure it is no wonder that boatyards are leaving them and doing the job themselves AND saving a lot of money at the same time by not having to pay a SALES commission to an organisation that appears to know nothing about what they are trying to sell.

It would be interesting to know what percentage of bookings a yard like Richardsons get through Hoseasons compared with direct bookings.

I don't see Hoseasons offering loyalty bonuses like you can get through direct bookings with yards like Richardsons, Herbert woods and Ferry Marina !

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goodall_m1

goodall_m1

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Why do they even bother with the brochure if you can't even work out the price for the week that you are interested in without looking at their web-site?

 

And then when you do then there are still more mistakes or differences between the brochure and the web-site.

 

I looked at the only Hoseason's yard and one of their boats that I have had personal experience with:

 

Eden Bridge from Bridgecraft at Acle:

 

   The brochure states that Bridgecraft's fleet ranges from 2-9 berths, but the boats shown only show 2-7 and Eden Bridge is not shown.

   The web-site shows Eden Bridge as still being available but quotes her as sleeping 8 whilst the plan still shows her as having 2 doubles ,

    a double saloon berth and the "kid's cabin" with  a singe and twin bunks. To me that adds up to 9....

    (They are also still using the same old photo of her at Beccles, the one that they decided looked better with the bow pointing left so they rotated it through 180 degrees!)

 

I also saw the photo of "Far Horizon moored on the River Ant" but couldn't immediately have said Salhouse but it had to be there or Ranworth.

(Mooring stern-to on the Ant south of Ludham Bridge (she isn't supposed to fit through that) would be interesting and might cause a bit of a hazard to navigation.)

 

It just goes to show why I prefer to book directly with people that I know what they are taking about!

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Dan

Dan

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Is the good they do being overlooked / is it really all bad?....

 

As just posted often they are instrumental in getting the first booking for a yard

 

Who else can or does spend as much on marketing as them

 

Would the boating industry be what it is today without them

 

Would any hirefleets website be what it is today without them?

 

Dan

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C.Ricko

C.Ricko

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Clive, it looks like you'll have to pop down the High Street to the travel agents and see if they have one !   lol

this is what we used to do but there is no travel agent in Stalham any more, I m sure one will arrive sooner or later or we may have to look further afield for a travel agent shop!

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goodall_m1

goodall_m1

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this is what we used to do but there is no travel agent in Stalham any more, I m sure one will arrive sooner or later or we may have to look further afield for a travel agent shop!

 

Perhaps you should book one of your own boats through them to get onto their mailing list?

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SPEEDTRIPLE

SPEEDTRIPLE

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I think you`re all forgetting one important thing, Hoseasons (and Blakes) is`nt Hoseasons anymore, but a small part of the Wyndham group, who seem to concentrate more on cottages, lodges and parks etc, with boating holidays making up a small part of their buisness.  These buisness minded people look at figures on a sheet of paper and decide they want a piece of the action, and as suggested in a previous post above, know NOTHING about the actual industry they`re trying to sell. If they can get away with saving thousands of pounds on their advertising stratergy, then they`ll do it, and never mind the result, as it`s immediate profit that`s more important.

 

Now take Richardsons for example, and look at how those that actually know about the industry they`re trying to sell, and are continuing to invest in improving, not only their fleet, but also the whole industry, and the end product is far more imformative and proffesional. The same goes for the smaller indipendant fleets like Pacifics, Maffetts, Freedom etc. They know the industry and what`s important in their buisness and advertising strategy. 

 

I`ve said on here before, that i believe in the not too distant future, there`ll be no Hoseasons (and Blakes) BOATING agency anymore, with the Wyndham group concentrating on Cottages, lodges, and parks, with all the boating holidays being run either through indipendant fleets, or the Waterways Agency.

 

 

Regards to all ..................... Neil.

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SPEEDTRIPLE

SPEEDTRIPLE

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Maybe someone will correct me if I am wrong.  Don't Hoseasons/Blakes or Wyndham (whatever name they want to go under) still charge the boatyard a booking commission even if the boatyard take the booking direct and just inform Hoseasons that the boat is no longer available for hire for that week?

 

 

Commision?, i think the words rip off come to mind.  I know the figure i was told by a hoseasons yard, and to be honest, it`s daylight robbery.  Although they DO take a commision, if the boats did`nt hire, the commision they would lose is very little compared to the commision they make on the cottages lodges and parks. As for Dans comment about all the hard work they do, well to be honest Dan, i don`t think they do as much as they used to, as the industry and the Hoseasons agency have been established for many many years, so they don`t have to do much to promote the agency or boating holidays.

 

 

Regards to all ...................... Neil.

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Dan

Dan

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.... As for Dans comment about all the hard work they do, well to be honest Dan, i don`t think they do as much as they used to, as the industry and the Hoseasons agency have been established for many many years, so they don`t have to do much to promote the agency or boating holidays.

 

 

Regards to all ...................... Neil.

 

Hi Neil

 

I didn't make any post about them doing lots of hard work, infact other than stating they seem to bring first time visitors in a fair bit I just listed a few questions, for people to perhaps consider.

 

On the new brochure...

 

I quite like the front cover (but I tend to like anything retro!)

 

The opening pages are quite nice and paint nice pictures.

 

I like the 'starboard' concept/name too, in first theory anyway.  I agree that as has been said it loses its effect and some credibility that only some fleets are covered with others such as Richardsons & Barnes Brinkcraft etc having their own elite type of ranking for some craft.  Is for example a Richardsons Carousel less luxurious or eligible than a Silverline 'Simoom?  Both are top end fitouts (though one, the none featured one's also a much newer external design too) so the fact some fleets have bought in & others not is quite indicative of what has been discussed regarding how the role the agents play & their influence has changed.

 

Once it gets to the fleet sections I agree that the individual boat representation is still a bit too small for my liking, though it is better in that the bigger pictures seem to be better arranged and have more relevance and are also more often captioned than before (though quite a few are incorrectly captioned and some still not all).  I think the layout plans especially are just that bit too small.

 

It is interesting that some fleets seem to have sold a couple but don't appear to have replaced or at the same level (Swancraft, Royalls, Sandersons etc)

 

 I don't actually mind the summarised pricing indicators rather than set full pricing, and think it was only a matter of time before this came because as has been pointed out the industry has changed & is still changing.  What there is allows you to gauge price levels between craft to gain an idea of whats lower priced, comparisons etc, and if you didn't have the internet - well, you'd have the option of picking up the phone for pricing & booking queries which is I guess what you'd have done if the exact price was there anyway, though perhaps slightly further down the selection route previously.

 

Overall.. it seems a bit better than the last one.

 

Best Wishes 

 

Dan

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Maxwellian

Maxwellian

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It's no good I am going to have to go into the travel weekend at the weekend to see what this is all about.....even though I am booked up for next year. My kids cant see how I possible managed to get my wife to agree to two weeks in August though. So looking forward to it.

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andyg

andyg

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Not too impressed either pictures to small and some even blurred !! Clive could I ask why your broadsman etc don't feature in the starboard collection, even the moon fleet versions don't ??? but hey to be honest most peeps on here are clued up as to what's on offer.. I love the front cover :)

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