Holidays on sale with clothes and furniture

Shoppers will soon be able to pick up a holiday when they buy a sofa, a TV set or a new coat as House of Fraser (www. Houseoffraser.co.uk) has become the latest department store to sell package holidays.

Virgin Holidays (www.virginholidays.co.uk) has opened an outlet in the chain's Bluewater store and it plans to open others in House of Fraser shops in the southeast of England, including in Bath, Chichester and London Victoria over the next few months.

Described by the company more as 'information points' than full-blown travel agencies, the outlets feature a touch screen booking system where customers can reserve their holiday.

However, they are staffed by Virgin Holidays consultants who can give advice and customers can also browse a selection of holiday brochures.

Other department stores, including Co-op, have been selling holidays for many years. Supermarkets, including Asda, have also tried selling holidays alongside groceries, though the trend these days is for holidaymakers to book online.

Virgin Holidays says it's a good match for House of Fraser as they target the same sort of customers, especially since Virgin's tie up with HIP Hotels. HIP offers generally boutique, trendy properties worldwide.

Our partnership with HIP Hotels brings bespoke experiences tailored to our customers, which is a perfect match with House of Fraser shoppers, said Virgin Holidays.

General sales manager Chris Roe said the holiday outlets in House of Fraser would 'bring the holiday suggestion' to shoppers in a leisure environment and boost awareness of the Virgin Holidays brand.

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