Travel firm hoping Zidane head-butt scores with customers
An Irish travel firm is using Zinedine Zidane’s World Cup head-butting incident to urge people to ‘use your head’ and book holidays on its website, it emerged today.
Stein Travel, the country’s largest independently-owned tour operator, features the French football star in a cheeky email campaign to drive online bookings.
With a picture of a fearsome Zidane after headbutting Italian player Marco Materazzi, the caption says: “Use your head..! Book your holiday online at www.steintravel.ie.”
The email also shows devastated French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez being comforted by team mate Willy Sagnol who says in a speech bubble: ’Is alright Fab. I hear Stein Travel have some great late deals.”
Beside the photograph, a caption says: “Get over your World Cup depression. Book a late availability trip to the sun with Stein Travel.”
The Stein logo is also incorporated into a modified image of the FIFA World Cup trophy.
A spokesperson for Stein Travel said the ad was designed in its marketing department to promote online sales, which already account for more than 15% of its business.
It was sent in an regular email to individual subscribers to its website who are interested in holiday destinations in Spain, Crete and Cyprus.
“We thought it was a witty way to use a topical issue to make our point,” said the spokesperson.
Late July and early August is Stein Travel’s busiest period of the year for holidays.
In recent days, UK travel operators said bookings for Portugal have plummeted - a knock-on effect after the country knocked England out of the World Cup.
