Thomson Holidays signs up with Spurs

Thomson Holidays is to extend its &£2.5m a year sponsorship deal with Premiership football club Tottenham Hotspur.

The deal represents a significant coup for the North London club, after Manchester City signed rival travel company Thomas Cook in a three-year deal for just &£2m in the summer, although this did not include the home shirt sponsorship (MW August 7).

Industry sources say that Thomson, which is the flagship brand for German-owned holiday company TUI UK, has taken advantage of an option in its contract for an extension to its previous &£5m, two-year deal.

TUI has pursued a sponsorship-based marketing strategy for Thomson since last year, when it curtailed the division’s television advertising spend (MW May 2, 2002). Most recently, the company has signed up as a sponsor for dating event organiser Chemistry.

A TUI insider says sponsorship deals help the company to target consumers other than those who would be generally attracted to the high street Thomson brand. In particular, Thomson is targeting young and affluent career people in their late 20s and early 30s, as well as “young at heart” travellers aged between 45 and 54.

In January, TUI handed its &£11m advertising account to BMP DDB (MW January 9).