BMI Baby

Bmibaby is dropping three city routes and replacing them with resort destinations.

Cardiff flights to Amsterdam and Glasgow are being axed along with Birmingham to Cork.

They are being replaced with a service from South Wales to Almeria in Spain between May 22 and October 22 and a Birmingham to Newquay route between May 22 and September 20.

The Almeria flights will run twice a week from Cardiff and the Cornwall connection from Birmingham will operate four times a week.

Passengers booked from Cardiff to Amsterdam and to Glasgow, and from Birmingham to Cork for travel after March 29 will be contacted by the airline and offered an alternative flight or a full refund.

Prices from Cardiff to Almeria start at £41.99 one way, and from Birmingham to Newquay at £13.99 one way, including taxes and charges.
The airline expects to carry more than 13,500 passengers on the Almeria service, and 20,000 on the Newquay route during the summer.

Managing director Crawford Rix said: “The airline industry is currently seeing a weakening in demand from consumers for impulsive city breaks and an increase for typical sun destinations; this is a direct result of the current economic climate.

“In order to meet the demand for more beach routes, we will be replacing two of our city routes from Cardiff - Amsterdam and Glasgow - with the new route to Almeria, and replacing the route from Birmingham to Cork with the new service to Newquay.

“This will enable us to meet the high consumer demand for services to beach destinations.”

MALLORCA HOTEL, VILLA AND APARTMENT REVIEWS

MINORCA HOTEL, VILLA AND APARTMENT REVIEWS

IBIZA HOTEL, VILLA AND APARTMENT REVIEWS

HOTEL AND APARTMENTS FROM

Jet 2 Holidays

Jet2holidays.com has distributed its first brochure to 1,300 agents as part of a move to attract more trade sales.
The northern-based operator’s programme covers 20 destinations with flights from six UK airports. A £50 deposit offer is available and holidays in the Balearics and Algarve lead in at £99.

The brochure forms part of a larger 2009 campaign incorporating a greater emphasis on trade sales, according to the operator.

Other destinations featured include the Canary Islands, Turkey, Greek Islands, Croatia, Cyprus and Sharm el Sheikh.

Group trade sales manager Alan Cross said: “This is the first time we have produced a traditional holiday brochure having previously just been an online tour operator for both agents and our customers.

“It has been designed to portray the look and feel for what Jet2holidays.com has to offer – which is a wide selection of holiday options at great value for money.

“Support from the trade has been fantastic so far and having produced this dedicated brochure to complement our online element, we are sure this success will be increased further."

SAN ANTONIO BAY RESORT VIDEOS

VENITIAN RIVIERA RESORT VIDEOS

ZANTE RESORT VIDEOS

HOTEL AND APARTMENTS FROM B

Lowcostbeds & Resorthoppa

Lowcostbeds.com is offering Resorthoppa through its trade web site lowcostbedsagents.com following the completion of a takeover of the transfer company.

Bundled prices for lowcostbeds.com transfers and beds is being made available via the trade web site, enabling lower prices to be offered to agents to increase their margins.

Lowcostbeds.com CEO Paul Evans said the company’s ability to bundle transfers with bed stock meant it was in a “very exciting position to consolidate its position as one of the leading suppliers of independent holiday components to the travel trade”.

“Customers and agents are demanding access to holiday components from a single source and those operators that offer single product will become vulnerable,” he added.

Michael East, who will continue as chairman of Resorthoppa, said: “Despite the difficult trading conditions being experienced by the travel industry, we are seeing a significant increase in activity at Resort Hoppa and the completion of this merger will enable us to build a strong, integrated group offering a one stop shop to enable the trade to create their own, great value, dynamic packages.”

He added: “We anticipate signing a number of new agreements over the coming weeks”.

SA COMA RESORT VIDEOS

SALOU RESORT VIDEOS

SHARM EL SHEIKH RESORT VIDEOS

HOTEL AND APARTMENTS FROM A

Thomas Cook swoops for Medhotels

Thomas Cook is strengthening its position in the bed bank sector with the purchase of Medhotels from lastminute.com.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will make Thomas Cook the UK leader in accommodation-only following its purchase of Hotels4u.com almost a year ago.

The sale of Medhotels follows industry predictions of further consolidation in the bed bank sector (see previous TravelMole stories).
The Medhotels acquisition, due to be completed next month, includes Hoteltransfers, Holiday Hotels and its German business.
Lastminute bought Medhotels in a deal worth £16.1 million in 2003.

Paul Riches, sales and marketing director at rival youtravel.com, said:“The long-awaited completion of the Medhotels acquisition by Thomas Cook represents a step-change in the accommodation-only sector as another player is taken over by one of the big conglomerates.
“There is now a very clear divide in the industry between those bed banks which are owned by a large corporate parent and those who retain their independence.

“For us, as the UK's largest independent accommodation supplier, Cook’s acquisition of Medhotels represents a great opportunity to work even more closely with independent agents.
“Independent agents are the backbone of the bed bank sector and I don’t believe that they will be happy to push a large proportion of their accommodation-only sales into the hands of one group.
“They will be looking more than ever towards established independent accommodation suppliers to redress the balance of their sales split which will shift as a result of this acquisition.

PLAYA DEL INGLES RESORT VIDEOS

PUERTO POLLENSA RESORT VIDEOS

PUERTO RICO RESORT VIDEOS

RHODES RESORT VIDEOS

2009 is the year of the cruise deal

Online cruise review website CruiseCritic has unveiled its predictions for the cruise market in 2009. It believes the current “dizzy” rate of growth will not be sustained this year, but the market should be “robust and resilient, benefiting from a huge boost in capacity and choice”. In 2008, UK cruise passengers grew 14% to an estimated 1.55 million. CruiseCritic believes 2009 will be the year of the 'deal', as cruise lines struggle to fill cabins. “Prices, already pretty low, will be incredibly competitive,” it said.

It said with the weak sterling against the euro, customers will take advantage of cruises, which do not involve currency surcharges that many travel companies have had to add to the cost of a land-based holiday. Other trends identified include: - There will be a rise in sailings from the UK, such as Glasgow, Liverpool and Belfast, as well as the principal ports of Dover and Southampton. - Passengers will pay fewer fuel surcharges but will pay more for extras, like spa treatments, classes, speciality dining and service charges. - Passengers will take more short cruises, particularly those who are new to cruising.

Luxury will be one of the fastest growing sectors, with Seabourn, Oceania and Silversea all getting new vessels. In addition, a handful of big ship cruise lines are creating boutique hotels within large ships, with dedicated restaurants, lounges and pool areas.

NILE EGYPT RESORT VIDEOS

PALMA NOVA RESORT VIDEOS

PAPHOS RESORT VIDEOS

PLAYA DE LAS AMERICAS RESORT VIDEOS