Monday, March 30, 2009


Avro expands Turkey flying programme.

An additional Gatwick charter to Antalya is being laid on by seat-only firm Avro this summer. The Wednesday departure will run between May 27 and October 18 following increased dynamic packaging demand for holidays to Turkey. The flight will complement a Sunday service and twice weekly flights from Manchester as well as Birmingham departures, where capacity has been increased.Avro will run charters to Dalaman from Gatwick six days a week - up to three times daily - and from Manchester five days a week. Flights to Bodrum will also operate from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham.

Prices to Turkey start at £139 per person inclusive of 20 kilos of baggage.Avro managing director Michael Vinales said: “Turkey continues to thrive in the DP market as we are able to offer agents the good day time slots that families demand over the summer period.“It’s also a destination which agents feel increasingly confident about booking as many repeat visitors know exactly which properties they want to book, making it easier for the agent to component package.“We have needed to increase our frequency as some families are looking for more flexible durations possibly to fit in more with their reduced budget. They may not be able to take that traditional 14 night break but they still want to travel.”

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Saturday, March 21, 2009

Google Street View


Virtual walking tours of key UK cities are to be made available on the internet through a tie-up between VisitBritain and Google.The new Google Street View technology will feature 25 cities and towns in Britain and Northern Ireland. Users of Google maps can use the Street View mapping to get an idea of the sights they can see when visiting Britain.
They will be able to take a virtual walking tour of destinations such as London, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh, and from Southampton to Aberdeen, Bristol to Norwich.VisitBritain has worked with Google to create a visual guide - called a maplet - directly in Street View which features sights in London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds and Oxford.
This maplet then links to VisitBritain’s global website, visitbritain.com, where users can access some of its 1,000 destination guides. Each guide further helps them plan their trip with information about where to stay, shop and eat out, as well as the attractions, events and experiences.
This year an extra five million people may consider a holiday in their own country, according to VisitBritain ahead of British Tourism Week next week.
Meanwhile, international visitors can taken advantage of improved exchange rates on their trips.VisitBritain head of online marketing Justin Reid said: "We're very excited to be working with Google on the launch of Street View in the UK.
The internet is an incredibly rich resource for raising awareness of destinations, driving travel to and around Britain. Street View is a real opportunity for us to showcase our destinations to millions worldwide.“Seeing some of our globally-renowned attractions – a mix of old and new – up close, could inspire many more people to visit our shores.
“Our partnership with Google will also mean Street View explorers can find information about the different destinations and attractions, as well as value for money experiences, on www.visitbritain.com."Google’s geospatial technologist Ed Parsons said: “Street View has been hugely popular with our users in Europe and worldwide and we're thrilled it's now available in UK for so many great cities, enabling users to see street-level panoramas of major city roads and look up and print out useful driving directions.”

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Monday, March 16, 2009

Majority of agents failing to offer best value for money


Experience and knowledge are things that people appreciate most about travel agents, according to a new study.But only 19% of British travellers believe agents offer the “best value for money”. Although this rises to 29% in Scotland, it drops to only eight per cent in London.
An online poll of 2,220 consumers by YouGov for Stena Line found that 57% thought that agents’ knowledge is a real bonus, while just eight per cent did not find agents knowledgeabl

Almost half of those questioned (43%) valued agents as “someone to talk to”.
With the ongoing credit crunch, agents in Britain will increasingly need to be seen to offer value but people in the capital are more critical about travel agents than the rest of the country.

More than half (51%) of Londoners – over six times the national average - complained of agents’ lack of knowledge, with 43% of those from the capital - over 2.5 times the national average - complaining of pressure from agents to book what suited them best.
Only 37% of respondents in London valued agents for their knowledge and experience.

Nationally, the biggest concern about agents is that they could be too commission-based, a factor which bothers 34% of travellers and an even larger 46% of Londoners.
Stena Line general manager for travel on the Irish Sea Dermot Cairns said: ”We are delighted to learn of the British public’s appreciation of the knowledge and experience agents offer.

“It’s a definite incentive for us to continue the trade training and familiarisation trips that we organise as they are clearly paying dividends.
“We are also acting on the importance that British travellers are attaching to value for money by continuing to ensure that we are offering the best value fares for all our crossings, and great value hotel breaks.”

COSTA CALIDA HOTEL, VILLA AND APARTMENT REVIEWS
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Thursday, March 05, 2009

Co-op Sales on the up.


Sales of half-board holidays are up by over 50%, according to research by The Co-operative Travel. The group says research of over 110,000 bookings shows that half-board holidays are up by 53.6%, while all-inclusive holidays have risen by 22.4%, compared to the same period last year.

The independent agency chains believe this shows Brits are returning to the high street to book traditional package holidays. It believes customers are attracted by the ability to fix costs ahead of travel, rather than organising DIY bookings online. Director of retail distribution Trevor Davis said: “People are making a return to booking their holidays on the high street after the travel chaos of last year.”

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Monday, March 02, 2009

Premier Inn sales slow


Like for like sales at budget chain Premier Inn owner Whitbread have slowed in recent weeks, the company said today.
Announcing trading performance for the 50 weeks to February 12, the company’s chief executive Alan Parker said: “The sales trends we reported in December continued and in recent weeks group like-for-like sales have been predominantly negative, particularly due to lower occupancy in Premier Inn.

“Since the start of 2009, it has been difficult to establish any clear trends.”However, he added that full year profits are anticipated to be in line with market expectations.
The UK’s largest hotel and restaurant group said that in the first year of a combined hotels and restaurants business, it has delivered an increase in total sales of 9.1% and like-for-like sales growth of 5.4%.

Parker said: “By the year end we will have 54 new hotels and just over 40,000 rooms in the UK. Eleven of these new hotels are on joint sites with a Whitbread branded restaurant taking the total restaurant estate to 372.

“Premier Inn's Business Account is attracting larger business clients with total accounts up 48% year on year and total sales via this channel up 26% year to date.
“Revpar growth for the 50 weeks to 12 February was 2.9% on a like-for-like basis.
“Within restaurants like for like covers growth increased by 7.7% with spend per head falling 1.5%.”

He signalled a slowing in expansion in 2009-10 with capital expenditure to be halved to around £170 million.
“In these recessionary times operating well maintained, value for money hotel and restaurant brands offers significant opportunities for Whitbread to outperform in our market,” Parker added

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