First Choice & TUI Merger
2007-03-19 16:31:00
Top news in the Travel Industry today is the merger betweek First
Choice
and TUI, a German company that owns Thomsons Holidays.This merger follows hot on the heels of My Travel and Thomas Cook joining ranks and looks as if what has always been known as The Big Four, is about to become The Big Two.You can read the full story on the BBC News website here.I work for an Independant Agency, in the town where I work there are two Thomas Cooks, one Going Places, one First Choice, one Thomson shop and one other Independant Agency. Seven Agencies that could be reduced down to four.
Read more: Merger
Good start to the weekend!
2007-03-18 11:29:00
On Friday afternoon I answered a call from our Marketing Department at Head Office.I entered a competition on one of our Trade Magazines about a month ago, and forgot all about it, if you made a booking to Trinidad or Tobago and entered the reference on a website you would be put into a draw for a place on an educational taking place in December, there were also spot prizes to be won.I won!! I thought I had won a spot prize, but no, I'm off to Trinidad and Tobago in December. I have been to Tobago before, but several years ago so it will be great to go back, it is a very beautiful island, but I have never been to Trinidad so I will get to see somewhere new.The trip is being hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Tourist Board which should mean that we will get to see more of the islands and what they have to offer than the actual hotels, being able to share first hand destination knowledge is as important as knowing what the hotels have to offer.
TravBuddy an interesting find
2007-03-11 17:16:00
I was hunting around for some interesting
travel web pages and came across TravBuddy It's a great site that allows you to map out the places that you have been around the world. You can also plan future trips you wish to make, review destinations, upload photos and find Travel Buddies that are going to be visiting the same destinations as you.I thought I was doing quite well but realise now that I've only managed to see 9% of the world so far. I guess I've got a bit more travelling to do
Educationals & Familiarisation Trips
2007-03-10 18:12:00
I work for an Independant High Street Travel Agency and I have to say I love my job.Especially on a day like today when I'm told that I've got an educational on the Sea PrincessAn educational, or as its sometimes known, a fam trip, is when a Tour Operator takes away a bunch of Travel Agents to a destination to familiarise them with their product.I'm really looking forward to it, apart from giving me more great content for my blog, I get to cruise on a very nice ship for a week, with a bunch of strangers granted, but at least we all have travel in common...its a startOf course we will have work to do, there will be presentations, ship tours etc but its so much easier to sell a product when you have first had experience of it.Check out the Princess Cruises website by clicking on the image above.
Lanzarote - A Great Winter Sun Holiday
2007-03-27 15:20:00
During November last year my partner and myself spent a week on the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.Lanzarote is the most easterly of the Canary Islands, its quite small at just 37 miles (60km) long and 12 miles (20 km) wide, and is just 70 miles off the coast of Africa. With a mild dry climate, with average daytime temperatures ranging from about 21°C in January to 29°C in August, Lanzarote is the perfect year-round destination.It is a volcanic island although the most recent eruption was in the 19th century, this makes for a very barren landscape, in fact it appears almost lunar.We spent our week at the Sands Beach Resort, in Costa Teguise, in a one bedroom apartment. It was home from home, with a microwave, dishwasher and a large fridge freezer. However, if you don't feel like cooking while you are on holiday there is a restaurant on site, it is also possible to have a take away so that you can have your meal in your apartment.As well as having it's own private lagoon,
Read more: Great
, Holiday
What to do with all those holiday snaps...
2007-03-28 15:31:00
Have you ever come back from your holiday and wondered what to do with all the photos?Check out this website where you can turn them into gifts or something cool for yourself.
Carbon Offsetting
2007-04-03 13:51:00
With all the current talk of carbon offsetting, and the amount of travel I will be doing this year, I decided that it was about time for me to have a look around at what I could do to help.There are so many sites now where you can offset your carbon emissions and find out general information, you can even buy gifts for friends and family to help them offset their emissions, most sites provide calculators so that you don't have to work it all out for yourself. On Climate Care you can purchase a unique wedding gift that will offset emissions for 150 guests and the happy couple’s honeymoon flights, it costs £110. I was pleasantly suprised to find that it will cost me just under £15 to offset the trip that I'm making to Trinidad and Tobago later in the year, however, all the sites I found seemed to offer calculators to offset flights, driving and the emissions from your home but nothing to work out what I will need to do to offset any damage I'm am doing by going on a cruise. As
Read more: Carbon
, Offsetting
Fancy taking a trip to Oz?
2007-04-09 10:06:00
Following on from my last post about carbon offsetting, I have been sent a link (thank you Guy) for the OzBus - a bus service bewteen London and Sydney!!If I had the time this would be a fantastic trip to do, a twelve week trip visiting 20 countries!This is what they say about themselves:“Every year tens of thousands of travellers set off to the other side of the world seeking the thrill of adventure. The trouble is most of them just do the same old thing. I wanted to set up a service that not only delivers them to their destination, but also lets them visit and experience the amazing world they would otherwise be flying over. And besides, What could honestly be more fun or rewarding than participating in the world’s greatest overland journey and sharing the adventure with a truck load of young likeminded souls?”I think that my main problem with doing this trip would be having to travel light, like most women it's something I struggle with!!
Read more: Fancy
Virgin Expands With Boeing's Dreamliner
2007-05-01 12:02:00
Virgin Atlantic has announced the largest order yet by a European airline for Boeing
's new 787 Dreamliner.The 787-9 Dreamliner has the biggest windows in the air, giving all passengers clear views of the horizon; an even better cabin environment, including higher ceilings and larger luggage bins; and greater long-range capability (up to 8,500 nautical miles) enabling trips from London to Perth or Hawaii, for example, without stopping en route. A more direct route uses less fuel, with fewer take-offs and landings reducing aircraft noise as well as freeing-up airport slots with fewer connecting passengers.Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic, commented:"Virgin Atlantic is totally focused on delivering a cleaner airline in the air and on the ground, and our order today will significantly cut carbon emissions per 787 Dreamliner flight. With this dynamic new plane, our customers will get the world’s best customer service onboard combined with world-class engineering throughou
Read more: Virgin
Thomson rated ‘most trusted’ holiday brand
2007-04-30 19:37:00
Reader's Digest has voted Thomson
the most trusted brand of holiday company.The operator has won the category every year since it was introduced by the magazine in 2001.Parent company TUI was also voted the most trusted brand of holiday company in Germany and Austria.The annual Reader's Digest European Trusted Brands survey is conducted in 15 countries and in 13 different languages. It aims to find out which brands Europeans trust the most in a range of consumer product categories.Thomson sales director Derek Jones said: "This is fantastic news and reinforces what we already know – customers come back time and time again to Thomson. As well as offering great products and fantastic service, we're a company they can trust."Thomson has also been named best overseas holiday provider in the 2007 Parent Friendly Awards hosted by baby charity Tommy's.by Phil DaviesSource: TravelMole
EasyJet slams carbon off-setting firms
2007-04-30 19:30:00
EasyJet has delayed the start of a scheme to offset its carbon emissions, claiming excessive costs.The budget carrier claims the carbon offsetting industry is riddled with "snake oil salesmen" charging between 25% and 30% of every pound put in by consumers to cover administration costs, the Guardian reported.The airline instead plans to buy credits in UN-backed schemes and sell them back to passengers.EasyJet's communications director Toby Nicol was quoted as saying: "We have been quite surprised at the percentage that the offsetting companies would like to take out of the scheme for administration costs."Between 25% and 30% of every pound put in by consumers would go into administrating the company and that was simply too expensive."There are a lot of people who have dived into the market who are desperate to make a margin out of it. There are too many snale oil salesmen in the business."Buying UN-backed carbon credits on the open market and selling them to passengers was better than
Read more: firms
Budget carriers criticised over web fare ‘add-ons’
2007-05-08 00:46:00
Budget airlines are continuing to mislead consumers using their websites by failing to include extras such as taxes, fees and charges in their headline fares.While many airlines, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Bmi and Air Southwest, now include extras in the fare throughout the booking process, many others – particularly low cost carriers
– still strip them out, a study by the Air Transport Users Council found.Those highlighted as continuing to add on charges were easyJet, Ryanair, Jet2, Flybe and Bmibaby.The passenger body conducted a study last month into pricing on airline websites to see if there were still differences in taxes, fees and charges quoted by carriers from two years ago when the AUC originally reported on the practice.AUC chairman Tina Tietjen said: "There remains a risk that passengers are not aware that airlines charge different TFCs on a route and therefore may not look at other airlines' websites to compare fares."In addition, passengers now have
Ryanair starts price war
2007-05-10 15:09:00
Ryanair has declared a price
war on its no-frills rivals by launching its biggest ever seat sale. The airline, which is now quoting all of its fares inclusive of taxes, is offering 10 million seats across Europe from just £10. Around 3.5 million seats will be offered for £10, including taxes, with another 3.5 million for £15 and the rest for £20. Ryanair believes the seat sale will help it reach its target of carrying more than 52 million customers this year compared with 42 million in 2006. It also announced that if passengers find a cheaper fare on the same route with any other airline, it will pay double the difference between the two fares, even though it expects the move to cost the airline around £1 million. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary accepted the moves would put downward pressure on both prices and profits but said it would help consumers and damage competitors. His pledge came just hours after rival Easyjet vowed to slash its fares to fill seats due to falling passenger
Read more: Ryanair
www.findmadeleine.com
2007-05-21 12:56:00
Easyjet to launch Madeira flights
2007-07-18 13:08:00
Easyjet will start flights
to Funchal, Madeira
, this autumn from London Stansted and Bristol. The Stansted service will be daily while the Bristol flights will operate three times a week on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, from £49.98 return including taxes and charges. The airline is also increasing frequencies to other destinations, with a new four-times-weekly service from Bristol and daily flights from Gatwick to Lisbon. To Krakow, Easyjet will fly four times a week from Edinburgh and three times a week from Bournemouth.All flights start at the end of October.By Bev FearisSource: TravelMole
Traveller poll shows lack of care for the environment
2007-07-18 13:00:00
Over two thirds of Brits admitted they won't even be thinking about the impact their summer holiday could have on the environment, according to a survey.The Summer Lifestyle Report, conducted by broadband, telephone and media company Tiscali, showed 67% do not consider their carbon footprint.Instead, what bothers Brits most is the possibility that their accommodation won't live up to scratch (28%) or luggage might go missing (26%).British travellers aspire to long haul destinations, with 16% of respondents said their dream holiday would be to the USA, Australia (15%) and the Maldives (13%).Only 4% would consider booking a holiday in the UK in the next 12 months, despite the fact that 54% remember childhood holidays in the UK.Alex Hole, Tiscali's online media director, said: "Lower flight costs and last minute breaks are encouraging us to go for guaranteed sunshine and even exotic holidays."The government's new carbon calculator might get people checking out the carbon cost of their
Read more: Traveller
Easyjet moves to all-inclusive pricing policy
2007-07-26 12:32:00
EasyJet has unveiled a new-look website which displays all-inclusive
pricing right from the start of the booking process.The move comes just days before next Tuesday's deadline set by the Office of Fair Trading for all airlines and travel companies to adopt an all-inclusive policy."For many years easyJet has been at the forefront of the call for an industry-wide move to all inclusive pricing for all European airlines – especially given the prevalence of price-comparison sites which do not use a standard methodology for retrieving air fares," said an easyJet statement."That's why easyJet supports the action of the UK Office of Fair Trading and moves
by the European Parliament to mandate all-inclusive pricing." It said while other airlines have "added a wide and exotic range of erroneous charges to make their lead-in fares look more attractive", it has only ever separated out Air Passenger Duty and local airport charges at the beginning of its online booking process to "highlight the
American Airlines to test in-flight broadband
2007-08-04 01:14:00
It would seem that we are getting to the point where we will literally be contactable anywhere, I found this story today on TravelMole:High-speed broadband
connectivity is to be tested by American
Airlines
on US domestic flights next year. The experiment will be conducted on Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes. Passengers will have access to a high-speed internet connection, VPN and e-mail capabilities through Wi-Fi-enabled laptops and PDA devices in all classes for an unspecified fee. If the connectivity solution is successful, it could be extended to the rest of the airline's domestic fleet. The technology will use three antennas installed on the outside of the aircraft. Technology firm AirCell will provide cellular towers throughout the continental US to transmit the signal. The signals received will be 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi signals. The technology from AirCell is subject to strict requirements set by the US Federal Aviation Administration through an excl
Space Hotel
2007-08-13 17:25:00
An out-of-this-world holiday is on the horizon for wealthy tourists, as Barcelona architects launch a stratospheric hotel.Galactic Suite, the world's first space hotel, is due to open in 2012, and will give holidaymakers the chance to experience weightlessness and some stunning views. Residents in the hotel's three pod-shaped double rooms will witness 15 sunrises each day, as the Suite orbits the Earth every 80 minutes. However, a stay among the star isn't exactly designed for the budget Travellers, with a three-day residency costing around £2 million.Xavier Claramunt, a director at Galactic Suite, said: "We have calculated that there are 40,000 people in the world who could afford to stay at the hotel." He added: "Whether they will want to spend money on going into space, we just don't know. "I'm hopeful that the impact of seeing the Earth from a distance will stimulate the guests' urge to value and protect our planet."Guests will be provided with Velcro suits, which will a
Read more: Hotel
, Space
Virgin America launches
2007-08-19 11:00:00
Richard Branson strikes again! OK so I'm a little late with this one, Virgin
America
was launched on the 8th August but I have to say this sounds like the way to fly.Main features of the airline are:Virgin America is the first U.S. airline with mood lighting.There are 3000 MP3s onboard every flight.You can plug in to 110v power at every seat. You can order fresh food when you want it, from the screen at your seat.The in-flight entertainment system, has over 25 pay-per-view Hollywood movies on demand.Virgin America is a cashless airline. Place your order, swipe your card, and you’re done.Seat Pitch of of 32" in Economy and 55" in First ClassIn-seat massage function in First ClassEntertainment handset with gaming and full QWERTY keyboardThe inflight entertainment system is called RED, You can order food straight from RED, if that doesn't appeal in-flight attendants stroll the cabin with WiFi tablets to take your order. The journey map uses Google Map.For further information visit ww
Ten minutes of sun 'could stop 30,000 cases of cancer', researchers say
2007-08-23 13:17:00
So one minute we are being told that the sun will give us skin cancer, now research is showing that it could, in fact, protect us from cancer! Researchers believe that Vitamin D deficiency, (Vitamin D is created by the body when exposed to sunshine) may be to blame for 600000 cases
of cancer, around the world each year, and that exposure to the sun could top up natural levels more effectively than diet.You can read the full story here.Source: Daily Mail
Read more: minutes
, researchers
Where have I been?
2008-03-02 11:47:00
I feel so bad that I've been neglecting my blog, so what have I been up to?Well I had major pc problems so that kept me away for a couple of months then I just seemed to lack the time or energy to do any blogging, Christmas came and went and before I knew it it was January and our busiest time of the year.I've also been looking into working from home as a Travel Agent, it's early days and I've contacted a few companies so watch this space, however I was really shocked at how hard it was to find any message boards or people online that are already working from home. Where are they all hiding?
I've been quiet because....
2008-07-12 01:48:00
Well it's all been happening, things have moved on from wanting to work at home, I'm about to become a partner in my own Travel Agency. I'm going to concentrate on Long Haul Tailor Made holidays, weddings abroad and honeymoons.It's going to be hard work but I can't wait for the challenge.I hope to have the website up and running in the next couple of weeks, it's just having some finishing touches
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