Travel Business Pages

Another tour company goes broke possibly leaving many without insurance cover

Alan — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:51:58 +0000

British tourists are in limbo after having to pay two times for accommodation due to the folding of Barwell Travel in Ealing. The company stopped trading this week, and as it did not belong to the ABTA it has left travellers unprotected.

The firm, which is based in Chessington, stated that any financial failure insurance that was purchased when a holiday was booked would cover the holiday disturbances, but according to the insurance company they do not have to pay.

The Civil Aviation Authority stated that at this time they have not ascertained if holiday goers are protected from the collapse or not.

A spokesman for Towergate Chapman Stevens stated that they are not sure if those that had bookings prior to October 1^st will be able to seek out refunds at the moment because the company has not officially become insolvent.

Barwell Travel had a license to sell 600 packages per year, the majority of which were for accommodation at the La Manga Club. It pushed its package deals due to low cost airfare rates, but at the moment none of the passengers on the flights fall into the CAA Atol protection scheme due to the fact that they only purchased accommodation.

Those in question about refunds are advised to call the Bridge Business Recovery helpline at 020 7025 6130.

Bridge Business Recovery associate James Carr stated that at the moment there is no plan in place for dealing with the Barwell insolvency but stated that customers will need to simply wait.

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Virgin Atlantic losses

Alan — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:40:56 +0000

Most if not all airline companies have suffered some major losses in the economic downturn of the past couple of years. Virgin Atlantic is one that had its worst year ever during 2009, and reported losses of around £158 million for the twelve months up to February 2010.

However, the company seems to be rebounding with vigour, and Virgin now has a £10m advertising campaign in progress, to introduce their new “Upper Class” service geared chiefly to business travellers. Virgin intends to keep the momentum going on an upsurge in leisure and business travel that took place in the March to May period this year; they reported an increase of 5% in business class travel.

The “Upper Class” incentives are pretty impressive. They include a limo from your doorstep to the dedicated check-in area at the airport, and another one on arrival at your destination. If you have to wait at the airport, there’s a top-notch business lounge with several business stations and laptop points, plus full restaurant and bar. You can also get a massage, a manicure and a haircut, just to name a few of the available amenities.

On the airplane “Upper Class” offers fully reclining seats, lots of extra leg-room and a massage for your head if desired; again that’s only to name a few of the perks. Virgin is plainly expecting to grab a major chunk of the business-traveller market, and they’re going about it full bore at this point.

The ad campaign will run throughout the fall season this year – statistically the busiest for business travellers. The airline is competing with British Airways and Continental, amongst others, and Virgin aims to make the choice for passengers a foregone conclusion.

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Kiss Flights collapse causes holiday chaos

Alan — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:47:02 +0000

Over 60,000 travellers are at risk of their holiday plans getting ruined or at least disrupted after Kiss Flights collapsed.

A large percentage of travellers affected by the dissolution will get a refund according to the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), but for the moment it is not likely they will see any cash.

The CAA also stated that 13,000 people that are already on a holiday that was booked with Kiss Flights will be able to return from their destinations as slated.

Those that left the UK before 6pm Thursday will be able to continue with their trips as planned for the most part although there may be a few routes that are affected.

However, another thousand who have future holiday packages booked will be left with nothing until refunds are eventually issued.

Kiss Flights was a British firm that operated flights to the Canary Islands, Egypt, Greece, and Turkey and folded after trading stopped on Tuesday night.

Owner of the company, Flight Options, chief executive Gary Ash remarked that he was devastated to see the flight company collapse and offered late holiday bookings this year as one reason that affected the airline agent as well as the disruption by the volcano ash cloud.

Ash continued to state that the travel market was hard for the past nine months and it has been difficult to deal after the effect of the volcanic ash cloud. He also made reference to the fact that when banks were failing the government stepped in to help out, but no such extension was offered to tour operators.

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TUI suffers from good weather and ash clouds

Alan — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 09:19:20 +0000

Along with most other business concerns, the travel industry is feeling the crunch of economic hard times. TUI Travel, the largest travel operator in Europe, reported this week that the company’s annual profits will be “at the bottom end” of projected estimates, and the news was reflected in the drop in share prices of almost 10 % on Tuesday. Shares in Thomas Cook, TUI’s biggest, rival fell by about 5%.

Company executives are blaming the slow-down in travel bookings and revenues on a number of factors including the weather. Unusually nice weather in the U.K. has kept many potential overseas holidaymakers at home, but the travel industry in general suffered severe losses during the volcanic ash cloud tie-up in May and June.

In addition to cancelled flights, there was the cost of getting stranded passengers home again and accommodations while they waited. TUI and many other travel-related businesses had hopes that the government would reimburse some of those costs, but this has not happened.

Paul Bowtell, chief financial officer for TUI, reported that the company still has a huge number of flights and packages for the summer, which means there will probably be some very good deals for travellers, but the downside of that for the company is that so many of those potential customers are waiting for the best deals and making last-minute bookings. TUI expects the last minute booking trend to continue, partially due to the general uncertainty in the economy.

Both TUI and Thomas Cook have stayed on a fairly good financial footing over the past couple of years due to cost cutting in the form of mergers and other measures, but once those savings were incorporated, both are being forced to look elsewhere for ways to save their profit margin.

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British Airways uses new engineering records system

Alan — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:11:10 +0000

Global provider of processing services and solutions, BancTec, announced that BA (British Airways) has chosen for an engineering record management project that is expect to last for at least three years.

BancTec will be responsible for outsourcing about 65 million engineering records for British Airways allowing the business to cut its costs and increase its business value.

Aircraft Documentation Manager of BA, Adrian Hassell, stated that outsourcing the engineering tasks is a crucial part to sustaining BA’s success as a business and that doing so will help the organization better manage their data.

Hassell also noted that BancTac was the best choice for the project due to the scope and size of its operations within the UK and that they feel the partnership will be beneficial to both parties.

General Manager for BancTec, Steve Downey, stated that BA is one of the top airlines in the world and they are honoured to have been selected as the outsourcer of choice for the project. He added that they look forward to working with the airline company and offering them a great way to reduce cost and increase savings.

The EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) requires all airlines to file their engineering records for at least two years after an aircraft is taken out of the air. With a fleet of over 250 airlines at BA, this task can be hard to manage due to the fact it is mostly in hard copy format.

BankTec aims to provide the company with ‘free text’ searches in a digital format making the process of recovering a record or transferring it much simpler for all parties involved.

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Bangkok is ‘Top City’ for tourists

Alan — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 19:16:46 +0000

Bangkok city officials are inspired and proud to have been given the award of ‘Top City’ by Travel & Leisure Magazine even after street riots that occurred in June sent tourists heading home.
Governor of Bangkok, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, stated that the award is a boost to the city and asked political protesters to behave in a civil manner. Thousands of international travelers refrained from visiting the country after the political upheaval spurred many advisories against visiting the country resulting in sharp dives for hotel occupancy rates.
Sukhumbhand stated that the country has something precious in their hands and they must act to prevent any more losses and trouble from occurring within the city.
On Sunday a grenade exploded in a shopping area in Bangkok causing one death and ten injuries. Authorities have not stated if the grenade was part of a political demonstration.
The ranking was formulated after a poll of readers were asked to rate their favorite airlines, islands, cities, hotels, and other similar categories. Over 16,000 readers responded in the survey which closed in March before the civil disorder occurred in Bangkok prompting the travel advisories.
The chaos caused many department stores and hotels to close their doors and dozens of other businesses were burned or damaged. Thai Hotels Association President, Prakit Chinamornpong, stated that hotel occupancy during May was down to 32% which was a ten percent decrease.
The Bangkok governor flew to New York to pick up the city’s award from the publishers and met with New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg to ask for advice about how the city recovered after the 9-11 terrorist attack.

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Summer trips for under a fiver from National Express

Alan — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:18:34 +0000

If you are looking for something to do for the day during the summer holidays, then National Express is offering some great ideas for places to go for the day, or for short trips.

They are offering no less than a quarter of a million seats on their coaches at less than five pounds per person. These include great services to places such as London, where new can walk your socks off visiting the endless attractions such as the Tower of London, Madame Tussaud’s, or perhaps a less educational but just as much fun stroll down the shopping Mecca that is Oxford Street.

Birmingham to London is available from as little as four pounds one-way, the same fare applies to trips from Cardiff in Wales to London. With Brighton to London fares starting as low as an incredible two pounds one-way, that’s a round trip for far less than five pounds.

Amazingly for as little as three quid, the people of the great city of Manchester can take a trip down to the capital. Cambridge to London return weighs in at six pounds, just three pounds each way for a day out at one of the world’s truly great cities.

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Goldtrail leaves trail of holiday misery

Alan — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:18:39 +0000

Holidaymakers that found themselves stuck in Turkey after the holiday group Goldtrail went into administration arrived back at the East Midlands airport yesterday. However, flights out of East Midlands Airport to Dalaman, Bodrum, and Corfu have all been cancelled.

Goldtrail was a package holiday operator that booked spaces for travellers on charter flights before it went into administration last Friday. This forced many holiday goers already in Turkey to stay a few extra nights.

Customers were given the option to fly into East Midlands Airport at 7:45 from Dalaman, at which point it returned to Turkey to pick up more passengers. From Bodrum a flight also departed at 8:30pm and then it also returned for more passengers.

Over 2,000 customers from across the nation that were scheduled to fly out of the UK over the weekend were affected, with about 16,00 Britons already abroad when the holiday group that specializes in Greece and Turkey travel went into administration.

The Civil Aviation Authority expected that most will be back in the UK by now, with an East Midlands Airport spokesman stating the extent will be clarified more as all companies involved in the crisis including travel agents, hotels, and airlines returned to work on Monday.

Customers with future travel plans with Goldtrail are first advised to contact their travel agent and not head to the airport until they have confirmed their accommodations and travel.

Authorities continued to reassure holiday goers that there are ways to claim back the money they may have lost booking with the company.

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Are Holiday Parks Out of Date?

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:41:46 +0000

Many people associate holiday parks with the old fashioned television program ‘Hi-De-Hi’ and old news reports of what it was like in them when they first got popular and this has put them off going. But holiday parks all have to move with the times, just like the rest of us and the facilities they offer these days are very different to those in that old fashioned show.

The parks tend to cater mainly for families. They have a lot of activities normally including a swimming pool, stage shows, outdoor play areas and many other things. Modern children tend to need a lot of entertainment and so this is the sort of place which could be ideal for them. There are always a lot of things going on and there are normally children’s clubs where the children can be taken away to do activities to give the parents a break. It also keeps the children happy, which is always good.

The evening entertainment has been updated to please a modern audience and the outdoor areas are the same. Even the accommodation is much more up to date with new caravans and chalets and some even have hotel accommodation for those who want a bit more luxury.

It is well worth taking a look at the websites of some of the more famous holiday parks or one in the location that you wish to stay. You may be surprised at the facilities that they offer and maybe find that the prices suit your budget as well.

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Subdued confidence in travel market

Alan — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:34:43 +0000

The UK travel industry is getting ready for a low growth rate and continued subdued confidence in 2011 according to a new survey from the Barclays Corporate Travel Forum. Despite this fact, many travel companies are still optimistic that they will see some growth over 2012 and 2013.

The poll was spread over 110 senior travel industry executives with almost 66% reporting that they felt consumer confidence would stay the same or possibly decrease over 2011. Only 38% predicted that consumer confidence that would grow. A low 43% felt that business conditions would improve next year.

Operators however felt some confidence in this year’s prospects with 23% predicting that they would see a twenty percent increase at the end of 2011 and 35% reporting that they would see a ten percent increase in their sales.

Overall, the long term prospects for the year were high with 73% of travel companies predicting that business conditions would start to improve in 2012 over the year with 85% of those surveyed predicting that business would be better in 2013.

Chris Lee, the Barclays Corporate Head of Travel stated that travel companies are becoming more confident in long term prospects as people in the UK still consider a holiday an essential instead of just something they want.

Lee continued to say that while there is not a clear consensus on what the industry would be like in the next few years, there is still a general belief of resilience that would result in a strong industry.

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