HIGH STREET TRAVEL AGENTS POISED TO SCORE WORLD CUP GOAL

High Street travel agents can cash in on World Cup fever by catering for demand from clients planning to go to Germany to soak up the atmosphere, according to new research from industry specialist TripVision.

The latest survey on the company’s Travel Trend Tracker shows a staggering 600,000 UK travellers are planning a trip to the host country just to be there,there, not necessarily with no thought of attending any of the matches.

But TripVision says many online companies don’t seem to have realised the potential, leaving the way clear for local travel agents who are close to their customers to clean up.

TripVision stresses the business does not lie with the “bother boy brigade”. The research showed the vast majority of people wanting to enjoy a bite of bratwurst with their Beckham, were high earning, frequent travelling “Spender” types, followed closely by the “Golden Years” group.

Online companies surveyed include lastminute.com, which has a World Cup promotion on its website – but is offering trips to watch the action in countries like Spain, Portugal and the US, with none to Germany.

Expedia’s ‘World Cup Fever page has guides to the main tournament cities, but the information is hidden away under a section called Expedia Specials

TripVision says Opodo does not seem to have a mention of the World Cup anywhere although there is a flight offer to Frankfurt-Am-Main, while Travelocity seems more interested in selling its city breaks, with no German cities in its top destinations list.

In contrast, the Airline Jet2 is running a promotion on its busy Homepage, and a basic guide to who is in which group, what cities they are playing in and when, which puts the company through to TripVision’s last four.

On the hotel front, award-winning accommodation specialist Seligo also scores, with its Germany 2006 hotel request form and its promise of a fast reply to online requests. “Definitely a good tip for a last-minute winner,” says TripVision.

The research firm also praises Detour Travel, which is running special promotions on its website and has Google Adwords in place. This is proof that they are switched on and ready to take our World Cup hotel bookings! They book a place in our final.

The TripVision winner among online companies is the airline German Wings, another Adwords user, with a big promotion for World Cup flights and options to book hotel rooms.

To read more about the story ,and see a slide on the stats ,visit TripVision’s website at www.trip-vision.com.

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