TM Insider 173

Monday, 22 Jan, 2002 0

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 173
ISSN 1474-2292
24 January 2002
http://www.travelmole.com

This newswire contains a message from: Farebase

THIS WEEK’S REGULAR FEATURES:
Site of the Week: BritishAirways.com
People in the Trade: Sandy MacPherson, Voyager Travel
Poll: Should operators provide more information on the benefits
they bring to destinations?

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS:
1. BA and ABTA at loggerheads over Fresh Approach
2. Opodo launches in the UK
3. Standard for agency web bookings agreed
4. Sabre boss warns agents to get online
5. BTA launches multi-million pound strategy
6. Manchester Airport faces strike threat
7. Ryanair orders up to 150 new Boeing 737-800
8. bmibaby announces fares and destinations
9. Go announces six destinations from East Midlands
10. Lastminute and Orange sign m-commerce deal
11. Stena Line launches ‘Kids go free’ campaign
12. Advantage boosts e-commerce operations
13. Tourism tax credit gains industry support
14. Caribbean Tourism launches UK portal for agents

A message from Farebase:
/

FAREBASE – The FREE online travel portal for the UK travel
industry. Book both consolidated AND published airfares ONLINE
in a single search. View our consolidated and charters and lates
databases. Links to hundreds of useful travel web sites.
Register NOW at http://www.farebase.co.uk

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TravelMole is a community of over 15,000 travel and tourism
professionals. For details of how to reach this audience:
http://www.travelmole.com/service/advertise

Editorial

Dear TravelMole Member

ABTA and British Airways look no nearer resolving their
differences over the proposed changes to the Fresh Approach
payment scheme.

This week’s TravelMole ‘Person in the Trade’ is ABTA aviation
board director Sandy MacPherson (Voyager Travel). Sandy has
warned BA that it will go to the Office of Fair Trading if BA
goes ahead with its planned changes – which according to Mr
MacPherson represent “draconian reductions” on current payment
levels. ABTA believes it can argue that BA is abusing its
dominant position in the market. For more information see:
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69844

Best wishes
Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS

1. BA and ABTA at loggerheads over Fresh Approach

ABTA and British Airways look no nearer resolving their
differences over proposed changes to the Fresh Approach payment
scheme.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69844

2. Opodo launches in the UK

Controversial airline-backed website Opodo launched in the UK on
Tuesday.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69807

3. Standard for agency web bookings agreed

Travel Technology Initiative has announced the launch of a new
industry-led specification to allow bookings across internet
technology.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69919

4. Sabre boss warns agents to get online

Agents should get an online presence before it is too late,
according to Jeff Harmon senior vice president of Sabre Online
Travel Solutions.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69837

5. BTA launches multi-million pound strategy

The British Tourist Authority has launched a multi-million pound
strategy to urgently win overseas visitors back to Britain after
the disastrous effects of last year’s foot and mouth outbreak
and September 11th.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/70062

6. Manchester Airport faces strike threat

Workers at Manchester Airport have voted to strike over plans
to cut security staff numbers.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69795

7. Ryanair orders up to 150 new Boeing 737-800

Ryanair has ordered up to 150 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft over
an eight year period from 2002 to 2010, which will result in the
creation of 3,000 jobs at the airline.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69795/70069

8. bmibaby announces fares and destinations

bmibaby has announced the details of its services and new
livery, which will be on bmibaby flights operating from East
Midlands Airport.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69946

9. Go announces six destinations from East Midlands

Go, the low cost airline, which is setting up its newest base at
East Midlands Airport, has announced the first six
destinations to be served from the airport.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69921

10. Lastminute and Orange sign m-commerce deal

Lastminute.com has formed a strategic partnership with mobile
phone firm Orange UK.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69817

11. Stena Line launches ‘Kids go free’ campaign

In an effort to boost early bookings, ferry operator Stena Line
is offering UK families 1,000,000 free child places on all
crossings to Ireland anytime in 2002.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69928

12. Advantage boosts e-commerce operations

Advantage Travel Centres has announced it will be incorporating
Chat4Travel customer services technology into its e-commerce
operation.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69926

13. Tourism tax credit gains industry support

In the US, a panel of Tourism Taxation experts has announced
unanimous support for proposed legislation which will help
stimulate the travel and tourism industry by offering tax
incentives to the American public to travel.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/70059

14. Caribbean Tourism launches UK portal for agents

The Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) is launching the UK
portal of its website on 27 January, offering UK travel agents
useful and practical information to help them plan itineraries
to any of the 34 destinations of the Caribbean region.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69923

REGULAR FEATURES:

People in the Trade: Sandy MacPherson

Sandy runs his own company, Voyager Travel Ltd, in Glasgow,
and is a member of ABTA’s Board of Directors and Executive
Committee, Chairman of the Council of Regions, and Chairman
of ABTA Scotland. Read his entry in TravelMole’s Who’s Who
in Travel and Tourism:
http://www.travelmole.com/cgi-site/whoswho.cgi

Site of the Week: BritishAirways.com

TravelMole’s reviewer Adrian Mann says: “In the main, it’s an
excellent site, with good functionality and excellent
information. [Though] for the flagship site of the UK’s premier
airline, there’s a distinct lack of an overall design, and it
gives the impression that some of the older areas of the site
have been tacked on without regard to the design of the rest of
the site. Read his full review:
http://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

Poll
====
Should operators provide more information on the benefits they
bring to destinations?
Vote now on the TravelMole home page: http://www.travelmole.com
Results so far: Yes: 100%; No: 0%

CareerZONE

This week on TravelMole there are 111 travel-related job
vacancies, all listed at:
http://www.travelmole.com/cgi-site/tmjobs.cgi
If you want to be the first to know about a new vacancy that
matches your own interests, just set up a Job Vacancy Alert and
we’ll send you an email as soon as the job is posted.
http://www.travelmole.com/cgi-site/tmjprofile.cgi?action=insert

PressZONE Members – recent postings on TravelMole:

22-Jan: Travelink: Elegant Resorts choose Travelink for complete
reservations system
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press/travelink_pz.html

21-Jan: Sabre: Europe is ‘discovering’ electronic ticketing
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press/sabre_pz.html

15-Jan: RWA: 30 percent of UK holidays sold via RWA solution
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press/rwa_pz.html

14-Jan: Active Hotels: UK hotspots hotels set to activate
bookings in 2002
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press/activehotels_pz.html

For GBP 1,250 a year, become a PressZone Member and post
your latest news and information on TravelMole.com:
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press/member.html

About the TravelMole Insider

This is the 173rd issue of the TravelMole Insider. We keep track
of developments of interest to people working in the travel
and tourism industry. The Managing Editor is Richard Hammond and
the News Editor is Helen Young. The website includes the latest
trade news, previous newswires, links to relevant sites,
research information and other useful resources for the industry.

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