TM Insider 197

Tuesday, 23 Apr, 2002 0

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 197
ISSN 1474-2292
23 April 2002
http://www.travelmole.com

LATEST PRESS POSTINGS
Sabre becomes leading GDS in Greece
Sabre signs deal with UK’s leading Uniglobe franchisee
April news from Switzerland
French operator Boomerang selects Sabre as technology provider
Sabre and Cyberes sign exclusive international agreement
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. P&O to buy out Stena Line in GBP 150m deal
2. TravelMole Interview: John Davis, Pegasus Solutions
3. Sabre Q1 figures show bookings down 14%
4. ABTA and GBTA welcome Air Passenger Duty decision
5. Rolls-Royce to build GBP 85m Scottish plant
6. Manchester Airport bullish despite prospect of further strikes
7. United Airlines reports large Q1 loss
8. London’s three main airports get GBP 8 billion investment
9. Zambia plans new national airline
10. Carnival to pay $18m in pollution charges
11. BTA unveils further details of GBP 25m ad campaign
12. Record UK visitor growth to New Zealand
13. The latest news from CECTA
14. TravelMole Site of the Week: nycvisit.com

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.travelmole.com/go/www.farebase.co.uk

EDITOR’S NOTE
Last week’s article ‘Viewdata to stay, say industry heavy-
weights’ has attracted a lot of comments. According to a group
of 12 leading members of the TTI, Viewdata will not be replaced
for the foreseeable future, though travel agents’ needs will
drive the eventual shift away from the system.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78440

Mike Cogan commented: “The reason we still have viewdata is
the industry’s lack of investment in technology. Viewdata is
cheap to run but is costing the industry a fortune by supporting
expensive selling processes. If the traditional tour operators
are to compete with low cost carriers and changing public
expectations, the investment will have to be made. After all,
they don’t use viewdata, nor do the vast majority of travel
suppliers.”

Mike added: “XML may help but it isn’t the total solution.”

Have your say! If you would like to add your thoughts to this or
any other TravelMole article, click on the ‘Add a Comment’
button at the top of the article.

Best wishes

Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
Breaking Stories: http://www.travelmole.com/news/index.html

1. P&O to buy out Stena Line in GBP 150m deal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ferry company P&O is to buy Stena Line’s 40% shareholding in
their joint business P&O Stena Line for GBP 150 million.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78876

2. The TravelMole Interview: John Davis, Pegasus Solutions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The travel industry will see a number of major acquisitions in
the next 6 to 12 months, according to John Davis, chairman and
chief executive of US-based hotel technology firm Pegasus
Solutions.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78833

3. Sabre Q1 figures show bookings down 14%
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Global travel bookings processed by Sabre were down 13.8% during
the first three months of the year compared to the same quarter
in 2001, the company has revealed.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78607

4. ABTA and GBTA welcome Air Passenger Duty decision
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABTA and the Guild of Business Travel Agents have both welcomed
the government’s decision to freeze Air Passenger Duty and lower
the rates on flights to 13 more countries.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78588

5. Rolls-Royce to build GBP 85m Scottish plant
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aero-engine firm Rolls-Royce is to build a GBP 85 million
factory to replace its facility at Hillington, near Glasgow.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78877

6. Manchester Airport bullish despite prospect of further strikes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manchester Airport has said that the TGWU’s decision to reject a
10% pay increase for security staff will have “no impact” on its
summer services.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78759

7. United Airlines reports large Q1 loss
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
United Airlines has reported first quarter losses of $510million
and said the industry still has “a long way to go” before it
recovers from the economic downturn and the impact of the
September 11 terror attacks.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78737

8. London’s three main airports get GBP 8 billion investment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAA has announced a GBP 8.1 billion investment programme at
London’s three main airports to include the opening of Heathrow
Terminal 5 and extension facilities at Gatwick and Stansted.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78617

9. Zambia plans new national airline
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zambia’s central government confirmed this week that it was
considering re-establishing a national airline to help boost the
country’s booming tourism industry.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78735

10. Carnival to pay $18m in pollution charges
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cruise company Carnival has agreed to pay $18m after pleading
guilty to releasing oily waste in the Atlantic, Caribbean and
Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78883

11. BTA unveils further details of GBP 25m ad campaign
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The British Tourist Authority has unveiled the theme for the
GBP 25 million media campaign aimed at bringing one million
extra visitors to Britain this year.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78599

12. Record UK visitor growth to New Zealand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Zealand has experienced its “best ever summer season”, with
the number of holiday-makers from the UK up 64% on last year.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78754

13. The latest news from CECTA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The latest news from CECTA (Central European Countries Travel
Association), on developments in the tourist industry in
Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/78757

14. Site of the Week: nycvisit.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nycvisit.com is the official New York City tourism web site.

TravelMole’s reviewer Adrian Mann says: “There’s an enormous
amount of information and links to all the things you might want
to find out, and on the whole, it’s fairly easy to navigate and
get to what you want. There was some lack of consistency,
particularly in how links are displayed, and a distinct lack of
images – even the NYC images pages only displayed 8 pictures and
one webcam – but overall, it’s an excellent resource.”
Read his full review:
http://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

TRAVEL DEALS FOR THE TRAVEL TRADE
TravelMole, in association with idDeals, brings you the
opportunity to get exclusive travel trade and airline staff
discounts at a range of properties at home and abroad:

Seychelles, The Plantation Club: luxurious beach resort, 25% off.
Dubai, Five star Hilton resort: GBP 35 per double incl tax.
Australia Gold Coast, Sea World Nara Resort: from GBP 61.
London, Radisson Edwardian: GBP 142.50 per double room.

Please note these discounts are only available to serving travel
agents or airline staff and their travelling companions. For
full details of these offers, go to:
http://www.travelmole.com/item/69822

CAREERZONE
This week on TravelMole there are 89 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

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Update your subscriptions by visiting the Profile page and
selecting the “My Services” link.
http://www.travelmole.com/profile
Alternatively send an email message to:
[email protected]
In the BODY of the message type: SUBSCRIBE MOLE
To unsubscribe, send a message to:
[email protected]
In the BODY of the message type: UNSUBSCRIBE MOLE

TravelMole is a community of over 17,000 travel industry
subscribers. For details of how to reach this audience:
http://www.travelmole.com/service/advertise