TM Insider 207

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 207
ISSN 1474-2292
29 May 2002
http://www.travelmole.com

FEATURE: E-ticketing, sponsored by Sabre
An explanation of the background to e-ticketing, how it is used
and what opportunities it provides for agents, airlines and GDSs.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81233

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. ABTA to make Cairo conference ‘climate neutral’
2. Thomas Cook name takes to the skies
3. The TravelMole Interview: Oliver Hillel, UNEP
4. BITOA figures show visitors trickling back
5. ABTA’s ‘Industry Partners’ select new group
6. Thomas Cook chooses Xscape for new retail concept
7. China Airlines crash heightens air safety fears
8. Stansted Express to offer online discount with Buzz
9. Ciao to fly from Luton to Parma (Milan)
10. Zimbabwe tourism crisis impacts on country’s forex position
11. NZ again wins top award in Guardian/Observer Travel Awards
12. Book review: No Frills, by Simon Calder
13. Site of the Week: Travelintelligence.net

LATEST PRESS POSTINGS
Sabre reports spate of travel agency conversions across Europe
120 more travel agencies adopt RWA’s booking engines
Altavista UK helps Australian online accommodation provider
expand into Europe
Call-link installs its 2000th Magic Desktop portal
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press

EDITOR’S NOTE
Although ‘ecotourism’ is a term that has been used for over 20
years, many feel that the absence of any clear definition of
what it should represent has led to ‘greenwashing’ and a
devaluation of the whole concept. At the first World Ecotourism
Summit in Quebec last week, Oliver Hillel, tourism programme
coordinator, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
explained to TravelMole that a broad basis of consensus has been
reached over the definition of the term.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81852

And at the end of the summit, a ‘Quebec Declaration on
Ecotourism’ was issued to “set a preliminary agenda and a set of
recommendations for the development of ecotourism activities in
the context of sustainable development.”
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81853

Best wishes

Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

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

1. ABTA to make Cairo conference ‘climate neutral’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TravelMole exclusive: An ABTA spokesperson told TravelMole that
it will be offsetting the carbon dioxide emissions of all
delegates to its annual conference in Cairo later this year.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81847

2. Thomas Cook name takes to the skies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JMC airlines is to be renamed Thomas Cook as part of the
company’s rebranding strategy, it has been confirmed. All 24
JMC aircraft will be rebranded by summer 2003 as part of a wider
move that sees all 85 aircraft in the fleet of parent company
Thomas Cook AG – including Condor, Condor Berlin and SunExpress
given the Thomas Cook name.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81954

3. The TravelMole Interview: Oliver Hillel, UNEP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the first World Ecotourism Summit, Quebec, Canada, Oliver
Hillel, tourism programme coordinator, United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) told TravelMole that a broad basis
of consensus had been reached over the definition of the
term ‘ecotourism’.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81852

4. BITOA figures show visitors trickling back
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The British Incoming Tour Operators Association (BITOA) has
released figures for April 2002, which show that forward
bookings in April 2002 are 2.36% up on April 2001.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81855

5. ABTA’s ‘Industry Partners’ select new group
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABTA has announced the new nine-strong steering group for its
Travel Industry Partner scheme for 2002-03.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81760

6. Thomas Cook chooses Xscape for new retail concept
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas Cook has chosen Xscape, the UK’s largest indoor sports
and shopping centre, to trial the first of its new generation of
travel shops.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81762

7. China Airlines crash heightens air safety fears
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Air safety is once again in the spotlight after Saturday’s China
Airlines crash which is believed to have killed all 225 people
on board.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81983

8. Stansted Express to offer online discount with Buzz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stansted Express, the rail-air link between Liverpool Street
Station and Stansted Airport, has teamed up with no-frill
airline Buzz to offer customers a discount when they book online.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81801

9. Ciao to fly from Luton to Parma (Milan)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Italian start-up airline Ciao Fly has announced the introduction
of a new daily scheduled service from London Luton Airport to
Parma Giuseppe Verdi Airport for access to Milan.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81769

10. Zimbabwe tourism crisis impacts on country’s forex position
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank has said that the continuing decline in
earnings from tourism ventures had significantly weakened the
country’s foreign currency position.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81765

11. NZ again wins top award in Guardian/Observer Travel Awards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Zealand has been voted favourite long-haul travel
destination for the third year running in The Guardian/The
Observer Travel Awards 2002.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/82016

12. Book review: No Frills, by Simon Calder
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon Calder, senior travel editor at The Independent,
uncovers ‘The truth behind the low cost revolution in the skies’.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/81830

13. Site of the Week: Travelintelligence.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The site was founded by some notable names, for instance, AA
Gill – Sunday Times Magazine Columnist of the Year, award-
winning travel writer Philip Marsden, and many others. The
objective of the site is not just to provide information or
recommendations, but to inspire the reader with the quality of
the writing and the thoughtful opinions.

TravelMole’s reviewer, Adrian Mann, says: “As you might expect,
it’s the quality of the content that makes the site great, but
it’s also due to the design, which allows the user to access the
features quickly and easily. There are a couple of very minor
inconsistencies, and a search facility would be nice, but that’s
just being picky. A joy to review, and naturally highly
recommended.” 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

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