TM Insider 217

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 217
ISSN 1474-2292
16 July 2002
http://www.travelmole.com

FEATURE: Pregnancy in the workplace
Travel recruitment specialist New Frontiers looks at pregnancy,
its effect on the workplace, legislation and women returning to
work.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85507

FEATURE: CRM in the travel industry
The background to CRM, how it is being implemented and the
opportunities it provides. Sponsored by Sabre.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/84833

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. Jacobs gears up for Holiday Hotels web launch
2. Anite narrowly avoids crash landing
3. Airtours gambles on clearer brochure prices
4. The TravelMole Interview: David Soskin, cheapflights.co.uk
5. Number of ATOL holders ceasing trading doubles
6. Air Travellers’ watchdog calls for holiday levy
7. Travelsavers designs for a ‘zero commission world’
8. Delta ends commission for ticket changes in US
9. US bill could see 70,000 pilots carry guns
10. BA and SN Brussels form commercial alliance
11. BA introduces World Traveller Plus promotion
12. BA says web bookings increase is due to agency fees
13. Virgin Atlantic announces first new services since 11 Sept
14. Worldspan wins Quest GDS business from Amadeus
15. Worldspan makes senior appointment
16. Expedia buys into business travel
17. Business travellers like Euro, research shows
18. Respect to go online for agents
19. Site of the Week: LonelyPlanet.com

GUEST EDITORIAL by Jeremy Skidmore
Airtours Holidays has caused a stir by cutting its brochure
prices for next summer by up to 30 percent.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85966

Instead of inflating the price of holidays so that it can offer
a huge discount later, the tour operator is claiming that the
brochure price will be the price you pay for your holiday.

A good idea and a simple marketing strategy, one might think.
But any claims that it is trying to end confusion over the cost
of a holiday is laughable. Its adverts compare the new prices
with much higher fares offered by Thomas Cook. These are much
higher fares that everyone, especially Airtours, knows will be
heavily discounted in the future.

The idea is to try to confuse the customer into thinking that
Airtours’ holidays are hundreds of pounds cheaper than their
rivals’ trips. They are not. In addition, Airtours admits that
its plan to stick to the brochure price will go out of the
window if it needs to shift some holidays quickly.

Airtours has some clever people working for them and they’ve
come up with a strategy that should go down well with the public.
But, please, let’s not pretend they are the good samaritans
selling holidays at a fraction of the price of their competitors.

Jeremy Skidmore

—
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 story.

Best wishes
Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

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

1. Jacobs gears up for Holiday Hotels web launch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Holiday Autos boss Clive Jacobs says the company’s new
subsidiary Holiday Hotels represents “an opportunity for agents”.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86172

2. Anite narrowly avoids crash landing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IT consultancy and services firm Anite seemed to have managed to
pull itself out of its nose-dive on Friday morning, but the
future for the company is still far from rosy.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85983

3. Airtours gambles on clearer brochure prices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Airtours Holidays has decided to tackle the thorny issue of
brochure pricing in its second edition Summer 2003 brochures.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85966

4. The TravelMole Interview: David Soskin, cheapflights.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cheapflights.co.uk will achieve one million unique users for the
first time this month, according to its chief executive David
Soskin.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86122

5. Number of ATOL holders ceasing trading doubles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
According to figures published yesterday by the Air Travel
Trust, twenty-three ATOL holders ceased trading in the year to
March 2002, nearly double the number of failures last year.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85839

6. Air Travellers’ watchdog calls for holiday levy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Air Travel Insolvency Protection Advisory Committee (ATIPAC)
has called on the Government to speed up the introduction of a
levy to ensure that travellers continue to be protected against
tour operator collapse.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85837

7. Travelsavers designs for a ‘zero commission world’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Travelsavers has unveiled a new net-fare booking engine that
allows US agents to create packages online.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86173

8. Delta ends commission for ticket changes in US
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
US travel agents have been dealt another blow by Delta Air
Lines, which has stopped paying them commission for changing a
ticket.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86176

9. US bill could see 70,000 pilots carry guns
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Commercial airline pilots moved a step closer to carrying guns
on flights after the US House approved its version of the bill.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86174

10. BA and SN Brussels form commercial alliance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
British Airways and SN Brussels Airlines have announced that
they are to enter into a commercial relationship, subject to
regulatory approvals.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85835

11. BA introduces World Traveller Plus promotion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
British Airways is offering cheaper one-way upgrades to World
Traveller Plus for a limited period.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85622

12. BA says web bookings increase is due to agency fees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
British Airways has said its internet bookings have increased
because travel agency fees mean that it is cheaper to book
direct with the airline.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85615

13. Virgin Atlantic announces first new services since 11 Sept
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virgin Atlantic has announced plans to add new services on two
key North Atlantic routes in response to an increasing demand
for air travel since 11 September.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85842

14. Worldspan wins Quest GDS business from Amadeus
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Australia and New Zealand specialist travel agency Quest has
announced it has switched away from Amadeus to use the Worldspan
GDS system.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85836

15. Worldspan makes senior appointment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Worldspan has promoted John James to the post of vice president
corporate E-commerce solutions.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86090

16. Expedia buys into business travel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Expedia has announced plans to enter the business travel market
with the purchase of US travel management firm Metropolitan
Travel.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/86088

17. Business travellers like Euro, research shows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UK business travellers are overwhelmingly in favour of the Euro,
according to new research by travel management firm Carlson
Wagonlit Travel (CWT).
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85601

18. Respect to go online for agents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gay holiday operator Respect Holidays has announced it will
offer travel agents commissionable online bookings following the
launch of a fully-bookable website.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/85695

19. Site of the Week: LonelyPlanet.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TravelMole reviewer Adrian Mann gives this week’s featured
site, LonelyPlanet.com, a big thumbs-up.

He says: “It’s changed a lot since I first found it many years
ago, and I’m glad to see it hasn’t lost any of the freshness
and style that made Lonely Planet popular in the first place.
The advice, comments and articles all have an air of
authenticity. It appears that it’s all based on first-hand
experience. As a site, it’s quick, easy to navigate, rejects the
use of gimmicks or things that will annoy the user, and
looks good throughout.” Read his full review:
http://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

LATEST PRESS POSTINGS
Farebase launches new agent incentive programme Worldspan names
Vela McClam-Mitchell to lead worldwide travel
supplier services
Farebase releases new versions of fare searches
Baubock Report issued by ETTFA
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press

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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