TM Insider 220

Tuesday, 06 Aug, 2002 0

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 220
ISSN 1474-2292
6 August 2002
http://www.travelmole.com

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. Genesis row continues on TravelMole
2. The TravelMole Interview: Chris Kroeger, Sabre
3. First Choice boss outlines “aggressive” expansion plans
4. Going, going, gone: easyJet completes Go takeover
5. Massive leap in Ryanair profits
6. bmibaby announces big routes expansion
7. Problems remain despite increase in BA profits
8. Oakley Travel signs Comtec White Label deal
9. Amadeus maintains 2002 bookings target
10. Virgin Express sees internet bookings increase
11. ABTA Convention bookings up
12. Bankrupt Renaissance seeking $10m from agents
13. United announces interline e-ticketing with Delta
14. Clock-watching Continental sets standard
15. Protecting guests from harmful web TV content: Who’s
responsible?
16. Cheapnights.com relaunches
17. Budget files for bankruptcy in US
18. Silversea introduces flexible cruises
19. New global business travel alliance formed
20. WTO to take on new role within UN
21. Site of the Week: Abletogo.com

COMMENT by Jeremy Skidmore
First Choice retail boss John Wimbleton’s plan to open another
50 travel agencies is heartening news for the travel trade.
Despite the growth of online bookings, Wimbleton clearly
believes there’s a big future for the high street. There will
always be a significant number of people who like to walk into a
shop and get the reassurance of a human being before they part
with their cash.
But one worrying statistic from the First Choice camp is that
its website is better at selling ancillary products like car
hire than travel agents. According to Wimbleton, the website
offers car hire automatically whereas agents often forget, hence
the improved business from those shopping online. That’s a
shocking indictment of high street retailers. Any retailer just
concentrating on selling package holidays and flights, with
their diminishing commission levels, is looking down the barrel
of a gun.
All agents have got to be professional sales people and offer
their clients a range of products that can enhance their
holiday. This is actually giving the customer a better service –
and if he or she goes on to book something extra, it will also
bring in more cash. Agents can survive and prosper in the
current booking climate, but they must be prepared to adapt to
the new conditions.

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]

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

1. Genesis row continues on TravelMole
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ongoing debate over the merits and flaws of the proposed
agency-controlled Genesis travel distribution system shows no
sign of letting up, with Canada’s Advantage Travel T-Comm
president and chief executive Leslie Cassettari the latest
executive to enter the fray.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87410

2. The TravelMole Interview: Chris Kroeger, Sabre
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sabre EMEA vice president Chris Kroeger outlines the reasons why
he believes GDS booking fees represent good value for money and
comments on the recent US launch of its direct connect solution
Corporate Connect.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87008

3. First Choice boss outlines “aggressive” expansion plans
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Choice is set to open up to 50 new shops within 12 months,
despite claiming a significant increase in its number of online
bookings.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87865

4. Going, going, gone: easyJet completes Go takeover
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
easyJet has completed its GBP 374million purchase of rival Go,
creating Europe’s biggest no frills airline.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87722

5. Massive leap in Ryanair profits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryanair today reported that its profits have jumped by a record
68% to 39million Euros (GBP 24.2million) during the three months
to June 30 and revealed that it intends to open at least one new
European base “each year for the next three or four years.”
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87920

6. bmibaby announces big routes expansion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bmibaby will serve 23 destinations from East Midlands Airport by
the end of the year, as the low cost carrier takes over its
parent’s routes and adds on more services.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87712

7. Problems remain despite increase in BA profits
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cost cutting measures helped British Airways post better than
expected results for the first quarter to June 30, even though
revenues were down on last year.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87698

8. Oakley Travel signs Comtec White Label deal
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Regional agency group Oakley Travel has signed up for Comtec’s
Travel Agency White Label solution, giving its customers access
to package holiday deals from the UK’s top 40 tour operators.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87848

9. Amadeus maintains 2002 bookings target
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amadeus has said it is still hoping to reach its goal of
increasing bookings by 1.2% for the year.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87833

10. Virgin Express sees internet bookings increase
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virgin Express claims that its web bookings increased by 71.8%
for the second quarter of the year compared to the same period
in 2001.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87827

11. ABTA Convention bookings up
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABTA has already taken 1,250 bookings for this year’s Convention
in Cairo.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87686

12. Bankrupt Renaissance seeking $10m from agents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Officials acting for Renaissance Cruises are to seek up to $10
million from US agents to pay off creditors of the bankrupt
shipping company.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87866

13. United announces interline e-ticketing with Delta
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
United Airlines has announced that from August 14 it will offer
interline electronic ticketing with Delta Air Lines.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87684

14. Clock-watching Continental sets standard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Continental Airlines was the most punctual of all the US
airlines in June with 81.5% of its flights arriving within 15
minutes of their schedule.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87868

15. Protecting guests from harmful web TV content: Who’s
responsible?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As hotels offer Internet access to guests via room TVs, they
will also need to make content filtering and protection a part
of the service. Nick Lamidey of content filtering software
experts SurfControl looks at the issues.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87692

16. Cheapnights.com relaunches
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cheapnights.com has been relaunched as a deals-led site
featuring offers from 130 partners including Accor, Thistle
Hotels, Holiday Inn, Days Inn and Moat House Hotels.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87429

17. Budget files for bankruptcy in US
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Budget Group, the owners of the world’s third largest car rental
firm Budget Rent A Car International, has filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in the US.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87437

18. Silversea introduces flexible cruises
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Upmarket Silversea Cruises is to launch a flexible programme for
2003 which will allow US agents to book their clients on any
part of a cruise.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87869

19. New global business travel alliance formed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The creation of a new international business travel alliance was
announced at the recent National Business Travel Association
(NBTA) annual event in Salt Lake City.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87431

20. WTO to take on new role within UN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC) has opened
the way for WTO to become a specialized agency of the United
Nations Organization.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/87495

21. Site of the Week: Abletogo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This recently launched site aims to allow disabled and elderly
people to search for hotels, guesthouses and self-catering
accommodation that suit their specific needs. It was set up by a
team of two, both of whom are disabled, with a history of
working as disability advisors. They also wrote a popular guide
to pubs, clubs and restaurants, and have used their experience
to create this site.

TravelMole reviewer Adrian Mann says: “As I’m neither disabled
nor elderly, it’s perhaps presumptuous to pass comment. What I
can say is that this is a site of the highest quality, and the
level of information contained is comprehensive to say the
least…. Highly recommended – even if you think this site isn’t
relevant to you, I would urge you to have a look and see what a
properly researched, well made and useful site looks like.”
Read his full review:
http://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

LATEST PRESS POSTINGS
Call-link’s magic desktop leaves customers spellbound
Sabre pulls availability info directly from hotels
e-Travel extends global relationship with SAP through 2007
Farebase launches new agent incentive programme
http://www.travelmole.com/news/press

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Please note these discounts are only available to serving travel
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CAREERZONE
This week on TravelMole there are 89 travel-related job
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