TM Insider 229

Wednesday, 09 Oct, 2002 0

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 229
ISSN 1474-2292
09 October 2002
http://www.travelmole.com

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LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. Interview: David Burdon, sales and marketing director, Cosmos
2. Byrne to leave MyTravel
3. Big three give in to OFT demands
4. Princess opens talks with Carnival
5. UK operators offered Viewdata replacement
6. TOWARD to host UK meeting on distribution technology
7. Go Places gone bust
8. SAS cuts commissions
9. Lufthansa cuts commissions for UK, but not Germany
10. Easyjet’s agency website will be non-commission
11. Gatwick optimistic despite BA shifting flights to Heathrow
12. BA and Iberia expand code-share
13. DOT allows US/UA code-share
14. Emirates opens up Japan connection
15. Air Jamaica slashes winter rates
16. TV Travel Shop signs with Anite
17. New Datalex technology for Vail Resorts
18. Pegasus expands German client base
19. WorldRes and Hotel.de agree distribution partnership
20. Lastminute launches half-price October
21. Aspen aims to raise profile
22. Antigua plans tourism development
23. Livingstone seeks industry help
24. Site of the Week: Hoverspeed.com

A message from Worldspan:
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Worldspan’s technology solutions make a real business difference
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COMMENT by Jeremy Skidmore
The only surprise about the departure of MyTravel chief
executive Tim Byrne is that it took so long.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92598

Outside work, Byrne is a very amiable fellow, a down-to-earth
northerner with whom you can have a beer and a good debate. He’s
also no fool. You don’t get to run a big company like MyTravel
without having ability. But he fell out with too many colleagues
and many who dealt with him found him very arrogant. But more
than that he presided over several profits warnings.

Airtours, as it was then called, also spent a fortune on a
cheesy rebrand to MyTravel, which made people think it had
something to hide, and on a web strategy that has hardly set the
world alight. In just a few years the MyTravel share price
shrunk to little more than a tenth of its peak value of 545p.
Byrne survived so long because founder David Crossland pinned
his faith in him. But after pressure from shareholders, even
Crossland had to concede that enough was enough.

Ironically, this could be the turning point for MyTravel. It’s
currently on its knees and Crossland has had to come out of semi-
retirement to run the company in the short term. What they
really need is for Crossland to postpone his retirement
indefinetly. If there’s one person who can drag the operator
back from the abyss, it’s Crossland.

At this week’s eyefortravel conference in Amsterdam, there’s
been a lot of talk about improving technology and customer
service. That’s all very well, but MyTravel now needs to
concentrate on the basics – offering customers good value
holidays at a competitive price.

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. Interview: David Burdon, sales and marketing director, Cosmos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cosmos new sales and marketing director David Burdon is planning
to attract more direct bookings after years of working just with
travel agents.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92664

2. Byrne to leave MyTravel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tim Byrne is leaving My Travel following the profit warning last
week. Founder and chairman, David Crossland, will take over as
chief executive until a replacement is found.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92598

3. Big three give in to OFT demands
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MyTravel, TUI and First Choice have agreed to change their
contract terms following action by the Office of Fair Trading
(OFT).
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92343

4. Princess opens talks with Carnival
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Federal Trade Commission has given the go-ahead to the
merger of P&O Princess Cruises with either Carnival Cruises or
Royal Caribbean. Princess now says it has decided to enter into
talks with Carnival.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92490

5. UK operators offered Viewdata replacement
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A US company is marketing a software system to UK operators,
which it hopes will replace Viewdata.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92619

6. TOWARD to host UK meeting on distribution technology
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The US association TOWARD (Tour Operators and Wholesalers
Achieving Real-Time Distribution), is hosting a meeting during
London’s WTM to allow tour operators and technology providers to
discuss the problems encountered in electronic distribution.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92642

7. Go Places gone bust
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evesham-based agent, Go Places has ceased trading.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92347

8. SAS cuts commissions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UK agents have been dealt a blow as another European carrier
announces it is cutting commissions.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92623

9. Lufthansa cuts commissions for UK, but not Germany
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lufthansa is reducing commissions for UK agents to four percent,
but will continue paying German agents up to nine percent.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92527

10. Easyjet’s agency website will be non-commission
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EasyJet is launching an agent-dedicated website. Agents will be
offered the same fares as the public, and will not receive
commissions.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92546

11. Gatwick optimistic despite BA shifting flights to Heathrow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAA Gatwick is optimistic despite the blow it will be dealt when
British Airways transfers eight more routes to Heathrow at the
end of the month.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92328

12. BA and Iberia expand code-share
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
British Airways will be able to offer more flights between
Heathrow and Spain due to an expansion of its code-share
agreement with Iberia.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92654

13. DOT allows US/UA code-share
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The proposed marketing agreement between US Airways and United
Airlines has been given the go-ahead by the US authorities.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92316

14. Emirates opens up Japan connection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Emirates launched flights last week from Dubai to Osaka.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92350

15. Air Jamaica slashes winter rates
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Air Jamaica has slashed its winter rates by 40% to attract more
visitors to the island.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92666

16. TV Travel Shop signs with Anite
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TV Travel Shop has signed a contract worth over GBP 300K for
Anite Travel Systems tour operator technology.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92751

17. New Datalex technology for Vail Resorts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An estimated $1 million has been spent on new Datalex technology
to help holidaymakers purchase ski packages online at resorts in
Vail, US.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92621

18. Pegasus expands German client base
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pegasus Solutions claims to have half of Germany’s agents signed
up with its hotel commissioning service.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92348

19. WorldRes and Hotel.de agree distribution partnership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WorldRes.com and Hotel.de have completed an XML interface
enabling messaging between the WorldRes hotel booking engine and
Hotel.de’s online reservation system.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92205

20. Lastminute launches half-price October
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 7 October, lastminute.com is launching ‘Half Price
October’, a cross supplier promotion offering products across
its travel and leisure solutions at half price.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92204

21. Aspen aims to raise profile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New Aspen Skiing Company senior vice president David Perry is
planning to raise the profile of the resort and attract more
budget customers.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92670

22. Antigua plans tourism development
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antigua prime minister Lester Bird has announced plans to
increase the number of rooms on the island by 1,800 to 5,000.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92668

23. Livingstone seeks industry help
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
London mayor Ken Livingstone is asking the industry to support a
multi-million pound tourism plan for the UK capital.
http://www.travelmole.com/item/92669

24. Site of the Week: Hoverspeed.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cross channel ferry operator, Hoverspeed, operates fast
crossing services between the UK and France and Belgium. Despite
the name, they no longer use hovercraft, but instead have a
fleet of fast single and twin-hull ferries. The site also caters
for users in French, Dutch and German as well as English.

TravelMole reviewer Adrian Mann says: “This is a splendid site.
Initially it looks a bit limited, but exploring all the links
reveals a lot of useful information. There were a few minor
problems – some images were missing in the Hoverstore, and the
online booking section was occasionally slow while checking
availability, but overall it worked well. The information on
offer is relevant and useful, and easy to find.

There are many options for cross-channel travel, from low-cost
airlines, the channel tunnel and other ferry operators, but
Hoverspeed compares well with all of them and deserves a strong
recommendation. It’s just a shame they no longer have the
curiously British, eccentric and unique hovercraft!”
Read his full review:
http://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

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