TM Insider 157

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The TravelMole Insider – Issue 157
ISSN 1474-2292
8 November 2001
https://www.travelmole.com

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THIS NEWSWIRE CONTAINS ADVERTISEMENTS FROM:
Amdex Systems and HotelConnect

THIS WEEK’S REGULAR FEATURES:
Site of the Week: Beau-mont.com
People in the Trade: Karsten Karcher, Director, Tiscover AG
Poll: Do you think the media have a strong influence on tourism
consumers in the wake of crises and disasters?

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS:
1. ABTA calls for removal of 2% surcharge rule
2. Airtours re-brands under ‘MyTravel’ banner
3. Thomas Cook announces Thomas Cook TV
4. Operators show signs of recovery
5. JMC and Airtours drop penalty charges
6. ABTA says it’s ‘pay back time’ on departure tax
7. Amadeus: ‘CRM is key issue for agents’
8. Sabena files for bankruptcy
9. BA interim results show massive slump in profit
10. IATA pours scorn on certain NATS providers
11. Branson slams BA/AA alliance
12. Concorde back in business
13. Amadeus results show slow recovery for reservations biz
14. Amex: Business travel has been hardest hit
15. BTA: ‘September figures confirm industry losses’

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TravelMole is a community of over 13,500 travel and tourism
professionals. For details of how to reach this audience:
https://www.travelmole.com/service/advertise

Editor’s Note

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Dear TravelMole Member

A number of issues came out of the ABTA convention in Lisbon
earlier this week. Among them:
ABTA has called for the removal of 2% surcharge rule
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62587
ABTA says it’s ‘pay back time’ on departure tax
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62871
Amadeus: ‘CRM is key issue for agents’
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62481
ABTA: Industry is ‘down but not out’
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62385

Best wishes

Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS

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1. ABTA calls for removal of 2% surcharge rule

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At its annual convention in Lisbon, ABTA has called for the
removal of the 2% surcharge rule and for the 30-day no
surcharge period to be reduced to 20 days.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62587

2. Airtours re-brands under ‘MyTravel’ banner

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Airtours has announced that it will be re-branding its chain of
agencies from the existing Going Places brand to a
new ‘MyTravel’ banner.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62487

3. Thomas Cook announces Thomas Cook TV

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Thomas Cook has unveiled plans to extend its brand name into
its own branded digital TV channel – Thomas Cook TV.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62859

4. Operators show signs of recovery

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Operators are reporting some signs of recovery in bookings
following a lapse in demand after 11 September.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62548

5. JMC and Airtours drop penalty charges

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Operators JMC and Airtours have introduced packages that let
people change their holiday plans without suffering penalties.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62551

6. ABTA says it’s ‘pay back time’ on departure tax

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ABTA has renewed its call for the Government to plough back
part of the millions of pounds collected in Air Passenger Duty.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62871

7. Amadeus: ‘CRM is key issue for agents’

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Amadeus has unveiled research that identifies how travel agents
should deliver on the potential of Customer Relationship
Management.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62481

8. Sabena files for bankruptcy

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Sabena has confirmed that it has filed for bankruptcy as it
suspends all intercontinental and European services and axes
6,000 of its 12,000 workers.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62846

9. BA interim results show massive slump in profit

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British Airways announced on Tuesday Q2 results that show a
decrease in pretax profit from £200m last year to £5m, 98%
down on 2000 Q2.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62946

10. IATA pours scorn on certain NATS providers

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IATA Director General Pierre Jeanniot has called for more
national airline traffic services providers to reduce the costs they
are passing on to airlines.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62879

11. Branson slams BA/AA alliance

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Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Atlantic Airways, has
slammed the proposed alliance between British Airways and
American Airlines in evidence given to a US Congressional
hearing.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62850

12. Concorde back in business

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Two Concorde jets landed in New York on Tuesday after
completing the first supersonic flights since fleets were grounded
in July.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62848

13. Amadeus results show slow recovery for reservations biz

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Amadeus have announced its 3rd Quarter 2001 results, which
show a slow recovery of its reservation business.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62831

14. Amex: Business travel has been hardest hit

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The latest American Express European Corporate Travel Index
indicates that business travellers have been hardest hit by the
economic downturn and terrorist attacks.
See also:
Amex report: Hoteliers count the cost of 11 September
Amex report: Traditional airlines in flux
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62952

15. BTA: ‘September figures confirm industry losses’

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New figures from the International Passenger Survey released
today by the Office for National Statistics show that overseas
visitors to the UK decreased by 11% to 2.0 million in September
2001, compared to September 2000. Spending in the UK
decreased by 16% to £1.0 billion.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/62950

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/
TravelMole is a community of over 13,500 travel and tourism
professionals. For details of how to reach this audience:
https://www.travelmole.com/service/advertise

REGULAR FEATURES:

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People in the Trade: Karsten Karcher

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Karsten Karcher is the Chief International Business Officer for
Tiscover, the European e-travel destination portal and
management system. Read his entry in TravelMole’s Who’s Who
in Travel and Tourism:
https://www.travelmole.com/cgi-site/whoswho.cgi

Site of the Week: Beau-mont.com

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TravelMole’s reviewer, Adrian Mann, concludes: “Once these
usability issues are addressed, the quality of the content of the
site would really come through.”
Read his full review:
https://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

Any Answers?

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Can anyone help Amanda Lamport decide between Apollo CRS
and Sabre CRS?

Can anyone help Al Noble find specific information regarding
market research of the adventure tourism sector?

If you have a answer for either of these queries, please ‘add a
comment’ to the question:
https://www.travelmole.com/community/anyanswers/index.html

Poll
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Do you think the media have a strong influence on tourism
consumers in the wake of crises and disasters?
Vote now on the TravelMole home page: https://www.travelmole.com
Results so far: Yes: 33%; No: 66%

CareerZONE

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This week on TravelMole there are 114 travel-related job
vacancies, all listed at:
https://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.
https://www.travelmole.com/cgi-site/tmjprofile.cgi?action=insert

PressZONE Members – the latest press releases from the trade

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Aerotech: Acquisition of TISS business
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/aerotech_pz.html

British Airways: New oneworld advertising campaign focuses on
creature comforts
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/ba_pz.html

Call-link: Dynamic new provider offers first true total
technology solution
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/call-link_pz.html

Farebase Ltd: Telme launches Farebase.co.uk, an online booking
and information portal for agents
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/farebase_pz.html

Flightpath NCP: NCP online airport parking
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/ncp_pz.html

FSS Group: FSS drives ahead with new business success
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/fssgroup_pz.html

Intrepid Travel: Intrepid wins global recognition for Responsible
Tourism
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/intrepid_pz.html

Sabre: Flight information available by text message through
Sabre Virtually There
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/sabre_pz.html

Switzerland Tourism: September News from Switzerland
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/switzerland_pz.html

University of Westminster: MA Course continues to grow
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press/westminster_pz.html

Wales Tourist Board: New planner helps companies create
imaginative incentive breaks
https://www.travelmole.com/