TM Insider 195

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 195
ISSN 1474-2292
16 April 2002
https://www.travelmole.com

FEATURE: Temporary staffing strategies, by New Frontiers
https://www.travelmole.com/item/74885

LATEST PRESS POSTINGS
Sabre becomes leading GDS in Greece
Sabre signs deal with UK’s leading Uniglobe franchisee
April news from Switzerland
French operator Boomerang selects Sabre as technology provider
Sabre and Cyberes sign exclusive international agreement
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. bmi says it won’t adjust commission until October
2. bmi follows BA with domestic fare changes
3. Travelcare slams misleading brochure prices
4. TravelMole Interview: Gregory Hunt, ABTA Arbitration Scheme
5. Price most important factor for UK tourists
6. Datalex to de-list from NASDAQ as woes continue
7. Demand for non-packaged holidays increases
8. Advantage Travel Agent award winners announced
9. General strike grounds flights to and from Italy
10. Over 50 survive Air China plane crash
11. GBTA says aviation fuel tax would harm business
12. Mark Warner targets older families with summer discounts
13. Asia-Pacific will dominate travel/tourism growth, says WTTC
14. Air Zimbabwe hard hit by tourist boycott
15. Zimbabwe government injects cash to revive tourism
16. Hans-Dietrich Genscher to open EIBTM
17. UK tourist arrivals reach highest level for 12 months
18. TravelMole Site of the Week: Errtravel.com

A message from Farebase:
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industry. Book both consolidated AND published airfares ONLINE
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Independent retailer Travelcare has rightly received a lot of
press attention for its latest Holiday Report, which shows that
customers are confused by discounts and calls for more honest
brochure pricing.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78065

ABTA’s advice is for consumers to treat brochure prices as a
guide, but is this realistic? Go in to any high street shop and
you expect to pay the price labelled on the product. Similarly
if you see an air fare published on the internet you expect to
be able to buy it at that price. So why should holiday brochures
be any different? And if 40% of customers believe – as
Travelcare indicates – that a GBP 1,000 holiday marked down to
GBP 500 is really worth the higher price then clearly the
experience is not going to live up to expectations. This can
only harm the travel industry’s reputation.

Best wishes

Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

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

1. bmi says it won’t adjust commission until October
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Advantage conference in Valencia this weekend, Adrian
Parkes, director of sales bmi British Midland, told delegates
the airline won’t adjust agent commissions until October.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77962

2. bmi follows BA with domestic fare changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bmi british midland has followed BA’s lead by overhauling its
domestic fares to make them less complicated.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78170

3. Travelcare slams misleading brochure prices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is “virtually impossible” for holidaymakers to judge which
companies are offering the best deal and if they are getting
value for money according to Travelcare. According to the
independent agent’s Holiday Report 2002 “constantly moving
prices and a fiendishly complex system of discounts” are
confusing customers.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78065

4. TravelMole Interview: Gregory Hunt, ABTA Arbitration Scheme
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Agents should do more to make unhappy customers aware of the
ABTA Arbitration Scheme, according to Gregory Hunt, dispute
resolution services manager at the Chartered Institute of
Arbitrators (CIArb).
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77862

5. Price most important factor for UK tourists
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forty per cent of people now book a holiday solely because of
its price, according to research by Teletext Holidays.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77830

6. Datalex to de-list from NASDAQ as woes continue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Troubled technology solutions firm Datalex has announced is to
voluntarily de-list from US stock market the NASDAQ and senior
management changes will also see executive chairman Neil Wilson
step down.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78045

7. Demand for non-packaged holidays increases
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Advantage conference in Valencia this weekend, the agent
consortia revealed recent research that shows consumers are
increasingly opting for ‘non-packaged’ holidays.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77960

8. Advantage Travel Agent award winners announced
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Advantage conference in Valencia this weekend, the agent
consortia announced the winners of its Travel Agent Awards 2002.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78149

9. General strike grounds flights to and from Italy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flights to and from Italy have been effectively grounded due to
a general strike in the country.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78158

10. Over 50 survive Air China plane crash
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least 54 people on board an Air China Boeing 767 are believed
to have survived a plane crash in South Korea.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78016

11. GBTA says aviation fuel tax would harm business
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Guild of Business Travel Agents (GBTA) has called on the
government not to introduce a ‘green tax’ on aviation fuel ahead
of this Wednesday’s budget.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78026

12. Mark Warner targets older families with summer discounts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Independent tour operator Mark Warner is offering up to GBP 500
off family holidays in July and August in an attempt to boost
bookings during the peak summer period.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78162

13. Asia-Pacific will dominate travel/tourism growth, says WTTC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WTTC has revealed research that suggests Asia-Pacific
destinations are expected to dominate economic growth in the
travel and tourism industry over the next few years.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78173

14. Air Zimbabwe hard hit by tourist boycott
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zimbabwe’s national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, has been forced to
limit the number of flights and downgrade its 120-seater Boeing
737 on the lucrative Harare/Victory Falls route to a 14-seater
plane due to plummeting passenger numbers.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77842

15. Zimbabwe government injects cash to revive tourism
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zimbabwe’s government has injected R28,8m into its tourism
authority for an emergency international marketing campaign
to “rescue” the country’s ailing tourism industry.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/78108

16. Hans-Dietrich Genscher to open EIBTM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the architect of German
reunification, is to officially open EIBTM 2002 in Geneva.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77846

17. UK tourist arrivals reach highest level for 12 months
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The number of visitors to the UK reached its highest level for a
year in February, according to figures from the British
Incoming Tour Operators Association (BITOA).
https://www.travelmole.com/item/77848

18. Site of the Week: Errtravel.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In a departure from the usual serious corporate fare, here’s a
site that aims to inject a little humour into the subject of
travel. The purpose of Errtravel.com is to highlight some of the
inconvenient, exasperating or dangerous aspects of travel, so we
can all learn the lessons without having to make the same
mistakes.

TravelMole’s reviewer Adrian Mann says: “It can be a little
difficult to navigate, and some of the articles are a bit short
and light on detail, but overall it’s an entertaining and
thought-provoking site.” Read his full review:
https://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

FEATURE: Temporary staffing strategies, by New Frontiers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The travel industry has reluctantly used temps in the past to
cover holiday, sickness and maternity leave. Temps have been
seen as expensive and a luxury – but are they? In uncertain
times, businesses need flexibility. Will recruiting temporary
staff be both cost effective and productive? Specialist
recruitment consultant New Frontiers debates the advantages and
disadvantages of recruiting temps as a profitable staffing
strategy.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/74885

CAREERZONE
This week on TravelMole there are 85 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

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:

South Africa safari: Kruger Express, 10% off.
France, Loire valley: Relax in your own cottage, from 238 GBP/wk.
England, Lake District: Cumbria Grand Hotel, 27% off.
Bali: Luxury at the Melia Benoa hotel, 47 GBP per person.

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:
https://www.travelmole.com/item/69822

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