TM Insider 212

The TravelMole Insider – Issue 212
ISSN 1474-2292
18 June 2002
https://www.travelmole.com

A message from Worldspan…
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LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS
1. Loser Ryanair criticises ABTA court action
2. BA overhauls European fares
3. bmi british midland introduces one way fares
4. The TravelMole Interview: Paul Blackney, ceo, Worldspan
5. Lastminute acquisition pleases City
6. Amex row with BA is “dangerous”, says rival
7. Active Hotels enables online bookings for ABTA agents
8. Genesys publishes latest ‘Review of Travel Agency Technology’
9. Severe European air traffic strike planned tomorrow
10. Amadeus signs India flight specialist
11. Oaklands College wins business travel competition
12. Trade fairs should consider the ‘virtual’ option, says report
13. Holidays a priority, as Americans resume spending
14. Wealthy customers favour travel websites
15. Site of the Week: Teletextholidays.co.uk

A message from BT Ignite Content Hosting…
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EDITOR’S NOTE
British Airways’ announcement about changes to its European
fares show that the airline is intent on pushing ahead with the
measures first outlined in February’s Future Size and Shape
review.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83729

While at the time many observers thought the strategy outlined
by BA was not radical enough, now it is actually being
implemented it seems to be more innovative than originally
thought. BA claims for example that domestic passengers have
increased by 15% since its changes to UK fares were introduced.
The airline’s competitors will be watching how its latest
initiative is received with a great deal of interest.

Best wishes

Richard Hammond
mailto:[email protected]

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

1. Loser Ryanair criticises ABTA court action
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ABTA has won its long-running battle with Ryanair to make the
airline pay the money it owes agents in commission on PSC. But
the airline claims the case could have been settled at the end
of last year – saving members thousands of pounds in legal fees.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83645

2. BA overhauls European fares
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
British Airways today announced a massive shakeup of its
European fare structure as the airline continues to try to
counter the threat from the no-frills sector.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83729

3. bmi british midland introduces one way fares
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bmi british midland has announced that it is to scrap its
traditional ‘full service’ fares system and introduce a one way
fare structure.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83429

4. The TravelMole Interview: Paul Blackney, ceo, Worldspan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Worldspan chief executive Paul Blackney has warned
of “disastrous” consequences unless the current GDS pricing
structure is changed. Mr Blackney told TravelMole that unless
action was taken, airlines, hotels and car hire firms would look
at other forms of distribution which they perceived to offer
better value for money.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83522

5. Lastminute acquisition pleases City
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lastminute.com has announced the GBP 12m purchase of direct sell
tour operator and airline consolidator The Destinations Holdings
Group.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83499

6. Amex row with BA is “dangerous”, says rival
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
American Express’s bid to end its merchant fee agreement with
British Airways is a “dangerous proposition”, according to one
senior travel management source.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83614

7. Active Hotels enables online bookings for ABTA agents
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Active Hotels, a provider of confirmed online reservations to
the UK hotel industry, has developed an instant online booking
service for ABTA travel agents.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83617

8. Genesys publishes latest ‘Review of Travel Agency Technology’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Travel Technology Consultant Genesys has published the latest
version of its long-running independent ‘Review of Travel Agency
Technology’.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83516

9. Severe European air traffic strike planned tomorrow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Industrial action planned by European air traffic controllers
tomorrow (Wednesday) is expected to cause severe disruption to
flights over Western Europe.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83728

10. Amadeus signs India flight specialist
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amadeus has announced the signing of consolidator Greaves Travel
and said it is on track to increase its UK market share to 25%
by 2004.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83663

11. Oaklands College wins business travel competition
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oaklands College beat teams from eight other colleges to win
Ayscough Travel’s student event.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83661

12. Trade fairs should consider the ‘virtual’ option, says report
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Travel exhibition organisers should consider collaborating
with ‘virtual’ trade fairs according to a report published by
the European Tourism Trade Fairs Association (ETTFA).
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83679

13. Holidays a priority, as Americans resume spending
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A recent article in the Washington Post has indicated that
Americans have pretty much resumed their normal spending habits
following a slow down period post 11 September.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83491

14. Wealthy customers favour travel websites
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Travel is the most popular purchase for wealthy customers in the
US, new research has confirmed.
https://www.travelmole.com/item/83628

15. Site of the Week: Teletextholidays.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s probably for the cheap, last-minute holidays advertised on
the TV pages that Teletext is best known. The travel section
expands this offering into a full-feature travel website.

TravelMole’s reviewer, Adrian Mann, says: “There’s more to this
site than you might suspect, especially coming from Teletext,
where the experience of most users of their services is pages of
non-interactive information. The quality of information is good,
and the layout and design are simple but attractive. There were
some problems with slow pages, mainly due to the banner ads, and
the brochure page wouldn’t load at all. There were also a few
missing images, a couple of pop-ups, and occasional problems
with drop-down menus, but these are minor and don’t detract too
much from the overall experience.” Read his full review:
https://www.travelmole.com/featured_sites.html

LATEST PRESS POSTINGS
Baubock Report issued by ETTFA
Sabre reports spate of travel agency conversions across Europe
120 more travel agencies adopt RWA’s booking engines
https://www.travelmole.com/news/press

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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

CAREERZONE
This week on TravelMole there are 89 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

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