NEWS — DIGEST
“Whatever new runway gets built will need to be paid for, and passengers will pay for it” Andrew Haines, page 87
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DO YOU SENSE HOLIDAY BUYERS ARE GETTING ‘INTERNET FATIGUE’? 67% Yes 33% No
Anti-government
Thomas Cook to end charter flights from Ireland and close Dublin office
Thomas Cook is planning to end all charter operations in Ireland, close its Dublin office and serve the country only via its Irish website, following a strategic review. The 44 staff who work at the Dublin office were due to start a
30-day consultation period this week. Cook said the move away from charter operations in Ireland
would provide “customers with a range of personalised holiday experiences providing greater flexibility on flight and accommodation options”. All charter holidays will cease from April 30, after which Irish customers will be offered only the option to purchase dynamically packaged holidays on
Thomascook.ie. The operator said a small number of customers had booked
holidays for this summer and they would be offered a refund or the chance to book an alternative holiday. Cook is offering a 10% discount as an added incentive to rebook. A letter from John Kinane, managing director of the Irish
operation based in Dublin, said Cook would fulfil all winter 2013- 14 charter bookings until April 30, and proceed with all confirmed cruise and dynamic package bookings. However, cruise bookings will be suspended during the consultation period. Dynamic packages will be available on the trade section of the Flexible Trips website throughout the consultation. Meanwhile, Cook has appointed Remo Masala, previously
with Kuoni, as head of marketing as part of the company’s ongoing transformation strategy. He will oversee the development of Cook’s online and offline programmes.
Jason Manford: promoting
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays
Clia reveals cruise passenger numbers rose by 5% in 2013 The number of British cruise passengers rose by 5% last year to a record 1.79 million, according to Clia UK & Ireland. An additional 89,000 UK passengers took an ocean cruise in 2013 despite continued pressures on consumer spending. Passenger figures last year were up by 21%, or more than 300,000, compared with 2008. ❯ Selling Cruise Conference 2014 preview, page 16
Jason Manford is the voice of Jet2 advertising campaign Jet2holidays and
Jet2.com have revealed Manchester comedian Jason Manford as the voice of its multimillion-pound TV and radio advertising campaign. He is the first celebrity to be employed by both brands for its peak sales push. The advertising campaign is running until March 30 across prime-time terrestrial TV channels plus Sky TV and video on demand. Manford will also feature in a supporting radio campaign, running across eight local radio stations covering
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays’ core northern heartlands.
protesters in Bangkok
Thailand sales rebound despite Bangkok unrest
Anti-government protests in Bangkok have not had a significant impact on travel or bookings to Thailand so far this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) claimed. Just two out of five key tour operators reported a decline in sales in the week starting January 6. And bookings picked up last week, according to the TAT’s UK office.
One operator’s booking
volumes fell by 20% in the week of January 6 but this was reversed with bookings up by 10% in the seven days from January 13. Other operators reported sales growth of 30% and 48% last week. A TAT spokeswoman said: “In the worst case, tourists are changing their itinerary to take out the Bangkok element and add on nights elsewhere but they are not cancelling their holidays or being deterred from travelling to Thailand overall.” The government declared
a 60-day state of emergency, which started on Wednesday, after a weekend of violence in Bangkok.
23 January 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 9
PICTURE: REUTERS
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