NEWS — DIGEST
“Operators selling Africa have rightly told agents that Kenya is still on sale and always has been” Fiona Jeffery, page 26
Shearings management team completes buyout The management team of Shearings Group has completed a buyout of the company for an undisclosed sum. The transaction, led by chief
executive Denis Wormwell, provides an exit for private equity firm 3i, which originally backed the merger of the business with Wallace Arnold in 2005, and Indigo Capital LLP.
As part of the deal, the group has also renewed its existing banking facilities with Lloyds Bank for a further two years. Wigan-based Shearings
recently announced it had grown passenger numbers by 2.6% to a record 1.05 million in 2013, generating sales of £195 million and profits (ebitda) of £5.8 million. The coach holidays and
Harriet Green and the Sunny Hearters bike team aim to raise over £100,000
Thomas Cook chief executive Harriet Green is heading a team of eight cyclists hoping to raise more than £100,000 in a charity ride. They will take part in the RideLondon 100 event in August
to raise money for the Thomas Cook Children’s Charity and Whizz-Kidz, which aims to transform the lives of disabled children. Green’s team, the Sunny Hearters, will cycle the course on which
Sir Bradley Wiggins won a gold medal at the London Olympics. Green said: “I am regularly humbled by the challenges our
employees undertake to raise money for this great cause and have decided it is my turn to contribute. I have set a personal target of £100,000, which equates to £1,000 per mile. People can follow us on Twitter – just look out for #teamsunnyhearters.”
Flambert quits Saint Lucia for Haiti role
Jean-Marc Flambert has joined the Haiti tourist board to open a UK office for the Caribbean destination. Flambert, formerly UK and Europe marketing director at the
Saint Lucia Tourist Board, said Haiti, the land of his birth, was ready to receive more visitors from the UK after an improvement in its infrastructure and facilities following the 2010 earthquake. “I am very excited and know that Haiti has the potential to regain its rightful position as a leading Caribbean destination,” he said, adding that Haiti had been a leading destination in the 1960s. Meanwhile, the Saint Lucia Tourist Board has promoted Atlyn
Forde to acting UK and Europe marketing director. She has worked as assistant marketing director for Saint Lucia for three years.
escorted tour specialist said passenger numbers and sales for 2014 were ahead of last year, with total bookings up 4% and forward sales for the summer up 2%. Wormwell said: “This is an
important milestone for the group.”
BBC’s A Very British Airline goes behind scenes at BA Customers are being given a behind-the-scenes look at British Airways in a new documentary that began on Monday. A Very British Airline on BBC2 shows how cabin crew trainees are “fired” if they fail key tasks during an intensive training programme. The three-part series also follows the high-profile launch of BA’s first Airbus A380 as the airline embarks upon a £5 billion fleet modernisation programme.
Trainee BA cabin crew member
Sarah Louis
Thai military rulers pledge to support tourism
Thailand’s ruling military regime has pledged to restore tourists’ confidence in the country.
The National Council for
Peace and Order has laid out several strategies to support tourism.
This is part of a bid to
achieve overall tourism revenue of £36.5 billion this year and £40.1 billion in 2015, according to the latest Tourism Authority of Thailand update, issued two weeks after a military coup in the country.
A night-time curfew in major tourist destinations Phuket, Ko Samui and Pattaya was lifted on Tuesday. The rest of the country remains under curfew, which was relaxed on May 28 from seven to four hours, from midnight until 4am. The military seized power in Thailand on May 22, saying stability needed to be restored. A series of measures aimed
at averting an economic crisis have been announced. The priorities are to restore the confidence of investors and maintain fiscal discipline. Small numbers of protesters took to the streets of Bangkok over the weekend despite a huge military presence.
5 June 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 9 The military
presence did not deter protesters
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