p5 news Mar12 10/3/10 19:44 Page 5
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■ Bourne Leisure in ‘top 10 to work for’ R
Y
Bourne Leisure has been named one of the top
‘Don’t sell your
10 big companies to work for in the UK. The
company, which owns Butlins, Haven and Warner
Leisure Hotels, was the only hospitality and
leisure company to make it into The Sunday
Times top 10, which measures employee satisfac-
rivals’ products’
tion and staff members’ attitude towards their
employer. Bourne employs 16,000 people during
the summer season and has a permanent staff
Daniel Pearce and Chris Gray.
like Global, is owned by Stella Travel Services.
of around 8,000. THE BOSS OF the Global Travel Group has urged Freeth told the audience of 300 agents and
independent agents to shun tour operators suppliers that too many independent agents
■ Cathay Pacific returns to profit owned by rivals and back stand-alone suppliers. were selling holidays supplied by Gold Medal
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has returned to Managing director Dave Clayton said it was Travel – which is now owned by Thomas Cook. “If
profitability thanks to gains from fuel hedging, “hugely frustrating” that agents promoted oper- you owned Tesco would you sell Sainsbury’s
capacity cuts and the sale of a stake in an aircraft ators owned by rival agents as their number one. own-brand bacon? Of course not,” he said.
engineering company. Cathay recorded a profit of He told Global’s conference in Manchester Freeth made it clear that Travel 2 was not
£400 million during 2009 compared with a loss earlier this week that in future it would “focus its interested in selling direct to customers. “We
of £750 million the previous year. This was support on operators who support us – those who don’t want your customers – we want to be the
despite revenue falling by 23% from £7.4 billion have no plans to own their own shops and who long-haul, tailor-made specialists,” he said.
to £5.7 billion. don’t sell on the web for less than agents can”. Julia Lo Bue-Said, leisure director at Advan-
“Bigger firms told us they didn’t need our busi- tage, said Clayton’s comments could raise ques-
■ Thomas Cook acquires Essential Travel ness and they wanted to sell through their own tions about her consortia’s relationship with
Thomas Cook has purchased add-ons specialist shops and websites. Largely they’ve achieved this. Travel 2, as it was sister company to a rival group
Essential Travel as part of a takeover of its parent “And now they won’t pay a commission that of agents.
company Think W3. Essential sells a range of allows independents to compete.” Advantage agents should sell whatever was
ancillary products including insurance, airport Clayton said that many Global retailers were suitable for customers, as long as it was commer-
parking and airport hotels. It was formed in 2001 reporting healthy bookings despite the hangover cially viable, she added.
as a supplier of white-label travel insurance serv- from the recession – but the industry was TTA Worldchoice operations director Gary
ices to online agencies but has since expanded polarising, and it was time for them to choose Lewis said Global effectively had its own
to sell direct to consumers through a range of their suppliers carefully. “in-house tour operator” with Travel 2, but TTA
websites. The acquisition will have to be cleared “This is about who you support, and who Worldchoice had many different partners who
by the FSA before being finalised. supports you,” he declared. supplied a range of products and the consortium
While Clayton did not aim his comments at any supported them all.
■ Merlin reconsiders stock market flotation travel company in particular, Thomas Cook was A Cook spokeswoman said only: “We would
Merlin Entertainments, which runs Legoland, a noticeable absentee from the conference after never make a comment on a competitor’s
Alton Towers and the London Eye, may revive falling off of Global’s list of preferred suppliers. opinion or activity”.
plans for a stock market flotation following bet- Clayton’s comments were echoed by Andy
ter than expected results. The company, which is Freeth, managing director of Travel 2 – which, ■ Global conference report, p10
controlled by US private equity giant Blackstone,
saw annual revenue increase by 16.1% to £769
million while pre-tax profits were up 17% to
£238.6 million. Last month, Merlin said it would
delay plans for a flotation due to volatile stock
markets and the postponement of the planned
listing by travel technology firm Travelport, also
owned by Blackstone.
■ Longwood expands agent offers
Red Sea specialist Longwood Holidays
has added more agent discounts this
year. Departing May through July agents can choose
from hotels such as the five-star Hyatt Regency in
Taba Heights, with weekly rates starting at £315.
RAT FANS: Characters from Ratatouille and Toy Story joined agents for a special
ttglive.com
For the latest news, reviews and comment
screening of the Princess and the Frog this week in advance of the biggest retail
from the travel industry, visit
ttglive.com sales weekend of the year at Disneyland Paris, which starts today.
12.03.2010 05
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