news
‘Agents missing out on extra insurance service’
Philippa Jacks.
A CAR hire insurance company claims agents are missing out on a chance to differentiate their services by failing to offer policies protecting customers’ excess payments. Insurance4CarHire is selling a daily insurance
policy at £4.75, which covers the excess plus other items not covered in standard policies such as windscreens, tyres and the car’s undercarriage.
Head of distribution and development Kevin Hall said a customer’s excess on a standard car rental agreement could be anywhere from £500 to £3,000. But take-up of excess cover by the trade was only about 40%, so many agents were missing
out on commission and the chance to offer an extra service. “Once a client has cause to use it, and sees how their claim is handled, they’ll be a customer for life,” he said. Commission levels on sales of the product
range from 35-50%, depending on the volume of sales.
Insurance4CarHire has invested in its first
TV campaign to publicise the product, with adverts showing on E4, Sky News, ITV2, ITV3 and Dave. If the campaign, which cost £35,000 to produce, proves successful it could run for six months.
The company is also moving offices as it
expands and takes on more sales staff. It sells annual cover direct to consumers at £49.
In brief
■ Thomson to fly Manchester-Aruba weekly
Thomson Airways is starting a new weekly service to Aruba from Manchester airport on Fridays, from May 7 to October 23. The frequency has been increased from last year’s fortnightly service. The flights from Manchester are in addition to the Gatwick service which departs on Saturdays from May 1 to October 23.
■ Business improving for London hotels
Hotels in London saw revenue per available room increase by 10.1% to £94 during the first quarter of 2010, according to Deloitte. Occupancy was up by 5.4 percentage points to 76.2% compared with the same period last year. Average room rates rose 4.5% to £123. Deloitte’s hospitality managing partner Marvin Rust said weekday performance was now stronger than weekends, unlike last year when weekday performance was reduced by business travel cuts.
■ On the Beach appoints finance director
On the Beach has appointed Wendy Parry as its new finance director and board member. She will replace Geoff Wood, who is leaving to pursue new challenges. Parry joins the firm after eight years as managing director of NST, Holidaybreak’s educational and group tour specialist.
■ Celebrity Europe and Alaska cruises go on sale
Celebrity Cruises’ European and Alaska itineraries have now opened for sale. For the first time its summer 2011 line-up will see all four of its Solstice-class ships in Europe at the same time. The cruise line will visit a total of 70 ports in 23 countries in Europe, including six new ports.
Insurance4CarHire’s first TV campaign will be shown across five different TV channels
Agent slams First Choice vouchers
AN INDEPENDENT agent has criticised First Choice for giving a loyal client a money off voucher redeemable only in the operator’s own shops or via its call centre. Linda Hill, managing director of LAH Travel in
West Kilbride, said her client had been given the £50 off voucher during a First Choice holiday in Tunisia. “There is no mention of the actual travel agent
who gave First Choice the business in the first place,” she said. “How dare they think it is acceptable to
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approach my clients and take business away from our already struggling market, when we are up against their online discounts and we as the independent agent are still supporting them?” Tui UK said it used booking incentives for both the Thomson and First Choice brands which “took many forms”. It said discount vouchers encouraged brand loyalty and added: “The vouchers can only be redeemed in a Thomson or First Choice retail shop as we are unable to guarantee to customers that independent agents will honour the discount. “In the interest of fairness, these booking
incentives are offered to all customers in resort as we believe it would be unfair to only offer discounts to certain customers depending on where they booked their holiday.”
■ Fred Olsen raises £48k for Haiti victims
Fred Olsen cruise lines and its passengers have raised £48,344 for the Disasters Emergency Committee to aid the rebuilding of Haiti, in the wake of the earthquake which devastated the country in January.
■ Abta’s postcard challenge for schoolkids
Abta members are being urged to build relation- ships with their local primary schools as part of the association’s Art Challenge to celebrate its 60th anniversary. More than 120 primary schools have signed up. School children aged 7-11 years have been invited to imagine their perfect holiday by designing postcards. Prizes include mini-breaks and days out. Entries must be received by June 10.
ttglive.com
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