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Operators In brief


■ VIP Ski offering £100 off in ‘saver weeks’ Upmarket chalet operator VIP Ski is offering a series of seven “saver weeks” during the 2010-11 winter sports season. Customers who book by October 31 will receive a discount of £100 per person. VIP is offering the deal on the weeks starting: January 9, 16, 23 and 30; February 6; and March 20 and 27. The operator offers chalets in France and Switzerland.


■ Kirker moves further into southern Africa Kirker Holidays has extended its programme to southern Africa with the introduction of two properties: Sanbona Wildlife Reserve near Cape Town, and Samara Private Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape. The short breaks specialist has also added the private reserve of Timbavati which is close to the Kruger National Park; the Abbey Manor and The Bishopscourt hotels in Cape Town; the Franschhoek hotel in the Winelands area, and two new properties on the Garden Route.


■ Canada Tourism offers an iPad for your votes Agents can win an iPad by voting for the best tour operators to Canada, courtesy of the Canadian Tourism Commission. The votes will count toward the 2010 British Annual Canada Travel Awards, which will be held on December 9 in London. Agents can vote at canadaspecialists.co.uk until October 22.


■ Wendy Wu teams up with British Airways Wendy Wu Tours has unveiled a series of exclu- sive offers to China with British Airways this autumn. Its eight-day China Impressions trip is priced from £1,190 and includes Beijing, Shang- hai, Xian and the Great Wall of China. The 11-day China Contrasts tour, which starts at £1,390, also includes Guilin and the Li river.


■ Capacity added to Discover Egypt’s Nile cruises Discover Egypt is adding extra capacity for its Nile cruises in October and November. The operator, part of the All Leisure Group, has sold its original allocations and has added extra cabins on Viking Princes, Royal Viking and Beau Soleil, and seats on flights from Gatwick to Luxor. Prices lead in at £799 for a week on the Nile, including flights.


ttglive.com


For the very latest operators news, visit ttglive.com/operators


22 03.09.2010


020 7921 8011 rgill@ttglive.com


Rob Gill For the latest operator and supplier news, visit ttglive.com/operators


BEST beats its training target


Rob Gill. ESCORTED TOURS group BEST has increased its target for the number of agents signing up to its training by the end of the year. BEST, which stands for Better


Escorted Touring, had originally hoped to sign up 700 agents by the end of 2010, but it has already reached the 400 mark since launching in June. BEST chairman Paul Melinis, sales manager for Insight Vacations and Trafalgar Tours, said several promotions had encouraged agents to join. “When we launched in June we were offering


a £5 Starbucks voucher,” he said. “That was popular and they went quickly. “Over the past few weeks each of the members has been giving away gifts to agents who complete the BEST and the operator’s module.” BEST was set up in January after TTG brought


Tourama, Shearings, Page & Moy, Collette Worldwide, Leger Holidays and Wendy Wu Tours — to help promote the escorted sector and improve sales through agents. Melinis said the group planned to hold a couple of BEST training events for agents later this year, and to set


up a panel to provide research on the escorted touring market in the UK. “BEST’s ultimate goal is to increase the


market share of escorted tours so we can all benefit,” he said. “We all pay good rates of com- mission and work with the trade. “One of our main tasks is to dispel the myths about escorted tours. We want to give agents the knowledge to change customers’ perceptions about the sector. It’s all about improving and promoting escorted touring.”


several companies together — including Cosmos ■Take the courses at bestacademy.co.uk


Three of the BEST: The first batch of agents show off their prizes after completing the training modules for BEST and the individual member companies


Helen Newton from Co-operative Travel in Loughton, Essex, who received a Red Letter Day from Collette Worldwide’s Allan Trinidad


BEST chairman Paul Melinis (right) presents an iPod Touch to Daniel Beesley from Air Viceroy


Cosmos Tourama’s Simon Garrido presents Lyndsey Woodcock at Althams Travel with a Sony digital camera


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