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conference report news Aito Conference 2010 • November 19-22 •Radisson Blu Hotel, Brussels ASH AFTERMATH.
Short-haul flyers going on the rails
RAIL TRAVEL has continued to benefit from the ash cloud crisis as travellers look for alternatives to flying on short-haul journeys.
A debate on sustainable tourism during the
conference heard that train travel in Europe was becoming more popular and producing a fraction of the carbon emissions caused by flights covering the same distance. Mark Smith, owner of rail website
Seat61.com, said the increase in rail travel seen during the ash crisis had “settled back” but remained at a higher level than it was before. “Some of the increase has been sustained,” he said. “People are fed up with the stress of flying and want to reduce their carbon footprint. This seems to be across all age ranges.” He added there were “still a few issues to
be solved”, such as the difficulty in booking rail journeys through several countries. “Air travel is easy to book but stressful to do,
whereas it’s more stressful to book rail but it’s great to travel on,” he said. Richard Hammond runs
Greentraveller.co.uk and said its sales of rail holidays had grown by 300% in the last year. “The ash cloud showed people how they could get back home overland,” he said. Growth was likely to continue as passengers
became more prepared to take longer train journeys, he added. Roberto Da Re, Dolphin Dynamics’ president, told operators that new technology would make it simpler for the trade to book train journeys through several countries, as it would include services in Spain, Italy and Germany in 2011, and all European railways by 2012.
COOK/CO-OP MERGER. ‘Operators could benefit’
THE THOMAS Cook and Co-operative Travel retail merger could benefit the independent sector, according to Ian Ailles, Wyndham Exchange and Rentals managing director.
Ailles told delegates that the merger “made
sense” and was not something operators should worry about. “Being a retailer is in Cook’s DNA and I don’t
think it’s necessarily as bad news as it has been portrayed by some independents,” he said. “Independents with a good clear proposition
that differs from what Cook is doing could do well as Cook will be looking to sell it. “Cook is looking to offer the consumer
everything. Of course it will look to sell its own brands in core areas, but it wants the ability to offer across the board. “With the merger, there will be challenges as well as a bedding-in period and lots of change. But if independents offer a differentiated product that is attractive, Cook will still support it. “Ultimately, independents may sell more
through Cook’s new online travel agency as well.” Aito has decided not to ask competition authorities to look into the merger after conducting a survey looking into how it would hit tour operator members. Chairman Derek Moore said this showed
CONFERENCES. Ops to join agents
AITO WILL hold its opera- tors’ and agents’ overseas conferences at the same time and venue in 2011. The operators’ event
willmove from November to June, when the agents’ conference is usually held. Aito chairman Derek
Moore: time to revitalise
Moore said the move was due to the operators’ conference not attracting as many members as hoped in the past two years. “If the destinations we go to are not proving
Rail travel seen as easier to do, but harder to book than air
the draw we hoped, it is time to revitalise the conference content and timing,” said Moore. “This format will give operator members the chance to build closer ties with agencies.” There will be different sessions for agents and operators and some combined events.
Ailles: independents with a clear proposition could do well
“there was no great concern” about the impact of the deal. “Responses from those who answered the
survey indicate that not many of us have relied heavily on either of them,” Moore told delegates. “If there is an increase in directional selling it
could create more appetite for independent operators and agents to push their independence, which could be another opportunity for our businesses to thrive.” The Office of Fair Trading asked for views on
the Cook/Co-op merger and will decide whether to seek permission to investigate by December 7.
CURRENCY.
Positive pound prediction against US dollar worries
THE POUND should start strengthening against other major currencies in the next few years, according to financial expert Graham Frost. Frost, chief investment officer at Bestinvest, told delegates the dollar was likely to lose value as the US “will get into trouble” with its finances. “The UK government has done the right thing with its austerity package,” said Frost. “It is the only country detailing what it is going
to do. Other countries have talked about what they will do but not given details. This shows the UK is serious and should help sterling become stronger.” Frost said it would take “at least another three
years” for the banks to resolve all the problems associated with the financial crisis and that UK interest rates were unlikely to rise until 2012. “Historically, banking crises take five to seven years to resolve as banks rebuild capital,” he said.
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