Bear essentials of celebrating a great British institution
WELL, IF I had to give up my job as editor of TTG… what better replacement than to hand over to Billy Bear from Butlins?! Installing Billy as guest editor for a week seemed a
fitting way for one of the British travel trade’s great institutions to celebrate the 75th anniversary of another. Billy certainly caused a stir in the office, spending time with our reporters and art desk, advising our commercial team, and even interviewing VisitEngland chief executive James Berresford. But he also brought some light relief amidst the
heavyweight news stories, including the worrying proposals for Atol reform and the troubles in Egypt, which have dominated our trade coverage recently. It’s amazing how a big, cuddly character can
spread fun all around – just like Butlins itself has since it was founded by Billy’s namesake in 1936. It’s surely the biggest domestic success story in the travel trade over the past 75 years. This week’s TTGhas a domestic flavour, including
a report from the recent UKinbound conference, and the latest on travel within UK & Ireland. Although there is a real sense of pessimism about what the Olympics will do to the UK travel trade next year, the Games will help highlight many parts of the country and attract many more tourists in the years ahead.
One thing you can be sure of is that Butlins, and Billy Bear and his friends, will be ready to capitalise on the trends as they emerge. Happy anniversary!
A ‘paws’ for thought from Billy... “Thanks to Daniel and the rest of his team for letting me get my paws on this week’s TTG. It was great fun to put them through their paces, and I even managed to sneak in a few comments of my own – as well as some of my paw prints – into this week’s TTG. “You might also enjoy an article, suggested by me, about getting big cuddly characters into travel agents. Let TTGknow what you think – they might even invite me back some time...”
Hays winners jingle all the way to LA David Musson from Hays Travel’s Sunderland branch joins customers Janine Beckwith (left) and Angela Lowery, who won a trip to Los Angeles in an “H-Factor” competition for the best performance of the Hays jingle. Janine and Angela will be heading to LA in October. You can watch their winning video at
hfactoronline.co.uk/video/Janine_and_Angie
Agent relations. CCS reviews commission p4 Plans by CCS, the trade arm of P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises and Cunard, to alter commission levels have raised fears of a big expansion of direct selling
Atol.
Insurers quiz operators p5 The top 50 Atol-holding operators are being “risk assessed” by insurers as the CAA looks to renew a key £300 million insurance policy
Opening.
New agency backs Egypt p6 A new call-centre agency set up last month and specialising in upmarket Egypt holidays says demand for Red Sea resorts has been thriving despite the crisis
Daniel Pearce Editor &
Billy Bear Guest Editor
dpearce@ttglive.com www.twitter.com/danielpearce
02 18.02.2011
opening. Keeping it in the family p7 An East Sussex-based family-run travel agency is celebrating plans to open its second high-street shop, Southern Cross Travel, in Wadhust
UKinbound Convention. United we stand p12 Abta and UKinbound are uniting in a “common purpose” of opposing further increases in APD – plus other news from the UKinbound conference
Air. West Africa growth plan p22 Nigerian carrier Arik Air is to expand its west African regional routes connecting to its Lagos hub next month
Operators.
A question of timing p20 Inghams boss Andy Perrin expects a “successful” ski season despite having to cope with the difficulties of Christmas falling on a Saturday
REGULARS.
City & finance p14 Comment p16 Cruise p18 Operators p20 Air p22 Letters p26
news
this week
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