news Red Sea is ‘thriving’
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ITC launches New agency claims price pledge
LUXURY TOUR operator ITC Classics has launched a “price pledge” for agents to try to ensure they get the best deal for their clients. The move is part of ITC’s strategy of working closer with the trade. Business development director Lee Marshall said the idea of the price pledge was to give agents the “best price first”. He said the policy involved making sure the
operator’s own margin on the holiday was not too high, and ensuring that the price includes any flight or hotel deals as well as offering add-ons such as free nights and room upgrades. “We had our best trading month in January for
Luxor is back on the tourist trail after the Foreign Office lifted its advice against non-essential travel this week
Chris Gray. 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. MyKinda Travel started trading in January and is concentrating its business on luxury holidays to Egypt, the Caribbean and the smaller Greek islands. Director Daniel Lugsden said the timing of the
start-up was unfortunate, coinciding with the outbreak of protests in Egypt, but the company remained committed to the country as a key destination. Lugsden said enquiries for Red Sea holidays had continued to come into his call centre throughout the disturbances in Egypt. “There has been a lot of interest in what is going on and customers expect us to know the latest news updates, but it has not been putting them off,” he said. “The Canaries has obviously gone through the roof, but people are still happy to go to Sharm el Sheikh. “We have been taking calls from people
expecting bargains which are not there. For this half-term weekend, you would be lucky to get a seat on a flight to Sharm.” Lugsden said the company was still basing its
strategy on selling higher-end hotels in the Red Sea resorts. “Apart from Turkey, Egypt is the biggest
growth destination for tourism and I think it will continue to grow,” he added. “Sharm and
06 18.02.2011
Hurgharda have not been affected at all. We are still totally committed to it as a destination.” Lugsden and colleague Stephanie Emerson set
up MyKinda Travel as an internet and call centre operation in Sunderland after working with each other around the north-east for more than a decade at companies such as Hoppaway Travel and Justaholiday.
Back on the map: Luxor came back on the map as a tourist destination this week as the Foreign Office lifted its advice against non-essential travel to the city. Nile cruises are resuming from Luxor. Discover
Egypt said it would restart its cruises and weekly charter flights to Luxor on February 28. Cosmos will resume its hotel and cruising
programme to Luxor from March 7 and Thomas Cook said it would resume its three weekly Wednesday flights to Luxor from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham from February 23. First Choice and Thomson will also resume Luxor holidays from February 23. Charter programmes are also resuming to
Tunisia, where Cook will operate its first flight to Monastir since the protests on March 2. Cosmos will resume Tunisia from March 6, with flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Monastir. However, unrest continued to spread this week,
with protesters taking to the streets of Benghazi, Libya, demanding the removal of the government.
five years and one of the main reasons for this is the way we have re-engaged with the trade,” Marshall explained. “We have been trialling the price pledge with agents in the past few weeks and it has helped to make our pricing much more competitive than it has been previously. “The pledge gives agents the confidence that
they are getting the best price from us when they call us for a quote.” Last year, ITC launched a “fair trade” policy
promising not to undercut agent sales with lower prices for direct bookings.
Cook in talks over Jamaica charters
THOMAS COOK has confirmed that it was in talks over the future of its winter charter programme to Jamaica. A spokesman confirmed that discussions were taking place with Jamaican tourism officials after the island’s director of tourism, John Lynch, told local media on the island that Thomas Cook was “having a problem” selling seats for winter 2011-12. Jamaica tourism minister Edmund Bartlett said the prospect of Cook not operating charter flights next winter had to be taken seriously. The Cook spokesman said it continually
reviewed charter programmes based on demand. “Talks are continuing regarding our winter
programme to Jamaica, although no decision has been made as yet,” he said. Bartlett also said that Jamaica may double the $10 a head tax it makes on visitors to raise cash to promote tourism in emerging markets.
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