Resort’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter” SOPHIE GRIFFITHS JOINS THE UNIVERSAL ORLANDO MARDIS GRAS, P42
RANTS & RAVES
Is Jeremy Hunt an idiot? (“Travel agents told to get behind 2012”,
ttgdigital.com). No denying 2012 is going to be England’s year due to the Olympics, but
does he really expect us to say to clients: “Oh no, don’t take that lovely holiday to that beautiful destination, with crystal clear seas, sandy beaches and lovely hot weather. Why not stay at home with the dreary weather and watch the Olympics on TV instead? Or even better, why not head to London and pay a small fortune for a London hotel and extortionate prices for an event ticket?” Aaron Mitchell, Tailor Made Travel
In general, I am no fan of insurance companies, but what we are all talking about here is taking the “risk” out of travel and insurance companies have been doing this for years with travel insurance products (“Indecisive MPs muddy the Atol reform water”, TTG February 2). I agree with the comments regarding offering consumers a choice of insurance cover which the government could make compulsory. All the CAA should then need to do is coordinate any repatriations that were necessary, or oblige the insurers to do so. Sounds simple to me, but I get the impression that all the affected parties are just trying to fight their own respective corners here.
Fawad Mir, Hotels4U
Just unwrapped my multi-covered TTG front cover and read: “... are Egypt’s troubles a thing of the past...?” Answer: Err, I don’t think so! Andrew Blair, In Style Travel
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OPINION
Mr Hunt, leave our outbound trade alone
ANDREW MARR and James Naughtie have both recently been guilty of the same unfortunate mistake when they inadvertently mis-introduced the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt. I wouldn’t be surprised if some people in the travel industry have used the same mispronunciation, although you couldn’t blame it on a spoonerism. Mr Hunt, you see, has hit upon a plan so cunning that in the words of Blackadder: “You could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel.” (Cunning Hunt… be careful!) Starting next month, the Department of Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport will be spending £4 million of taxpayers’ money on its biggest-ever TV advertising blitz with one purpose in mind – to stop your customers going overseas on holiday this summer. The strapline: “There’s so much happening in Britain in 2012, why on earth would you want to go abroad?” Thanks Mr Hunt. I imagine £4 million is just the interest you’ve earned this month on all that APD revenue sloshing around in the Treasury? How on earth do you think that this shameless waste of money is going to persuade the huge majority of the population who don’t have even a sniff of an Olympic ticket
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Derek Jones, managing director, Kuoni UK
to pop their passports back in the top drawer? I’m sure the marketing agency commissioned to make the ads was keen to point out that the question is rhetorical but really, it’s not that difficult to provide a straight answer. Here are a few just to get the ball
rolling: abroad is where you can find great value for money; abroad is where the weather is better; abroad is where you can broaden your horizons, explore different cultures and forget about the daily grind; abroad is where they also watch the Olympics… so no need to miss out on anything really.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against domestic tourism. I’m not even against the government promoting domestic tourism. I just have a problem with our money being spent with the clear single objective of persuading people not to travel abroad. This can only result in further pressure on a sector of the economy which is already seriously struggling. Hundreds of thousands of UK jobs depend on the outbound tourism sector and to attack us so blatantly is outrageous. I’m excited that the Olympics is taking place in London this year and yes, many people will decide to adjust their travel plans to fit in. Domestic tourism, especially day trips, will increase and record numbers will visit the UK from overseas, but this does not need to be at the expense of everyone employed in outbound tourism. Kuoni has been one of the very few businesses creating valuable new jobs over the last 18 months. We’re investing on the high street when others are closing down. We recognise that even in the most difficult times people still want their annual trip abroad. So come on Mr Hunt, give us a break and shelve this ridiculous plan now.
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“We look like extras for Universal Orlando
09.02.2012
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