IN BRIEF
■ Turkish Airlines is launching a daily service between Istanbul Ataturk and London Heathrow from October 25. The flights, which will be operated by an A320 aircraft, will increase the total number of return services
between the two cities to 37 per week.
■ Hillgate Travel has secured a multi-million pound contract with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The TMC signed the five-year deal in April.
■ Emirates has launched a second daily A380 service between Gatwick and Dubai. The Gulf carrier said, due to passenger demand, it will upgrade its EK15/16 service, previously operated by a Boeing 777. The A380 will add 318 seats a day, increasing capacity by 11.5 per cent.
■ Amazon has launched a new hotel-booking service, Amazon Destinations, featuring around 150 properties in the US. The service will work directly with hoteliers and offer rooms at their published rates or discounted prices. Amazon says commission rates will be “competitive” compared to other online travel agencies.
Starwood launches tenth brand
STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS has launched its tenth brand and second collection of independent hotels. Tribute Portfolio, which will focus on four-star “upper upscale” properties, joins the Luxury Collection as Starwood’s second independent hotel brand. The new brand’s first property, Royal Palm South Beach Miami (pictured), has 393 rooms including more than 100 suites and was recently refurbished. Starwood confirmed four upcoming Tribute Portfolio hotels in the US, in Nashville, Savannah, Asheville and Charleston. See Analysis, p26
AIRLINES Premium air
DEMAND FOR PREMIUM AIR CABINS for flights within Europe has slowed, growing a mere 0.4 per cent due to “weakness” in the eurozone countries. Recent figures from IATA show that global premium air travel grew by 2.3 per cent in February compared to the same month in 2014, when the market was growing by 4.1 per cent.
Over the same period, economy traffic went up by 4.8 per cent as lower ticket prices attracted more leisure passengers to travel by air. But growth on some key business travel routes was more robust, such as Europe to the Middle East, which saw a 6.2 per cent increase in premium travel. The key transatlantic market, which accounts for 14 per cent of all global premium traffic and 22.6 per cent of airline revenue, was up by only 1.3 per cent year-on-year for premium passengers in February. IATA noted that more recent data showed there were “signs of a pick-up in business confidence in the eurozone and US”, which could “ease some of the downward pressure” on international business travel.
10 BBT MAY/JUNE 2015
BRANDS RATES HOTEL
PRICES UP IN UK, DOWN IN EUROPE
HOTEL PRICES ARE FALLING in major European business travel destinations but are on the rise in the UK and Ireland. The latest figures from hotel comparison website Trivago reveals that average room rates in London have risen by 1 per cent to £167 during April 2015 compared to the same month last year. But there have been higher increases elsewhere in the UK, including rises of 8 per cent in Birmingham to £80 per room, 4 per cent in Manchester to £106, 10 per cent in Glasgow to £88 and 10 per cent in Cardiff to £87. Edinburgh bucked this upward trend with hotel prices down by 5 per cent year-on-year to £104. Outside the UK, average prices have fallen by 11 per cent in Paris to £131, 15 per cent in Rome to £119, 8 per cent in Berlin to £71. The only major European cities to see prices rises were Dublin (£93, on average), Amsterdam (£147), Madrid (£80), Copenhagen (£117), Athens (£72) and Budapest (£72).
demand slows Travelodge: profits boost
HOTELS
TRAVELODGE HAS ANNOUNCED a rise in profits of more than 60 per cent for 2014, as speculation mounts over a potential takeover. The budget hotel chain said underlying profits for the year ending December 2014 were up 63.5 per cent to £66.2 million. Total revenues were up 14.9 per cent to £497.2 million, and 2014 revenue per available room (RevPAR) surged 16.8 per cent to £34.24. According to reports, the group’s owners are preparing to appoint advisors to consider options including a sale that may value the company at more than £1 billion.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM
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