36 TRADE NEWS
January 2022 Travel News ANITA: THE INDUSTRY VOICE THROUGHOUT HARDSHIP
OR those involved in the travel trade industry in Northern Ireland, ANITA and its work will be fa- miliar.ANITA (Association of Northern Ireland Travel Agents) was co-founded in April 2020 by Da- mian Murphy from Terra Travel and Richard Cooper from Carefree Travel. This was in direct response to the challenges thrown at the Travel Industry by Covid 19. It was set up to give a political voice to an industry that previously had existed without one. Almost two years on and ANITA has steadily Brough the concerns and needs of the travel industry to high powers- the asso- ciation has been seen to rally for funding, equality and safe guarding of an industry hard-hit but both the pan- demic itself, and the restrictions brought fourth with it. Northern Ireland Travel News spoke to current chair- man Damian Murphy in relation to the success of the association.
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“When myself and Richard started ANITA in April 2020 we thought a few weeks of hard work would get us over this covid hump and we could soon move on to other topics- how wrong we were. We spent weeks and indeed months getting the industry together to try and
get our executive to listen to us and to understand the almost impossible situation the pandemic had put us in. We very soon added Tracie Duffy from Crumlin Travel to the team as the amount of work involved grew by the day. I suppose the highlight of our campaign was our day of action in June which brought together a large number of people involved in our sector to the steps of Stormont to highlight our plight. This, along with per- sistent lobbying of our MLA’s, finally brought about a meeting with the first and deputy first minister and ,sub- sequently, a small but very welcome grant. We did how- ever face a long delay before the money was eventually paid in summer 2021 and by this stage we had already started making noise about a second grant”. Sharon Thompson of Thompson Travel has also been heavily involved in helping the travel trade of Northern Ireland and was involved in recent negoti- ations. She also helped set up a meeting with DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, a major stepping stone for the industry.“I have been corresponding regularly with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson since our last travel meeting and he has further discussed our plight with both the First
Former Tourism Chief Executive Passes Away After Short Illness
NI Travel News were sorry to hear of the passing of Don Wilmont, one of NI Tourism’s great ambassadors. Family, friends and colleagues took to social media to send their condolences to Mr Wilmont’s family, who passed away on 31 December 2021 following a short illness. Long standing colleagues at the Northern Ireland Tour- ism Alliance shared the news on their website, where Mr Wilmont was a founding member. “It is with deep sadness to hear that Don Wilmont passed away peacefully this morning aſter a short illness.” NITA announced on their website. “Don was one of the founding members of NITA and was so passionate about Tourism. He was a great am- bassador for Northern Ireland Tourism and gave many years of service as Chief Executive of Causeway Coast & Glens Regional Tourism and more recently as chair of Visit Derry. Don was a great support as Vice Chair of NITA, in particular establishing and overseeing the governance of the new organisation and his dedication during the Covid response. Don was one of life’s true gentlemen who was always generous with his time and brought a pragmatic approach and his warm humour to the many challenges that we had to face. We are truly grateful for all of his contribution and he is a big loss for NITA and Tourism in Northern Ireland. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jeanette and Arlene at this sad time.” Brenda Morgan MBE also spoke of the passing of her “dear friend”:
“I am so sad to hear of the passing of our dear friend and colleague Don and my thoughts and prayers are with Jeanette, Arlene and his family at this time. Don’s guidance and support over the last three years as Vice Chair of NITA was invaluable. A true gentleman, so professional and committed with a dedication and passion for tourism to the end! He will be sorely missed and his personal contribution will always be remem- bered within the NITA family!” Diane Poole OBE also passed condolences onto the family: “I had the privilege of working with Don for almost 16 years and the significant success of the organisation was down to Don’s drive both professionally and passion- ately.” “Don worked tirelessly in promoting tourism on the world stage and he was the perfect fit as Chief Executive of Causeway Coast and Glens Regional Tourism Partnership – the area we always referred to as the most beautiful place on earth!” “Don was involved in a number of Tourism projects over the years and these were a testament to his com- mitment, enthusiasm and his knowledge of all things tourism was insurmountable.” “Don was a straight talker with a witty sense of humour and he really cared for his work family helping them to develop and grow under his fair and caring leadership.” “Most importantly Don loved his family, and was a dear friend to so many and he will be very sadly missed.” “Toughts and prayers to Jeanette, Arlene, Colin and the wider family circle.”
Minister and the Economy Minister pressing for a be- spoke support scheme for travel agents. I am hoping to see progress soon here as he is aware of how urgent the need is” she said.
Another vocal member of the travel industry is Colum McLornan of Friendship Travel who, jut like Mr Mur- phy, has been visual in the media with pushing for help. “After our meeting with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson I would be hopeful the Northern Ireland Executive will provide a dedicated grant scheme for Northern Ireland travel agents and tour operators. During our recent call we explained fully how our industry works, the difficulties we have experienced over the last 20 months and spoke about the €10 million scheme announced in December 2021 in the South of Ireland”. He said. Damian has been a fine voice for the travel trade in- dustry, amongst others, as he spends much of his spare time fighting for the
industry.NI Travel Special Award at the Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards, for his outstanding decimation to the work. We spoke with Damian to find out what 2022 has to offer in terms of the travel trade. “Of course our main hope is that Cov-
Air France and KLM Have Agreed On a Commercial Partnership With ITA
Air France and KLM are a global giant who focus on the transportation of passengers, cargo and aeronautical maintenance. Tis partnership will propose a variety of additional travel opportunities as well as the opening of 12 ITA destinations in Southern Europe and Italy via Rome Fiumicino for Air France and KLM customers. Tese include, Bari, Brindisi, Catania, Genoa, Palermo, Reg- gio Calabria, Lamezia Terme, Turin, Trieste and Venice (Italy), Valletta (Malta), and Tirana (Albania). ITA cus- tomers will be able to take advantage of booking tickets to a large range of Air France and KLM destinations in Europe such as, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. Air France, KLM and ITA will facilitate multiple bene- fits for their passengers such as transfers for passengers connecting flights at hubs in Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and Rome Fiumicino. Passengers can use one ticket to get to their destination, for when they check in at the airport of departure and collecting their luggage when arriving at their destination. Te agreement is effective for KLM as of 1 December and for Air France as of 9 December 2021, for traveling as of 13 December 2021. CEO Air France-KLM, Benjamin Smith said: “We are very pleased to have reached a codeshare partnership with ITA, the latest member of the SkyTeam alliance, less than 2 months aſter its first flight. Italy is a key market for our group, and joining forces with the new Italian flag carrier will create more opportunities for the passengers of our respective airlines, offering a seamless service to a worldwide network of about 250 unique destinations via our hubs in Paris Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol. We have great ambitions with ITA and we see this milestone as a first step towards broader cooperation”. Dependent on the US Governmental Approval, the commercial partnership will open to US destinations in
the near future. Elite Travel renew Advantage Travel partnership
Don Wilmont: A well-known face through- out the travel community
Elite Travel Group has signed a new 5 year deal with Te Advantage Travel Partnership. All Elite members, which counts for 100% of the company, will be able to benefit from the newly restored membership with advantage, which Commercial Direc- tor of Elite Travel Group, Mike Richardson, has deemed as an “important part of [their] structure”. “… Te relationship has been a great success over the last 13c years delivering significant membership value
to Elite members” focus on delivering for them.”
id will be wiped out and that not another person dies from this illness- the most important thing right now really is to save lives. From an industry point of view first we need our executive to move swiftly and provide further support to our sector as well an extension to the rates relief scheme. We need to see travel restric- tions lifted as soon as possible to get people travelling again. We hope that our industry can recover quickly; save jobs and businesses and get back to what we do best which is helping our customers with all their trav- el arrangements. I very much hope that ANITA can move forward and become the official political voice for Northern Ireland’s travel industry and that it can continue to help and provide much needed support to everyone involved with outbound travel in Northern Ireland. The ANITA committee would like to thank everyone for keeping up the pressure on their MLAs who in turn add strength to our call for support. we have co-ordinated the efforts on everyones behalf and I report directly on a fortnightly basis to the Save Future Travel Coalition with on update on all that is happening here. Surely 2022 will be a better year for us all”
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Starting in January 2022, The Orlando Training Academy is offering agents the chance to bring Orlan- do to the forefront of every traveller’s mind. The all-new Orlando Travel Academy is the most powerful learning tool for everything Orlando to help agents know more, share more, and sell more Orlando. Packed full of information and high-tech tools that agents can access anytime, anywhere and from any device. Coming in early January, agents can sign up for priority access today and be the first to know about the best Orlando online training platform. Graduates from the Orlando Travel Academy will also earn access to these exclusive benefits 50% off attraction tickets including SeaWorld® Orlando, Kennedy Space Center, and many more! Discounts at hotels located near Orlando’s top attractions
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Easyjet Holidays Launch Agent Give- away Worth £16,000
Easyjet Holidays are giving travel agents across the country the chance to bag a share of £16,000 Easyjet Holidays Credit in their latest campaign, the “big orange giveaway”.
Starting today, (4 January) agents who make bookings up until 2 February will be entered into daily giveaways which will see 2 agents drawn at random to receive £100 towards their next holiday. Additionally, the stores who receive the highest number of bookings across this Time will win £2,000 worth of credit.
EasyJet Holidays will release weekly scores across its social media to keep agents and agencies up to date. The campaign was released to showcase the appreci- ation by the company for the “fantastic work” the travel trade have displayed over the past few years explained Head of Distribution Brad Bennetts.
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