additional tourism spend in 2014 – exceeding the £80 million target – according to VisitEngland. Run in partnership with VisitScotland, Visit Wales and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, the campaign is estimated to have generated £520 million since 2012. Shaun the Sheep will star in the new £4 million campaign.
The Queen to name P&O Cruises’ Britannia next week P&O Cruises has confirmed that the Queen will officially name the line’s new ship, Britannia, on March 10. Travel Weekly first speculated on January 29 that the Queen would be performing the honours in Southampton. She will be accompanied at the naming by the Duke of Edinburgh.
“The airlines will try to get access to your travellers in any way they can”
Iata’s Paul Tilstone admits carriers will use new data regime to target agents’ customers
MORE IN TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS: BACK PAGE
Disney recognises five Midcounties Co-op agents Five personal travel agents from Midcounties Co-operative have been appointed Disney specialists. Richard Slater, Paul Wells, Jill Ibberson, Alicia Turner and Laura Higgins have been given the title of Disney Specialist Homeworker after showcasing their product knowledge. There are now 20 recognised Disney specialist homeworkers in the UK.
UK holidays campaign generated £138m last year The ‘Holidays at Home are Great’ campaign, starring Wallace and Gromit, generated £138 million in
Gatwick pledges to add UK routes if it gains new runway Gatwick has vowed to increase the number of domestic destinations it serves from 10 to 15 if it gains a second runway. New domestic routes could include Dundee, the Isle of Man, Liverpool, Derry and Nottingham, the airport said. An increase in UK destinations could lead to Gatwick flying 18 million domestic passengers to and from London a year – a million more than a three-runway Heathrow.
Mums’ Army signs up ex-Coronation Street actor Water aid charity Just a Drop has recruited actor Lucy-Jo Hudson to its Mums’ Army campaign to help sign up mothers to become ‘troop leaders’. The charity hopes to raise £250,000 to bring clean water to mothers and families in developing countries. Mums’ Army vouchers of up to £100 are available for purchase as Mother’s Day gifts, with proceeds going to the charity. Just a Drop, meanwhile, has been named as charity partner for the Global Travel Group Conference.
mumsarmy.org
Bath agent cleans up in Travel Weekly’s
photography contest The winner of Travel Weekly’s Travel Trade Photographer of the Year competition received a masterclass from professional photographer Steve Dunlop this week. Christine Griffiths, manager of Bath
Travel in Shaftesbury, won after her photo of a tour guide in Jordan’s Wadi Rum was selected from more than 200 entries. After a portrait session at Dunlop’s London studio, Christine also experimented with shooting in different lights in a variety of locations. In addition to the masterclass, Christine’s prize included a cruise holiday from headline sponsor Carnival Cruise Lines. Dunlop said: “Christine is a gifted photographer and it was great to be able to help fine-tune her skills.”
Roche joins LoveHolidays as chief commercial officer Former Travel Republic director Chris Roche has joined rapidly growing online travel agent
Loveholidays.com as chief commercial officer. Roche left Travel
Republic last year and initially joined Eysys and Comtec founder Simon Powell to spearhead the relaunch of Powell’s website
Travel.co.uk, before leaving in December. He started at
management team at Travel Republic before its sale to Emirates-owned dnata in 2011. He said he saw similarities
between LoveHolidays and Travel Republic, describing both as technology-driven OTAs that have built their own search capability. Roche said the “unique” tech at LoveHolidays would “power the aggressive and efficient
Chris Roche
LoveHolidays on Monday, working alongside chief executive Alex Francis and chief operating officer Jonny Marsh. Dermot Blastland, former First Choice Holidays and Thomson Holidays managing director, is a non-executive director. Roche said: “LoveHolidays is
Lucy-Jo Hudson
8 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 5 March 2015
growing fast and I’m delighted to be given an opportunity to join the team and hopefully add value.” Roche was part of the
growth” of the OTA. He would not be
drawn on turnover or
passenger figures, but when Blastland joined last September, he said LoveHolidays was turning over more than £70 million and was profitable. The site, which claims to offer
a more sophisticated way of searching for holidays, said 19% of bookings were made by repeat customers.
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