NEWS ROUND-UP NEWS IN BRIEF


Just Sunshine launches programme to Tunisia


Just Sunshine has become the first operator to relaunch a major programme to Tunisia since restrictions were lifted by the Foreign Office at the end of July. The operator is offering twice-weekly flights out of Gatwick and Heathrow from September 6 and 9 respectively.


Air Berlin keeps flying as


it goes into administration German carrier Air Berlin filed for administration on Tuesday following months of deepening difficulty. Lufthansa confirmed it is in talks to take over parts of the group with the support of the German government. The airline will continue flying while protected from creditors.


‘Sick’ Cook customer loses case and has to pay £2,800


A Thomas Cook customer who claimed she fell ill after eating chicken on holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh had her case thrown out for being “neither plausible nor credible”. Marissa McLean, 27, of Redditch, Worcestershire, was ordered to pay £2,812. It is the latest case successfully fought by an operator and follows Travel Weekly’s Fight Fake Claims campaign launch.


MAG to invest £1bn in Manchester and Stansted


Manchester Airports Group plans to invest more than £1 billion in terminal and airfield facilities at Manchester and Stansted in the next 10 years.


Brooks-Wiggins takes up Funway Holidays sales role


Funway Holidays has appointed Audrey Brooks-Wiggins as head of sales. The appointment of the former Thomas Cook head of trade partnerships follows the departure from Funway of sales director Amanda Darrington, who joined Royal Caribbean International in April.


Tui ‘undecided’ on Tunisia return after FCO lifts ‘ban’


Ian Taylor ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk


Tui has no immediate plans to return to Tunisia from the UK despite the Foreign Office lifting its advice against all travel to the country last month.


Fritz Joussen, Tui Group chief


executive, said a return to Tunisia “depends heavily on if people want to go and the Foreign Office thinks it is safe”. But he said: “We have made no decisions on this yet; whether we put up a programme is not decided.” UK travel companies withdrew


from Tunisia in line with Foreign Office advice after the beach massacre of 30 Tui holidaymakers in Sousse in June 2015. Joussen’s predecessor as


group chief executive, Peter Long, previously suggested an immediate return to Tunisia was unlikely. Tui Group sells holidays to


Tunisia from other source markets, including Germany and Belgium. However, Joussen said he did see demand returning to Turkey, where UK visitor numbers plummeted last year following a series of bomb attacks and a failed coup.


Alpharooms to close trade-only Betabeds after just over a year


Trade-only bed bank Betabeds is to close down at the end of August after 16 months. The brand was set up by


consumer bed bank Alpharooms in April last year. It sold more than 250,000 hotels in more than 40,000


8 travelweekly.co.uk 17 August 2017


SOUSSE: Tui says selling Tunisia again in UK will ‘depend on demand’ He said Spain “was a beneficiary”


“We have made no decisions on this yet; whether we put up a programme is not decided”


Joussen said: “Turkey was


historically very strong and a high‑margin business. The reason was the shortage of [bed] supply. “We see now the demand is


there – not only from Russia – and there is demand for upper class [accommodation]. “So we made a decision not to


reduce our capacity to Turkey [as we did last year].”


destinations and claimed to have access to “almost every accommodation rate available”. The site was supported


by a UK-based call centre in Sheffield. All trade bookings would be honoured by Alpharooms and there would be no redundancies, the company said. A statement from the business


said: “Following the purchase and takeover of Alpharooms last year by Truly Travel, the


of the lower demand for Turkey and this had presented “a little bit of a challenge to the country”. “People [in Spain] are thinking


there are too many tourists,” he said, “although most people are very happy with it. “Tourism is a very healthy industry these days. [But] when the capacity is full, the capacity is full.” He said demand for Greece,


Croatia, Bulgaria and Cape Verde was also strong. Tui’s turnover for the three


months to June was up 16% to €4.94 billion and underlying operating profit up almost 19% to €191 million year on year.


decision has been taken to close down the B2B trade arm of the business known as Betabeds to focus on our direct B2C strategy. “Any forward bookings with Betabeds will be fulfilled by Alpharooms and bookings remain secure and unaffected.” Alpharooms was sold to


Teletext Holidays parent Truly Holdings in October 2016 for an undisclosed sum. Alpharooms said it carries 850,000 passengers a year.


PICTURE: SHUTTERSTOCK


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