Posts Tagged ‘tourism’

VisitScotland unveils new commercial

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

A new television advert has been unveiled by VisitScotland to kick-off the start of a celebration of Scotland’s creativity and culture, which will last for the rest of the year. A £4 million campaign, called the Year of Creative Scotland 2012, has been launched with the intention of attracting visitors from around the globe.

The commercial features the voice of Neill Oliver, the television historian, and images including the Northern Lights, a performance of Macbeth, Robbie Burns story telling and fireworks over Edinburgh.

According to VsitScotland, the tourist industry last year brought in around £90 million to the country’s economy. Mike Cantlay, chairman of the tourism body, said the coming year was going to be very exciting for tourism in Scotland. He added that the new television advert was stunning, and that it would serve to show millions of viewers what the country has to offer.

The spot has been directed by David Eustace, a Scottish born photographer. It is due to go on air on televisions and in cinemas from 13 January. It has already been shown to invited guests at Edinburgh Castle. Among those who saw it was MSP Fiona Hyslop, the Culture Secretary, who said on of the greatest strengths Scotland has is its culture.

She added that 2012 was going to be a year in which Scotland would highlight to visitors new ways in which they can visit every corner of the country. The commercial is due to run on screens across the UK until March.

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Tour firms warned that failures are likely

Monday, October 24th, 2011

A number of travel agents and tourism operators are facing a tough time as a new study reveals that many are in serious financial distress. Last year, leading firms including XL, Goldtrail and Kiss Flights were forced to close their doors as the financial situation in Britain remained weak.

The report has been put together by Begbies Taynor, and reveals that the number of holiday bookings being made has plummeted. The corporate administrators are warning that if the downturn continues, then there could be a spate of closures. The situation is particularly worrying as companies are entering the fourth quarter of the year, a time when cash flow is at its weakest.

The report claims that in the past year the number of firms being faced with critical distress has jumped by 49 per cent. In the last quarter alone the figure has rocketed 29 per cent. Julie Palmer, of Begbies Traynor, said cash reserves for travel companies hit their lowest levels in the final quarter. She added that the third quarter was already dire, which is not an encouraging sign.

Ric Traynor, executive chairman, said the summer period had been hurt badly by a lack of consumer confidence. If this carries on during the months leading up to the festive season, the outlook is not good for many travel firms, he added.

This year, Thomas Cook, a travel industry leader, has been forced to issue several profit warnings and announce that it has agreed another loan with its banks.

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Natural disasters impact on Australian tourism

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

The tourism industry in Australia is suffering from the effect of a number of natural disasters this year, as a strong dollar means more people are travelling abroad than are entering the country. Poor weather, local flooding, cyclones and earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan all contributed to a terrible year for the country’s tourism and airline industries.

Qantas boss, Alan Joyce, said the carrier’s international arm was preparing to declare around A$200 million in losses for the fiscal year. The disruption to services during the first week that the volcanic ash cloud drifted over from Chile will cost around A$21 million alone.

The future of the airline is also clouded by the rocketing price of fuel and ever-increasing competition coming from airlines across Asia and in the Middle East. The flag-carrier has already announced cost-cutting initiatives, as well as a reduction in capacity and job losses. Qantas recently slimmed down its growth targets and cancelled orders of new planes.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief, John Lee, said the latest disruption to air travel caused by volcanic ash in the atmosphere was at least as bad as the chaos caused by the 1989 pilots’ strike. He added that the tourism industry was probably losing more than A$10 million every day.

Matters have been made worse by the fact that tourists coming to Australia are spending around 20 per cent less than they were just two years ago, Lee went on to say. The weak economies in the UK and America are also having a negative effect.

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Dubai and Miami holidays boosted by Egypt unrest

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

President Hosni Mubarak’s departure after 30 years of rule in Egypt has helped to calm the unrest that gripped the country at the end of January. However, the political and social turmoil has played havoc with the countries tourism industry, one of its main sources of foreign currencies.

Although the popular resorts on the Red Sea continued to be undisturbed throughout, thousands of holidaymakers cancelled their plans or had their holidays disrupted by the protests.

Ebookers.com claims the situation is one of the main reasons it has seen increased interest in inquires about package deals to Miami and Dubai.

In January, the online travel agent recorded an increase in interest of 32 per cent in Miami compared to the same period a year earlier. The hotels and attractions of Dubai also helped to boost in interest from customers by 42 per cent compared to January last year.

According to ebooker’s UK head of marketing, Mario Bounas, “Recent political unrest in Egypt has meant travellers have had to turn to other exotic sun destinations when searching for their next holiday. These latest figures certainly show Miami and Dubai have benefited from the issues in Egypt however, now the Foreign Office have removed their advisory not to travel to the Red Sea and Luxor, there are some fantastic offers available as operators try to lure travellers back. Holidaymakers can save up to 30% on some of the deals available but they won’t be around forever, so we’d advise travellers to bite the bullet and book now!”

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Holidaymakers need better protection

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

According to a report from Co-operative Travel independent travellers need to be better protected when travelling abroad. It seems that while those who opt for package holiday deals automatically receive the benefits of professional insurance policies, those who book flights and accommodation themselves may be missing out.

In a recent interview Mike Greenacre, managing director of Co-operative Travel revealed that thousands of British travellers are stranded abroad each year with no compensation due to the collapse of certain airlines. He cited the example of XL and the recent SkyEurope bankruptcy, both of which have left a number of holidaymakers questioning exactly what protection they have if something like this affects their own trip.

Although XL was a package operator, Greenacre has commented that he is concerned by the research conducted by his company, which indicates that 45% of customers falsely believe that they would be insured against an airline closing down if they booked the flight directly. Time is rapidly running out for those customers who were affected by the collapse of XL last year and applications must be made before this Friday.

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Quick thinking saves lives on Stuttgart flight

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

Yesterday at Stuttgart airport in Germany an aeroplane was forced to make an emergency landing after experiencing problems with its landing gear.

Although there was a total of 73 passengers and five crew members on board the Contact Air flight, according to Germany’s Social Democrat (SPD) leader Franz Muentefering, the quick thinking and professionalism of the crew members ensured that no lives were lost, although one passenger did manage to sprain their ankle after using the emergency slide.

According to footage captured by an airport bystander the Fokker 100 jet landed on a protective layer of foam sprayed on the runway by ground crew which caused flames to appear from the undercarriage.

In a subsequent interview Franz Muentefering told the British press that: “It was a very serious situation. We circled for a long time, attempted the approach and then had to make an emergency landing.”

Once the plane the passengers were evacuated using the emergency slides and a stewardess was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Air traffic was barred from Stuttgart airport for several hours and the runway was also closed for some time to ensure the safety of all successive flights.

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Qantas adds destinations to frequent flyer programme

Friday, September 11th, 2009

Leading airline Qantas has just announced that it is adding 100 new destinations to its frequent flyer programme, meaning that those who take to the skies on a regular basis will have plenty of places to spend their air miles.

In addition, travellers can now use their points on Qantas or Jetstar services and then fly onwards with partner airlines to other destinations that are not covered by either of the two.

In a recent interview Qantas Frequent Flyer CEO Simon Hickey explained the details of the new and improved offer: “This enhancement means greater choice and flexibility for our members, it opens up an extensive range of new travel options and provides members with the opportunity to travel on Qantas and other selected airlines, entirely on points. For example, a member wanting to travel from Australia to Europe can book a Qantas Any Seat Award to fly Qantas to London and then continue onto Milan, Prague, St Petersburg or Dublin on another airline as part of the same booking, using their Qantas Frequent Flyer points for the full journey.”

Members who book through the main Qantas.com website will also be presented with an additional option to use points or the ‘Points Plus Pay’ system.

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The future is bright for Sixt

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Leading car hire company Sixt rent a car has recently announced an increase of 7.8% in revenue compared to the first quarter due to a high level of demand for both car rentals and business leasing.

As Erich Sixt, Chairman of the managing board of Sixt, revealed in a recent interview: “Sixt has successfully adapted to the change in the market environment. The second quarter has shown that our cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing measures are starting to take effect. A cautious fleet policy, price increases, customer-focused product innovations and cost awareness are the key factors for continued success in this environment.”

The new figures show that while other car hire companies admit to struggling this year, Sixt rent a car continues to go from strength to strength. Sixt rent a car was also nominated the world’s best car hire company in a readers’ survey from a Travel + Leisure magazine earlier this year and are constantly offering customers new and improved services to enhance their car hire experience.

Sixt rent a car currently has 150 rental locations in the UK, with a further 3,500 locations across 90 countries, making them one of the world’s largest car hire companies.

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Air India pilots re-evaluated after engine fire

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

An engine on one of Air India’s Boeing 747 planes caught fire last Friday, forcing the airline to suspend take off from Mumbai International Airport. The 747 was due to fly to Riyadh from Mumbai, which is India’s busiest airport. Fortunately all 213 passengers and the 15 crew members on board were evacuated safely and there were no serious injuries.

In a recent interview Mumbai Airport spokesman Manish Kalghatgi revealed that: “One of the engines caught fire while the aircraft was taxiing to the runway. Passengers were evacuated via slides.”

However, a large number of passengers suffered bruises and cuts while sliding down the chutes and were immediately taken to the Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) casualty centre to be given first aid.

It has been indicated after a four-member in-house committee that there were mistakes made by the pilots of the plane. As a result, Director General of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Nazeem Zaldi announced that the pilots have been suspended until further notice.

Staff from Air India as well as airport officials are conducting further investigations into the exact cause of the engine fire and are expected to release a full report within the next few days.

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Passengers cause queues while spending a penny

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

In a bid to put an end to what they are calling ‘bladder abuse’, SeatGuru are urging United States regulators to create federally mandated laws regarding the ratio of passengers to toilets aboard aeroplanes.

There are already laws in place regarding the number of bathrooms per person in restaurants, music venues and in the workplace, and SeatGuru insists that this needs to apply to aeroplanes as well.

As SeatGuru Founder Matt Daimler said in a recent interview: “Airlines with too few bathrooms per passenger create frustrating lines that are a real safety concern. A short 45-minute flight can easily become three hours or more on the plane due to delays, and not providing access to functional bathrooms is unacceptable. The airlines have already stripped away so many other amenities that we thought were givens– let’s make sure that we get some regulations for those who go regularly.”

Visitors to SeatGuru’s website can view a seating chart breakdown of the number of seats on airlines. They are also asking for a mandatory confirmation of toilet functionality before departure as well as wheelchair accessible lavatories.

These proposals are currently under consideration and if put into practice could have a big impact on all those who are inconvenienced by having to queue to use the toilet while in the air.

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