Author: Shawon Hannan

Several major UK travel agents are backing a government-sponsored campaign to promote domestic holidays. The ‘Great Adventure’ campaign gets underway today, launched by VisitEngland, the body responsible for promoting English tourism, and Maria Miller, the UK government’s culture secretary. It has received the backing of travel agents operating within the UK, including Thomas Cook, Premier Travel, Coop Travel, The Travel Network Group, Tui, Advantage, Shearings Holidays, Superbreak, Hoseasons, Bourne Leisure and Attraction World. The main thrust of the promotion, which has a budget of £4 million, will be TV adverts featuring animated screen stars Wallace and Gromit setting off on…

Easyjet, a UK-based low-cost air carrier, is to carry out tests relating to the operation of aircraft near volcanic ash clouds, using a tonne of ash collected in Iceland. The planned experiment is part of the company’s effort to better understand the true dangers of ash clouds to aviation and to investigate methods of avoidance. The project has been deemed necessary due to the lengthy grounding of aircraft across large areas of Europe in 2010, due to the ash cloud created by Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull. The natural event was a costly nightmare for the aviation industry and for those passengers…

Hays Travel, a travel agency group with its head office in Sunderland, UK, could be set to benefit from the previously announced branch closures by UK-based travel company, Thomas Cook. Hays is involved in talks with Thomas Cook with a view to taking on some of the high street stores that are set for closure. Hays Travel founder and managing director, John Hays, says that his group had experienced ten consecutive months of year-on-year profit growth, and achieved sales in excess of £500 million last year. He said, ‘We are still in an exercise with regards to Thomas Cook shops…

With the new holiday season comes a warning to tourists travelling abroad to beware of rip-off traders. Failing to acquaint themselves with the price that they are about to be charged for typical holiday extras that are generally expected to be inexpensive, could result in tourists staring down the barrel of an eye-watering bill once the deal is done. The Daily Telegraph has highlighted one particular case where not confirming the price of a holiday ice cream prior to ordering left four British tourists stunned at the expense that they had incurred. Brothers Roger and Steven Bannister were visiting Rome…

Easyjet, a UK-based low-cost air carrier, is the subject of internal conflict over the proposed purchase of new aircraft. Divisions have been drawn within the company between its founder and major shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who is opposed to the purchase of the new aircraft, and other major investors in the company who are in support of the deal. The deal involves as many as 200 new aircraft, and the Financial Times has reported that six investors with a significant stake in the company are prepared to support it. Their backing could enable the company’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, to…

Britain’s warm dry bank holiday weather has been bringing out the crowds all weekend, with today the hottest day of the year so far. The British could be excused for viewing the clear skies and sunshine with caution, so unaccustomed are they to having a bank holiday free from the traditionally chilly and wet fare that usually accompanies the national holidays, but with temperatures in some parts of the country likely to reach 23 Celsius today, outdoing several Mediterranean countries, even the most sceptical Brits are heading out to find the best places to enjoy the welcome bonus. The good…

British tourists are to be the prime target of a tourism promotion by the city of New York in the USA. A major campaign, involving digital and social media advertising, is to be launched by a US consortium that includes NYC & Company, the city’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organisation, its sponsoring partner, American Express, and Brand USA, the body responsible for promoting travel to the United States. The promotion, which starts today and runs until June 2 this year is titled, New York Summer, and has a budget of USD1.1 million. The main thrust of the promotion will…

VisitEngland, the English tourist board, is planning to capitalise on the country’s hosting of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The organisers of the tournament, England Rugby 2015, have announced the twelve venues across the country that will host the matches, and VisitEngland intends to provide its support to the organisers and the individual venues in order to maximise tourism potential and visitor experience. It is hoped that promotional input for the event will encourage visiting rugby fans to further explore the country during their visit, which will involve longer stays and increased expenditure. VisitEngland’s chief executive, James Berresford, said, ‘Sport…

A new report has put forward figures suggesting that not only does the UK’s love affair with no-frills air travel show no signs of cooling, but that the demand is actually continuing to grow. The figures have been announced by OAG, a company that compiles aviation data, and they show that no-frills airlines have grown their monthly capacity in the UK from around four million international seats in 2003, to the 8.8 million seats that will be available this month. This puts the UK firmly at the top of the low-cost capacity league table, a full 1.4 million seats ahead…

Qatar Airways, a United Arab Emirates-based airline company, has announced that it will be resuming services to London Heathrow airport with its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline’s service on the London to Doha route is scheduled to recommence from the 15th of this month, after being halted since mid January as part of the worldwide grounding of the 787 Dreamliner, following incidents of the airplane’s on-board battery pack overheating. A solution for the problem has now been accepted by aviation authorities around the world, and with the lifting of the ban on flying, a number of airlines have already…