Tour Operators
Thomas Cook picks Green as CEO
Thomas Cook Group plc has named Harriet Green to succeed Sam Weihagen as its Group CEO. Green joins Thomas Cook July 30, 2012 at which time Sam Weihagen will step down from the board of directors. Weihagen remain with Thomas Cook until Sept. 30, 2012 to ensure a seamless transition. Green is currently CEO of Premier Farnell plc and a non-executive director of BAE Systems plc and the Fortune 200 company, Emerson Electric Co. She has extensive experience of driving business transformation and change programs globally. At Premier Farnell she has overseen a period of significant strategic change,...
Sunwing guarantees winter prices
Thanks to having its brochures distributed to agent partners across the country earlier than ever, Sunwing is seeing an increase in levels of bookings compared to last year. By booking early, travellers are locking in their first choice of flight dates and first choice of hotel options. Now, there's even more reason to book early -- thanks to a new Price Drop Guarantee, Sunwing can now also guarantee them the best price too. Simply book your winter vacation with Sunwing before July 31, and if the price of the exact same vacation goes down, the tour operator will refund the difference. "Winter...
Hola Sun says thanks with agent special
Hola Sun is saying thank you to travel agents by offering a $399 agent special from Toronto to Varadero. The offer features a standard room in the four-star all-inclusive Barcelo Solymar for one week. The p.p. rate is $399, including tax, and applies to an agent and an agent's companion. The offer is valid for departures in May, June, September and October. There are limited rooms and seats available for each flight. Rates are contracted for adults. A travel agent business card must be submitted prior to booking and agents must be an active seller of Hola Sun to qualify. A minimum of 10...
Travel Corporation, Softvoyage make the connection
The Travel Corporation has announced that Softvoyage Inc. now offers Trafalgar, Insight Vacations and Contiki on its business-to-business sites. Jeff Element, president of the Travel Corporation Canada, commented; "With a variety of ways to search for tours -- duration, cities to visit, departure city, departure date and price -- having the Softvoyage software will make it much more convenient for agents to book tours for Trafalgar, Insight and Contiki." He added that "the ability to search for all of our brands in one spot makes booking more accessible and convenient, qualities we're always...
Save with Insight
Insight Vacations has announced it will be extending a discount of up to 15% per person on its range of India & Nepal premium and luxury escorted journeys. Insight launched its inaugural India & Nepal program -- which consists of two luxury Gold tours and four Premium escorted tours across Rajasthan, Kerala and Nepal -- in December 2011 and all of them will receive price drops. The program also features six optional extensions including India's Wildlife, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, which will remain at the same prices. Cris David, president of Insight Vacations Canada, said: "Our India &...
Goway adds new Peru departures
Goway Travel has added a new December departure to its Comfort Peru series due to overwhelming demand, and will be offering a savings of $500 per couple for bookings. The Comfort Peru package is built around the most popular independent travel itineraries to Peru, and it starts in Lima on December 18. The tour includes 12 nights accommodation, most meals, transfers, and all domestic airfare, with limited space. Goway offers the Comfort Peru as a 13 or 16 day package (depending if you add the Amazon) from CDN$3,288. Go to http://www.Goway.com for...
Sunquest offer fuels September bookings
Sunquest already seems to be gearing up for the fall travel season, pumping out a new "We Pay The Fuel Surcharge" promotion that takes direct aim at stimulating advance bookings for September departures of all of its sun packages and from all of its gateways across Canada. The offer is in the market from now to May 30, 2012 and applies to all new bookings for travel from Sept. 1 to Sept. 30, 2012 to all destinations. The offer covers sun packages and air-only, but excludes groups and cruises. It can't be combined with any other offer and is subject to change. Taxes will reflect correctly in...
Canadian tourism: an industry in crisis
In a letter to its members, Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) president, Tony Pollard says that "plain and simple," Canada's tourism industry is in crisis. HAC's president points out that funding for the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has declined from $100 million in 2001 to $72 million in 2012 and will drop further in 2013 to $58.5 million. Observes Pollard: "The cuts come when Canada faces increasing competition from international competitors including the new $200 million [Brand USA] program - $20 million of which is being spent in Canada." The result, says HAC's boss is that a decade...