Bangkok Airways ready to serve international demand

Bangkok Airways Airbus A319 lands at Surat Thani - Samui | Image: Yochai Mossi - airliners.net

A world-wide fascination with the wonders of Thailand has fueled a dynamic tourist economy that continues to expand to every corner of this delightful, value-oriented nation. On the wings of this amazing growth, Bangkok Airways has become a major domestic and regional carrier with routes that cover nearly all domestic resort areas and have expanded into an impressive Asian network including Luang Prabang, Seim Reap, Phnom Penh, Maldives, Hong Kong, Pakse, Singapore and Yangon.

Bangkok Airways has evolved from an air charter service company “Sahakol Air,” established in 1968 to become Thailand’s first privately-owned regularly scheduled carrier hosting millions of visitors a year. Initially the airline operated a two-engine, 9-seater “Trade Wind” aircraft serving companies involved in oil and natural gas exploration in the Gulf of Thailand. However, in step with the rapid growth of tourism and business investments in Thailand, the airline had the opportunity to participate in that growth and provide valuable services in support of the expanding infrastructure and the increasing demand in tourist traffic volume.

In 1986, the company became Bangkok Airways offering regularly scheduled flights to Krabi, Korat and Surin. Currently, Bangkok Airways has permits to operate scheduled flights over 20 major routes covering nearly all major resort destinations in Thailand. The company has expanded its existing international routes to include Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Maldives.

In order to provide tourist access to Thailand’s vast variety of enticing beaches, islands and remote shangri-la’s, the airline has diligently invested in building and maintaining its own privately-operated airports at Samui, Sukhothai and Trat. New schedules just announced has increased daily flights from Bangkok to Phuket, Phnom Penh, Male and Yangon.

About Bangkok Airways:

Bangkok Airways became Thailand’s first privately owned airline in 1986 when they began regularly scheduled flights from Bangkok to Krabi, Korat and Surin. Presently the airline has obtained permits to operate flights over 20 different major routes covering nearly all major resort destinations in Thailand.

Bangkok Airways Equipment: The Bangkok Airways fleet is composed of five Airbus A320s, four Boeing 717-200s and eight ATR72-500s…17 aircraft in total.

Bangkok Airways Route Overview: Bangkok Airways is based in Bangkok, Thailand and flies to:

Asia: Luang Prabang, Seim Reap, Phnom Penh, Maldives, Hong Kong, Pakse and Singapore

Thailand Domestic: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Lampang, Phuket, Krabi, Sukhothai and Trat

SILVERSEA UNVEILS REDESIGNED WEBSITE WITH ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY

Silversea Cruises has launched a dramatically redesigned website (www.silversea.com). With special effects designed to capture the essence of luxury travel, the site opens to a muted-silver seascape that comes alive when colourful animated photography fades in and out - as if being revealed by a curtain drawing across a stage. From there, images by award-winning photographer Dana Neibert further reinforce the Silversea brand image by creating an ambiance of style and sophistication that is carried throughout the site.

"We've gone beyond our goal of making the new website more intuitive and user-friendly," said Linda Schultes, Silversea's vice president of worldwide marketing. "Travel often lets us live out our dreams, so we added a few dramatic touches to the website experience. The new design provides an elegant stage where you can indulge your imagination, while enjoying easy access to detailed information that will help in planning your journey."

Visitors can readily navigate the new site by clicking on tabs that offer information on destinations, ships, services, programs, special offers and more. New animated itinerary maps are complemented by up-to-date port descriptions supplied by Fodor's Travel, one of the world's leading providers of travel information. And a new interactive deck plan tool enables visitors to view ship details, images, three-dimensional suite diagrams and 360-degree virtual tours.

Additionally, a new Google custom search feature has been added to improve accuracy of keyword searches on the site, plus social media share options now appear on each page, enabling visitors to share content on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other popular sites.

The redesigned Silversea Expeditions microsite (www.silversea.com/expeditions) displays a distinct look and feel unique to the expedition brand. Exciting new images and videos of the Prince Albert II in Antarctica, the Arctic, Central and South America offer visitors a glimpse into the amazing world of expedition cruising. Other improvements include an enhanced Voyage Journal section located on the home page, expanded Expedition Team section with profiles and schedules, and the debut of the Silversea Expeditions Blog, providing regularly updated news, commentary and expedition highlights.

Reflecting Silversea's global appeal, the new website displays the appropriate country-specific version of the site based on the currency of the visitor's geographic location. In the coming months, the site will also launch content written in German and Spanish.

For more information please contact Silversea Cruises on +61 2 9255 0600 or toll free 1300 306 872 (Australia) or 0800 701 427 (New Zealand), or visit www.silversea.com

ACCOR'S NEW DIGITAL SIGNAGE SET TO EYEBALL 5.8 MILLION GUESTS

Accor hotels across Australia have launched an innovative digital signage solution set to capture the attention of over 5.8 million guests annually.

Accor's digital signage solution, managed by leading agency Moving Tactics, offers a clean, uncluttered advertising environment with 150 digital panels installed in hotel lift foyers, reception areas, bars and conference areas.  The panel placement has been designed to target valuable guest downtime in high dwell areas.

In a first for the industry, Accor has installed these panels across 53 of its Pullman, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, All Seasons and Formule 1 hotels, ensuring that digital messages will reach the full spectrum of the market - from high-end business travellers (60%) to value seeking holiday makers.  The digital panels will be rolled out to a total of 150 hotels in Australia over the next 12 months.

"The digital signage is an excellent vehicle for tourism operators, credit card companies, airlines, financial services, rental car companies and many more keen to reach both Australian and overseas travellers," says Vice President Accor Australia, Simon McGrath.

Unlike traditional out of home advertising which can often get lost in the traffic, Accor hotels' guest traffic – around 10,000 guests per day - is a largely captive audience rather than one of ad hoc passersby.  Guests stay an average of two nights and utilise areas where digital signage is displayed multiple times during their stay.  For potential advertisers this equates to a premium, value for money media option.

Moving Tactics is now putting to market, advertising partnerships with category exclusivity. Packages start from just $15 a day per hotel, including unlimited material change-outs.

"Advertisers are looking for cost-effective alternatives to traditional media outlets to generate sales and brand recognition with both the local and overseas travellers," said Moving Tactics Sales Director, Andrew McIntosh

"The digital signage screens create huge advantages for advertisers keen to get close to their target markets."

Screen information and advertising can be updated 24 hours a day, seven days a week,  making this channel a responsive and dynamic medium that can be used to create targeted communications with what has been elusive audience to date.

For further information on Accor digital signage go to www.hotelmedia.com.au

Kiwi Collection Wins 2010 Outstanding Travel Website Award

Kiwi Collection's new website has won an esteemed WebAward from the Web Marketing Association for Outstanding Achievement in Web Design.

This is Kiwi Collection's second such award, winning on a previous occasion in 2006 for their original site. Since this new site's launch in April of 2010, Kiwicollection.com has seen traffic increases of 275%, reservations increases of 312%, and average booking values of USD 1,260.

Now in its 14th year, the WebAwards is the premier annual website award competition that names the best Web sites in 96 industries while setting the standard of excellence for all website development.

Kiwicollection.com can attribute its success to a number of key themes, two of the most significant being, intuitive usability, and timeless design. Kiwi Collection's proprietary and unbiased rating criteria takes into consideration generosity & value, room-type, food & beverage, spa & fitness, attention to detail, wow/hip factor, architecture & design, location, and fit-to-promise.

Over 2100 hotels in 127 countries all feature weather forecasting and dynamic best-rate pricing. Hotels featuring a Kiwi Advantage offer free perks that differ from hotel to hotel. A subset of the collection, the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, offers Visa Premium cardholders perks such as free upgrades, complimentary Internet or valet parking, continental breakfast, and food & beverage credits.

Kiwi Collection also offers a 24/7 Reservations Team, for those looking for that human connection when booking their hotel. 

ABOUT KIWI COLLECTION INC.

Kiwi Collection, headquartered in Vancouver, with offices in Sydney and London, is an independent curator of hotels founded by people with a passion for travel. Every hotel, including those belonging to many well-known international brands, is personally reviewed before being invited to join. Hotels cannot pay to be included in the collection, and are excluded if they no longer meet Kiwi Collection's strict criteria. The collection currently features over 2100 hotels in 127 countries.
 
Kiwi Collection was incorporated in 2003 to provide mass affluent travelers and travel agents with an up-to-date, unbiased, and trusted resource of the finest hotels around the globe. The portfolio reaches its target audience through strategic partnerships and online via kiwicollection.com, which includes Wow Travel, Kiwi Collection's Digital Travel & Lifestyle Magazine. Kiwi Collection's large format coffee table book series Overnight Sensations: Hotels for the Discerning Traveler is edited by co-founder and president, Philippe Kjellgren, and is published and distributed globally by San Francisco's Chronicle Books.

In 2010 Visa selected Kiwi Collection to create the Visa Luxury Hotel Collection - a global initiative for premium cardholders.

http://www.kiwicollection.com

Win Travel on Thai Airways

To mark 50 years of helping intrepid travellers reach their dream THAI destinations, we want to celebrate the unforgettable experiences that come from travelling the world. Which is why we’re looking for people who not only love to travel, but love writing about it to inspire and inform others. Each month we will select one member of our ROP community to travel to their dream THAI destination and then blog about the experience. If your blog is one of the most popular, you will even get the chance to travel more than once. The resulting blogs will be posted here, so even if you don’t win you can still read the collection of enlightening and informative travel stories. So if you’re as good with a pen as you are with a map and fancy yourself as the next Thai Airways International blogger.

Eurail Pass sales on track for record year

2010 – half year sales results

Utrecht, The Netherlands - Eurail Group's fiscal year has gotten off to a good start as the eco-friendly company announces that sales have risen by 9% in the first six months of 2010; these results are compared to the same period last year.

Although the impact of the ash cloud in April and the global economic crisis to the travel industry has not been entirely erased, the stabilization of worldwide markets in which the Eurail Group G.I.E. operates, reflects positive activity levels. Eurail Group reports that June was a record month with an unprecedented increase of 17.3%. Furthermore, they forecast that the third quarter results, being the peak rail pass travel season, will continue to surpass Eurail Pass sales from previous years. 

Eurail Global Pass and Eurail Select Pass sales have both increased by an average of 9%, meaning that travelers are maximizing their value for money by choosing to travel through multiple countries. "The growth is meeting our expectations despite the current challenging travel and economic environment", says Ana Dias e Seixas, Marketing Manager of the Eurail Group. "We are delighted to report that passenger trends are evolving to favor the Global Pass; this product offers excellent value for money because it allows the traveler to fully utilize the European rail network".

Eurail Group remains committed to its sustainable, long-term environmental goals and is well placed to attract more travelers as economic conditions improve. Furthermore, they continue to increase their marketing activities in growing markets such as China, India, Japan and South Korea.  This has proved a worthwhile strategic approach because the half year report shows that sales have risen by 70% within the Chinese and South Korean market.

Although they recognize that the North American audience is slightly lagging behind with a decrease of -4.8%, Eurail Group suspects that this shows a sign of recovery by acknowledging that the decline for this market was far more dramatic in 2009. "The Eurail Group is optimistic that we are on track to reach our target of 450.000 passengers before the end of the year", concludes Ana Dias e Seixas.

The Eurail Group G.I.E. is dedicated to the marketing and management of the Eurail Pass, a product which has made traveling with European trains increasingly popular since 1959.

Eurail Passes are available from the following authorized sales channels:

ACP Rail International (www.eurail-acprail.com)
Eurail (www.eurail.com)
Flight Centre (www.flightcentre.com)
Octopus Travel (www.octopustravel.com)
Rail Europe (www.raileurope.com - North America)
Rest of the world: www.raileurope.fr)
STA Travel (www.statravel.com).

 

Online travel agent fined for pricing blunder

Source: Travel Mole

A $6000 fine imposed by a court on an online travel agent who misled a customer about airfares is a warning to the industry, Western Australia's consumer protection watchdog says.

The Commissioner for Consumer Protection brought two charges against Best Flights Pty Ltd, which operates www.bestflights.com.au, for breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

The online agent was fined $6000 and ordered to pay court costs, reported Perth Now.

The court heard a consumer went on the Best Flights website and found a Perth to Melbourne flight for $159 and a return flight at the same price.

But after proceeding to the booking stage the total cost was displayed as $579.20 as opposed to $318.

Best Flights refused to honour the $159 flight prices.

It conceded that a false representation was made but blamed pricing data received from the airline and a ticket booking system provider, which it said did not indicate pricing restrictions in relation to flight times.

The magistrate did not accept the defences and found Best Flights had not done enough to comply with its obligations under the Fair Trading Act to ensure information it passed onto consumers was correct.

WA's Commissioner for Consumer Protection Anne Driscoll said the case was an important reminder to travel agents and other retailers that they could not advertise prices they were not prepared to honour.

The new Australian Consumer Law, which comes into full effect in January 2011, will mean even greater penalties for false and misleading representations, she warned.
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