Sir Richard Branson's letter to Qantas

Sir Richard Branson's letter to Qantas
If Virgin Atlantic fails to fly to Australia (within 18 months, say) I’d be prepared to suffer the indignity of donning one of your stewardesses brand new designer outfits and will work your flight from London to Australia serving your customers throughout

Take off for EU pet passports - 28-Nov-03. - 06 Nov 2003

Take off for EU pet passports - 28-Nov-03. - 06 Nov 2003: "As from 3 July, owners of pets (specifically cats, dogs and ferrets) will need a suitable passport if they take them abroad, proving that the animals have vaccinated properly, following a decision officially adopted yesterday by the European commission"

Lastminute looks perfect for Diller

Lastminute looks perfect for Diller

IAC chairman Barry Diller has spent almost £3bn this year. He bought the rest of Expedia, the largest internet travel agency, for £1.9bn, online mortgage broker Lending Tree for £425m and holiday company Hotwire for £390m.


British Waterways selects Active Hotels
British Waterways selects Active Hotels: "Inland waterways bring Britain over £1.5 billion in visitor income with over 10 million people visiting the waterways every year. Now visitors can also book hotels directly as British Waterways have signed an exciting deal with Active Hotels to power real-time booking of over 2,500 British hotels on their industry leading website Waterscape.com "

The E-commerce for the Travel Industry Forum

The E-commerce for the Travel Industry Forum: "In 2002, 6.25 million people visited Yorkshire's national Tourist Information Centre to obtain a wealth of local information on accommodation, attractions, events, eateries and public transport"

The E-commerce for the Travel Industry Forum

The E-commerce for the Travel Industry Forum: "1. (5.31 %) Multimap.com http://www.multimap.com
2. (2.94 %) easyJet http://www.easyjet.co.uk
3. (2.66 %) Streetmap.co.uk http://www.streetmap.co.uk
4. (2.50 %) RyanAir.com http://www.ryanair.com
5. (2.26 %) Expedia.co.uk http://www.expedia.co.uk
6. (2.22 %) lastminute.com http://www.lastminute.com
7. (1.72 %) National Rail http://www.nationalrail.co.uk
8. (1.66 %) British Airways http://www.britishairways.com
9. (1.53 %) The Automobile Association UK http://www.theaa.com
10. (1.26 %) Visit London Offers http://www.visitlondonoffers.com"

Brits encouraged to holiday at home - 24-Nov-03. - 06 Nov 2003

Brits encouraged to holiday at home - 24-Nov-03. - 06 Nov 2003: "However a VisitBritain spokeswoman denied this was confusing. She told TravelMole: 'We have clear guidelines and funding ringfenced for promoting England. It was a decision that was made by the Department of Culture Media and Sport and we don't see any confusion. It has allowed us to get campaigns for England up and running very quickly"

Stelios to launch intercity minibus service - 24-Nov-03. - 06 Nov 2003

Stelios to launch intercity minibus service - 24-Nov-03. - 06 Nov 2003

EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is set to launch his latest brainchild - easyBus - in the UK “in the following months.”

According to the statement on a hastily constructed webpage at WELCOME TO EASYBUS.CO.UK: "the new company will provide “intercity, point to point, medium distance minibus services” that avoid using expensive city centre coach stations.

Figures for Ryanair & easyjet

UK discount airline EasyJet reported full year results for the period ended 30 September. Passenger numbers were up 79%, and revenue was up 69%. Costs per available seat mile flown dropped 7.5%, and the average fare was a mere £43.28 ($73.50). Pre-tax trading profit was up 7% to £96 million.

And its arch-rival, Ryanair, has just finished an offer that is surely hard to beat. They were not only giving away free tickets, but were also contributing £1 towards the cost of the taxes on the free tickets. This makes Ryanair the first airline to ever pay passengers to travel. Ryanair said that they had allocated 40% of their total seats during the period 20 Nov - 20 Dec to be given away on this promotion.

Amazingly, Ryanair is also a profitable airline. Let's hope that the US carriers choose to copy this promotion!

Designing for Decisions

Designing for Decisions: "One of the greatest misconceptions about web sites is that they should be designed for selling."

Online agents will introduce service fees

Online agents will introduce service fees - 12 Nov 2003: " In this low or zero commission environment, it is inevitable that online agents in Europe will start charging service fees,"

US visitors return to Britain - 07 Nov 2003

US visitors return to Britain - 07 Nov 2003: "Visit Britain claims that the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that US visitors are returning to the UK"

UK online market dominated by 'big hitters' - 07 Nov 2003

UK online market dominated by 'big hitters' - 07 Nov 2003: "Travel websites that dominated the UK market in the first half of this year aren't being pushed out by newer rivals."

Optimize Your Home Page for New Visitors

Optimize Your Home Page for New Visitors: "Optimize Your Home Page for New Visitors" I like the first idea for baby centre, we can adapt it to ask for the readers post code so we can serve them up reletive content.