LETTERS
Letter of the week
Dubai is defi nitely in demand
In response to your article
(October 31) Decline of pound
hits UK tourists, I would like to
challenge the assumption that the
‘plummeting of the pound’ means
‘Dubai could lose British tourist to
countries closer to home’.
There is no question the industry
faces challenging times, but the
assumptions in your article did
not dig deep enough into the reality
of this unique destination. That
reality is that Dubai has maintained
its position as the destination of
choice for discerning travellers
who seek a fail-safe world-class
holiday. It off ers guaranteed sun,
138 direct fl ights a week from the
UK, and an increasingly diversifi ed
premium product.
Dubai has recorded a 9% yearon-year
increase in visitors from
the UK and Ireland for the fi rst
three quarters of 2008 keeping
this market, still the world’s
biggest to Dubai, on track to deliver
almost 880,000 visitors this year
alone. Through turbulent times,
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We try to get it
right on brochures
We’re all witnessing momentous
and worrying international
economic events but still brochure
distributors seem to be the easy
target of the day (Letters, October
24). I would like to correct yet
another misconception that implies
Dubai continues to experience
strong consumer demand, and
off ers great year-round earning
potential for agents. The outlook
as we move into 2009 remains
buoyant too. Although UK
travellers are expected to take
fewer holidays during the
economic downturn, they will
search for quality and unique
experiences and Dubai will
continue to deliver.
Ian Scott, director, UK and Ireland
representative offi ce, Government
of Dubai Department of Tourism
and Commerce Marketing
distributors have suddenly invented
a ‘disposal fee’ to encourage tour
operators to deliver brochures that
are nearing the end of their life.
The contract between
distributors and tour operators
provides a value-for-money delivery
price that includes unloading
pallets as they arrive from printers
and the fi rst few months of storage.
It also clearly states that if
brochures are not used we will
charge the tour operator for storing
them. If we didn’t do this, it means
we would have unloaded them,
provided storage space, stocklisted
and reloaded these brochures for
free, which we cannot afford to do.
All surplus brochures are sent to
mills for recycling. It is the tour
operator’s choice to spend more
delivering them in the hope of
picking up late bookings.
Brochure distribution is not a
perfect science but please give our
staff some credit occasionally for
the efforts involved in providing
what is, after all, still one of the
trade’s main sales tools.
Steve Martin, director of sales and
marketing, BP Travel Marketing
Services, Ashford, Kent
Make a mint from
‘essential’ sales
I read the article last week on
add-ons with particular interest.
When I was with BCP we never
called them add-ons or ‘extras’
we called them essentials and
that’s what they should be called
now more than any other time.
It is all about customer service
and retention. Offer the complete
service and they will almost certainly
come back. Think about the one in
four who will drive to the airport and
park, think whether your customer
would prefer meet and greet and/or
a lounge, as well as airport hotels
and attraction tickets, travel
insurance, foreign exchange and car
hire. There should be well over £100
Write to
‘Letters page’, Travel Weekly, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton,
Surrey, SM2 5AS. Fax: 020 8652 3956; email: travel.weekly@rbi.co.uk
All correspondence must be accompanied by a name, job title and
company address. These will be withheld on request. We reserve the
right to edit letters. The deadline is Monday, 10am.
of essential revenue with every
booking. Don’t lose it by letting your
customer book it online.
Eric Campus, former sales and
marketing director, BCP, London
Are you ready for
insurance rules?
I would like to make travel agents
aware of the new insurance law that
comes into effect on January 1 2009.
Unless they are authorised to sell
insurance by the Financial Services
Authority or appointed as an
Authorised Representative they
will they be unable to sell or offer
their own travel insurance to clients.
They will also be unable to offer,
sell or advise with regard to Tour
Operators’ Travel Insurance.
Derek Ketteridge, director
Ketteridge Group, Brighton
PC Coach is top
for cruise training
I recently went on a PC Coach for
training on Royal Caribbean,
Celebrity Cruises and Azamara
Cruises’ CruiseMatch booking tool.
I would like to congratulate
Michelle and David on the
professional way the training was
carried out and how much I learnt
in a short space of time. If you get
the opportunity to visit the PC
Coach, grasp it with both hands!
Jane Bernstone, managing
director, Jesmond Travel Bureau
and The Cruise Bureau, Jesmond,
Newcastle upon Tyne
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