WORLD TRAVEL MARKET NEWS
Tourist board predicts global crisis will force consumers to delay booking holidays
Visit Florida prepares
for strong lates market
Michelle Perrett
michelle.perrett@rbi.co.uk
Visit Florida’s UK boss has
predicted next year will see a
late booking market for the
Sunshine State as consumers
put off planning their holidays
due to the global credit crunch.
Colin Brodie, director for
UK, Ireland and Scandinavia,
said the destination has had a
strong 2008, with visitor numbers
for the fi rst three quarters
of the year up by 4% on 2007,
boosted in part by the favourable
exchange rate earlier in the
year. However, Brodie said visitor
numbers had tailed off with
currency values fl attening out.
“The jury is still out on how
the 2009 market is going to
be. We expect it to be a late
booking market because of
the economic situation.”
He said the failure of Travel
8 | Travel Weekly | November 14 2008
Figures show that visitor numbers to Florida are up 4% on 2007
City Direct, part of XL Leisure
Group and a Florida specialist,
had taken fl ight capacity out of
the market.
Brodie said: “[Travel City
Direct] had 150,000 seats and
its 2009 programme was 40%
sold. There has been a rush to
protect these bookings. We are
talking to all the major airlines
to supply some of that capacity.”
He added: “There is not going
to be an over-availability of
seats, but there is going to be
sensible pricing.”
He said Virgin Holidays has
bought the Travelcity Direct
database, and is targeting
Letters Delve deeper into what
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frequent fl yers to Florida.
Brodie said the second and
third holiday of the year is in
jeopardy due to the economic
situation. However, he was upbeat
as Florida is a popular
destination for fi rst holidays.
He added Barack Obama’s
win in the US presidential election
could only be good for the
destination and the positive
press coverage has provided a
feel-good factor for the US.
Visit Florida executive vicepresident
sales and marketing
Eileen Forrow said a large
amount of upscale properties
are set to open in the state. The
tourist board is launching a
joint campaign with American
Express called ‘Affordable Luxury’,
offering a range of topend
and boutique hotels.
> See the Visit Florida
dinner on TW TV at www.
travelweekly.co.uk/wtm2008
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TRAVEL WEEKLY’S TOP FIVE WEB STORIES
The most-read news
stories on www.travelweekly.co.uk
this week:
1. Obama win brings hope
to travel industry
2. Travelzest acquisition
off er due next month
3. Cancellation rates
double on winter
bookings
4. Ryanair profi ts halve
as O’Leary touts £10
fares to US
5. Kiss Flights denies
ATOL breach
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IN BRIEF
AITO CONFERENCE
WILL BE IN POLAND
The Association of Independent
Tour Operators’ Overseas
Conference 2009 will be held
in Gdansk, Poland on June
11-14 2009. Conference tours
put together by the Polish
National Tourist Board will
provide opportunities to see
other parts of Poland such as
Warsaw and Krakow.
GREECE FOCUSES ON
QUALITY IN RESORTS
Greece is focusing on
improving the quality of its
resorts. The Greek minister
for tourism Aris Spiliotopoulos
said the country has
improved its infrastructure
and is concentrating on more
quality products such as
boutique hotels.
RAND ‘WILL MAKE
COUNTRY POPULAR’
South African Tourism hopes
to capitalise on the exchange
rate of the rand to entice more
UK visitors. South Africa
Tourism manager of trade
relations Matthew Armstrong
said although the destination
is not cheap, the currency
rate means it is a better
option than the US or Austria.
> More on World Travel
Market at www.travelweekly.co.uk/wtm2008
O’Leary: Ryanair reported a 50% fall in profi ts
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12%
59%
29%
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