NEWS
Somak sales are up on last year, but African Safari Club is scaling back
Mixed reports on
Kenya comeback
Edward Robertson
ed.robertson@rbi.co.uk
Tour operators are giving
mixed reports of their Kenyan
business as the destination
recovers from the problems it
endured at the beginning of
the year.
The country descended into
chaos and political riots in
January – which led to more
than 1,000 Kenyans being
killed – following the presidential
elections at the end of
2007 which were believed to
be rigged.
However, despite the country’s
tourism minister predicting
it would take a full year
for its tourism industry to recover,
one operator said its
sales are already back to
expected levels.
Somak Holidays managing
director Ash Sofat said weekon-week
sales since the beginning
of October have been
between 15% and 30% higher
than the same period last
year. The operator’s overall
16 | Travel Weekly | November 7 2008
Tourists
feel safe
in Kenya
once more
Battlefi eld breaks on the up, says Leger
Travel agents should brush up on
their war history to take advantage
of a number of upcoming anniversaries,
a tour operator is urging.
Battlefi eld tour specialist Leger
Holidays head of retail sales Ashley
Dellow said the operator has
already seen a record number of
bookings for November as customers
seek to commemorate the 90th
sales for the year are now level
with last year as prices remain
unchanged from 2007.
He added: “There’s a lot of
pent-up demand – people who
wanted to book in January and
February are seeing it is fi ne to
book now and are doing so.
African Safari Club director
of sales, marketing and business
development Daniel Sykes
said the operator has halved its
UK capacity to around 112
passengers a week since the
troubles began.
anniversary of the end of the First
World War.
With Leger’s chief specialist
First World War battlefi elds guide
Paul Reed appearing on BBC Two
programme The Last Day of World
War One this month, and the 65th
anniversary of the D-day landings
next year, the operator has added six
tours to its 2009 programme.
The operator has sold one
of its Kenyan hotels and put a
further two up for sale, leaving it
with four core properties.
Sykes said: “We’re going
back to our roots and focusing
on the safari and hotel business.
Also with the global fi nancial
situation it made sense to
downsize a bit, improve what
we’ve got and build it back up.”
For daily news go to
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Dellow said: “We have seen interest
in Battlefi eld tours increase
year on year. Landmark dates in
First and Second World War history
are fuelling people’s interest in
gaining a greater understanding of
the events that unfolded in Europe.
“We are urging agents to prepare
for an uplift in booking enquiries
around these historic tours.”
BROCHURE UPDATE
Cosmos Holidays
Second edition
Florida 2009
A new cruise-and-stay section
allows customers to book
any of the programme’s
featured properties along
with a week’s cruising in the
eastern or western Caribbean on Carnival’s
Carnival Glory superliner. Prices start at £999.
Contact: 0871 423 8518
Balkan Holidays
Third edition
Summer 2009
Brochure with fi ve new
weekly regional departures
from Exeter, Leeds
Bradford, Edinburgh,
Belfast and Southampton
to Dubrovnik. There is also a new weekly
fl ight from Prestwick to Bourgas in Bulgaria.
Contact: 0845 135 1114
Sunvil
Discovery’s 2008/09
Real Azores
Twitchers will be abuzz
with a new full-day bird
watching tour in Sao
Miguel and the inclusion
of one-day volunteer
programmes assisting with the conservation
of the Azores bullfi nch. Big game fi shing for
marlin and tuna is also available.
Contact: 020 8758 4722
Kirker Holidays
Christmas Markets
2008
Brochure features Cologne,
Hamburg, Munich, Warsaw,
and Strasbourg for the fi rst
time, bringing the number
of cities on off er to 19.
A new twin-centre itinerary also allows
customers to combine Berlin with Dresden.
Contact: 020 7593 2283
www.travelweekly.co.uk
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