NEWS
Newly opened shop off ers clients a ‘blog wall’ and destination DVD screenings
Peoplestravel takes new
approach to high street
Chloe Berman
chloe.berman@rbi.co.uk
A new travel agency has opened
in London which promises to
fi t customers’ changing
attitudes to travel during the
economic downturn.
Long-established tour operator
Emerald Global has
opened its fi rst retail store,
peoplestravel, in Baker Street.
In a departure from the traditional
agency layout, the shop
has white walls which act as
large-scale movie screens, a ‘blog
wall’ where travellers can post
recommendations and a screening
lounge where clients can see
destination or cruise ship videos.
General manager Alyn Burgess
said: “We are aware people’s
attitude to travel is changing.
Travel will become a more
www.travelweekly.co.uk
aspirational buy, so they will be
more careful about how they
spend their money and will
want to spend longer researching
their destination.”
The store has 2,000sq feet
of space for displays, which
currently features a model of
a Singapore Airlines aircraft.
From January, peoplestravel
will work with a range of tour
operators and tourist boards to
host themed events with activities
such as food tasting, lectures
from explorers or dance classes.
“The idea is to bring togeth-
From left,
are Mariah
Feirooz,
peoplestravel;
Jas Anand,
Anand Collections;
Annika
Wood, Macau
Tourism and
Ian Hawkes,
Pacifi c
Asia Travel
Association
er the destinations, suppliers
and agents and build a space
where we can work together,”
said Burgess.
Owner Joe Wong has
brought in staff from Emerald
Global’s head offi ce and employed
new agents who specialise
in luxury cruise and gay
travel. There are no normal
brochures on display, but a collection
of miniature brochures
the size of business cards.
“We want to change the way
clients think about travel. We
don’t want people just to collect
brochures and leave with no
idea of what’s going on in the
destination,” said Burgess.
“Customers are invited to
have a coffee and a chat with a
consultant, watch a DVD on a
sofa or browse our touch-screen
computers.”
ONLINE NEWS
Easyvoyage eyes UK
French price comparison site
Easyvoyage is to enter the
UK market with a dedicated
website in time for Christmas.
The company plans to
rival Travelsupermarket,
Cheapfl ights and Kelkoo.
Kayak branches out
Kayak is to reinforce its
eff orts in the German
market and introduce a
channel on its website to
distribute special off ers and
deals for partners. The meta
search engine is to focus
on boosting its presence in
markets outside the UK.
BA mobile check-in
British Airways has
launched remote check-in
via mobile phones with
wireless connectivity.
The service is available
in 11 languages and allows
passengers to log on to
ba.com/mobile using any
mobile device and view the
BA timetable in real time.
November 7 2008 | Travel Weekly | 19
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