LETTERS
Letter of the week
Push perks, not salaries
After reading your article ‘WTM
student zone to plug careers in
travel’ (Travel Weekly, October 17)
I was shocked that Claire Steiner is
encouraging students to accept
low-paid jobs within the industry
and justifying this with the fact
that student loan repayments are
delayed if their wage is under a
certain amount.
I graduated three years ago and
am still paying my student loan.
Salaries are too low for
graduates within the industry.
The only way to sell a career
in tourism is to list the positives,
such as industry perks and
career development, not
encourage people to become
further in debt by agreeing to
low salaries and avoidance of
loan repayment.
Once graduates start to repay
their loan, they will probably be
surprised by the fact that the
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courtesy of Trinidad and Tobago.
Blue Waters Hotel
rescue operation
After returning from the Caribbean
recently and being left stranded by
Carib Aviation and Liat during our
travels to Anguilla and Nevis, I
would like to thank all the staff at
the Blue Waters Hotel in Antigua.
We lost two days of our holiday
on Nevis as Carib Aviation
cancelled our fl ights without
letting us know. On the day we
repayments hardly even cover the
monthly interest being charged.
How about encouraging travel
fi rms to start more graduate
schemes/better paid jobs to help
pay towards those large loans that
we had to take out in order for us
to further our careers?
Thea Wall Coomber, operations
executive, Voyages Jules
Verne, London
were due to fl y to Nevis, Carib left
us at the airport and would not
even let us call our hotel to say we
would not be arriving as it was an
international call. I called Blue
Waters and, without hesitation
I was told we would be found
somewhere to stay.
Even on the day of Hurricane
Omar on our return to the island
the hotel staff offered us a room in
their fabulous Cove Suites.
Alistair Forrest should be proud
of the team he has. Clients were
www.travelweekly.co.uk November 7 2008 | Travel Weekly | 33
singing his praises and those
of other staff.
Thanks for all your help.
Julie Powell, villa and hotel
specialist, Worldwide Dream
Villas, Alderley Edge, Cheshire
Car renters should
change thinking
Following your recent article on
green trends in business travel
(Travel Weekly, October 17), at
Europcar we are fi nding that
business renters are certainly
driving fewer miles than they were
a couple of years ago. And we are
seeing some businesses moving
employees into smaller vehicle
groups as part of a their travel
policies. But are the drivers and
fl eet managers generally opting to
go into smaller cars? From our
experience, the answer is no.
While the public is buying new
vehicle types, business renters still
favour lower medium hatchbacks
or upper medium saloons.
It’s time renters started
re-evaluating why they choose
certain types of car. Selection
should be made based on the
number of people travelling, the
space needed and the distance.
Businesses should also be looking
beyond the cost of the rental, to
the overall effi ciency of the car.
We are making this easier for our
customers by providing information
on average CO2 emissions for each
of our car groups, .
Tim Bailey, fl eet director, Europcar
UK Group, Bushey, Hertfordshire
Write to
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Travel 2 offers an
alternative service
Travel 2 fully understands the
frustrations agents have with
additional paperwork that may
appear unnecessary (‘Try email
instead of a 15-page letter’, Letters,
Travel Weekly, October 24).
However, under ABTA
regulations, Travel 2 must inform
agents of any change that may
affect fl ight connections or other
travel plans. This means that,
regardless of how small the change,
agents will receive details of the
amendment.
To avoid agents receiving long
letters detailing amendments,
Travel 2 has offered online
confi rmations via the Civil Aviation
Authority-approved AXS-One
online delivery service since 2005.
AXS-One allows tour operators to
provide travel confi rmations,
invoices, itineraries and other
documentation electronically to
agents who can instantly view
updated confi rmations, thus saving
paper and postage costs.
Travel 2 recommends that agents
sign up to the AXS-One service to
avoid too much paperwork. A
member of the Travel 2 sales team
has been in touch with someone at
Abbey Travel Worldchoice to help
them sign up to the service.
It is a priority that Travel 2
operates in the most time and
cost-effi cient manner, with a keen
eye on the environment.
Caroline MacLeod, operations
director, Travel 2, London
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