Best Holiday Lettings

Category: News

  • News: Turkish Airlines outlines $6.9bn Boeing order

    Turkish Airlines has confirmed a deal to purchase 95 planes from Boeing.

    The airline revealed it might buy 20 planes in 2016, 20 in 2018, 15 in 2019, 30 in 2020 and ten in 2021 from the usa aircraft maker.

    It said the purchases were made to fulfill a necessity for narrow-body planes.

    Some 70 of the orders were firm ones, and 25 were options.

    The orders are for 20 of the B737-800 aircraft, 65 of the B737-8 MAX model and 10 of the B737-9 MAX plane.

    Boeing said the list price value for the 70 firm orders was US$6.9bn.

    Last month, Turkish Airlines said it will buy 117 narrow-body planes from Boeing’s European rival Airbus between 2015 and 2020.

    Of these 82 are firm orders, and the carrier has options to purchase yet another 35 aircraft.

    Turkish Airlines carried 39 million passengers in last year, with the figure expected to succeed in 46 million passengers by the top of this year and 90 million passengers by the tip of 2020.

    The carrier saw nearly US$8 billion in turnover in last year and that is aiming to succeed in US$18 billion by 2020.

  • Laurus Corporation completes $2.7m hotel renovation and rebranding

    Laurus Corporation, a U.S.-based private real estate investment and development firm, announced that it has completed the $2.7 million renovation of the Ramada Suites Hotel at New Orleans Airport and branded the power as a vacation Inn Express.  The renovation included an entire overhaul of the guestrooms, public areas, exterior facade and landscaping. Additionally, a brand new management agreement was signed with an area management company to enhance overall guest satisfaction and function.

    Laurus Corporation acquired the 130-room lodging establishment in March 2012. Situated on the entrance of James Business Park, an upscale, 200-acre business park offering greater than two million square feet of economic space, the hotel is straight away adjacent to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, which serves approximately 9.7 million passengers per year, the vast majority of them non-connecting travelers.

    “In 2012, the variety of visitors statewide was projected to succeed in 24.8 million individuals with total visitor spending estimated at $9.1 billion,” said Philip Cyburt, Chief Executive Officer of Laurus Corporation. “The hotel’s proximity to a bustling airport and its location in a vigorously recovering market will make it a chief destination for visitors.”

    “The extensive renovation program will enhance the hotel’s brand in a well-performing marketplace in addition to increase the asset’s performing value,” said Austin Khan, Chief Investment Officer of Laurus Corporation.

    Exterior renovations include a brand new pool deck, courtyard deck and fountain, landscaping surrounding the valuables and a brand new paint job.  The lobby, breakfast area and conference rooms feature new flooring, lighting fixtures, window treatments, furniture and televisions. Guestrooms will showcase new flooring, furniture, lighting and window treatments, and upgraded fixtures within the guest bathrooms.

    The hotel features 3,000 square feet of meeting space, two on-site restaurants, a 189-car automobile parking space, and worthwhile fitness and business centers among its competitors.

  • Focus: Gamification boosts OTT’s eLearning engagement by 65%

    New OTT website sees 65% increase in agent engagement
    * Gamification key to growth

    OTT re-launched its website in November 2012 focussing on improving the user experience to encourage greater user engagement.

    One of the most important new elements was the launch of ‘OTT Achievements’ where members are encouraged to ‘earn’ virtual badges by undertaking particular training activity. Examples include the ‘OTT Newbie’ badge (for passing 1 course), ‘OTT Guru’ (for passing 100 courses) & ‘Eur-reka!”” badge for completing 5 European training courses. The sort of feature may be which is called ‘Gamification’.

    Five months on, OTT has reviewed the effect of the brand new features including OTT Achievements and may report that the hot website has led to a normal increase of 65% in user engagement with some clients benefitting from an uplift of over 300%.

    The 65% figure was reached by comparing what number course passes each client received before and after the OTT re-launch (excluding months where proactive eMarketing had taken place) i.e. what percentage courses did people complete without being promoted to via eMarketing. Detailed results available.

    OTT plan to roll out further achievement badges in 2013.
    OTT are hosting a unique seminar on Gamification in travel at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai in May.

    Bruce Martin, Operations Director of OTT said ““We’re really happy with the consequences because it shows that good design and innovation can deliver a major uplift in online activity. OTT were very keen to include Gamification into our agent learning experience via achievement badges to encourage activity without the desire for proactive marketing”“.

    Texas Tourism launched 6 courses at the new OTT site. Agents completing these 6 courses unlocked a ‘special edition’ Texpert badge. All Texpert badge holders were invited to wait a unique event in London on 20th April where one ‘Texpert’ badge holder will win a VIP trip to Texas.

    Diana Stevie, the Senior PR Manager, Office of the Governor, Texas Tourism said: ““We couldn’t be more happy with the Gamification aspect of our OTT modules. We were attempting to find a viable approach to encourage agents to profit all of the six Texas courses, and believe that gamefying this system as OTT recommended is likely one of the key reasons we’ve seen such success. In line with past performance indicators and records provided by OTT, we’ve got greater than simple instinctual belief that this was a successful venture – we’ve got hard numbers that back up the price of such gamifications and shall we, as i discussed, not be more proud of our results thus far.”“

    Gary Bates, Sales Development Manager. Flexibletrips said ‘‘Since the brand new version of the OTT website was launched, we’ve seen a certain increase in module passes versus a similar period within the previous year”“

    Natalie McLean, Operations Director for cheap Car Hire, said: ““Since the launch of the recent OTT website and achievement badges we’ve seen a marked uplift within the variety of course passes. The brand new website features make it far easier for users to access information and what’s particularly encouraging is that the enhanced success rate have been achieved with none additional marketing activity. For us the recent, advanced features mean OTT is much more powerful, enabling agents to coach online and gain the boldness and talents they have to sell car hire to customers.”“

    Travel Agent Feedback The response from travel agent training members have been very positive:
    ““The badges come up with a feeling of accomplishment, I’m pleased with my OTT Guru status!”” Elaine Hennessey, Mid Counties Co-op

    ““The new site is visually appealing and the achievement badges encourage you to be told.”” Kathy Hudspith, KH Premium Travel

    ““The new site is informative and straightforward to navigate and the badges provide help to track what you’ve learnt.”” Amy Atkinson, Thornton’s Travel Service

    www.ott.travel

  • News: Qantas announces greater access to China

    Qantas today announced a big expansion of its codeshare agreement with China Eastern Airlines, giving its customers better access to major cities in China and meeting strong demand from the business market.

    From 1 May 2013, Qantas will codeshare on China Eastern’s daily Melbourne-Shanghai services in addition to its Sydney-Nanjing-Beijing services, which operate 3 times a week.  Qantas will even begin codesharing on China Eastern’s domestic Shanghai-Nanjing flights.

    The expanded codeshare arrangements mean Qantas customers can choose between 17 direct Qantas or China Eastern services between Australia and mainland China each week – with onward connections via Shanghai to 11 domestic destinations. Qantas also has codeshare services on China Eastern flights between Singapore and Shanghai, with connections to Qantas flights operating from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

    There are not any changes to Qantas’ existing daily Sydney-Shanghai service.

    Qantas International, Manager China, Andrew Hogg said the extra codeshare services were portion of the wider strategy announced in February 2013 to bolster the airline’s presence in Asia.

    “We are building on our strong relationship with China Eastern to support growing corporate travel and tourism between Australia and China,” Mr Hogg said.

    “The new codeshare arrangements provide Qantas customers with a regular, non-stop connection from Melbourne to the worldwide business hub of Shanghai, alongside Qantas’ established Sydney-Shanghai flights.

    “Qantas customers may also book flights operated by China Eastern from Sydney to Nanjing, China’s second-largest commercial centre, and onwards to Beijing.

    “China Eastern and Qantas have worked together since our first codeshare agreement in 2008 and more recently on our Jetstar Hong Kong three way partnership.  We’re more than happy to be strengthening this partnership further with today’s announcement.

    “In February we announced more seats and a higher schedule for Qantas flights to Singapore and Hong Kong, the 1st phase of our technique to be the primary choice for travel between Australia and Asia.

    “We said we might expand Qantas’ Asian network through our airline partnerships and we’re now delivering on that promise. Qantas International offers 130 flights to Asia a week, with direct flights to ten cities (11 with the addition of Nanjing to the network), and fares available with partner airlines to over 120 more cities in Asia.

    “We’re investing within the customer experience, with new lounges in Singapore and Hong Kong to open later this year and an A330 reconfiguration program to commence in late 2014,” added Mr Hogg.

    Qantas customers can book the brand new China Eastern codeshare services from today for travel from 1 May 2013, through qantas.com or travel agents.* Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn and redeem points on all eligible flights inside the China Eastern network.

  • News: AC Hotels by Marriott continues European expansion

    Marriott International, Inc. has continued the growth of its three way partnership with AC Hotels with the outlet of 2 new properties – the AC Hotel Nice at the French Riviera and the AC Hotel Sant Cugat in Catalonia, Barcelona.  Both new hotels may be welcome additions to the AC Hotels by Marriott brand, which launched in 2011 and now offers over 80 hotels across Europe.

    After an in depth renovation, the AC Hotel Nice opened on 1 April 2013. The 143-room downtown hotel overlooks the Mediterranean Sea just steps from Promenade des Anglais.  Standout hotel features include a wide ranging terrace with heated swimming pool and a calming hotel Zen garden.

    In addition to 22 suites, the hotel has three conference and banqueting rooms, accommodating as much as 100 guests.  The Acropolis Congress Centre is simply a brief distance away making it ideally appointed accommodation for business in addition to leisure travellers.

    The AC Hotel Nice is the second one AC Hotel by Marriott hotel to open in France joining the AC Hotel Ambassadeur Antibes-Juan Les Pins, which opened last summer.  Another French property, AC Hotel Paris Porte Maillot, was announced in September 2012 and is determined to open in early 2014.

    The newly opened AC Hotel Sant Cugat is conveniently located within the business area of Sant Joan. The hotel has 152-rooms and several other function rooms for meetings and events.  The hotel’s AC Lounge is a horny, multi-purpose space open 24 hours where guests can relax with free wi-fi.
    The affluent suburb of Sant Cugat del Valles is abundant with beauty and heritage and has convenient connections to central Barcelona.  Local attractions include the Benedictine monastery of Sant Cugat and the medieval castle Castell de Canals.

    “We are delighted to be developing the presence of AC Hotels by Marriott in France and across Europe with these two exciting new openings in such current locations,” said Amy McPherson, president and managing director for Marriott International in Europe.  “Nice and Sant Cugat del Valles are popular destinations for both business and leisure travellers and fit perfectly with the brand’s associated modern comfort and concrete style.”

    The new hotels join over 80 existing AC Hotels by Marriott throughout France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.  AC Hotels by Marriott is a part of Marriott Rewards, among the world’s largest hospitality loyalty programmes with over 37 million members.