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  • Bad weather is excellent news for holiday companies

    The travel experts at Directline Holidays (www.directline-holidays.co.uk) report telephone booking enquiries are up 15% and online searches are 30% previous to forecasts for Directline Holidays in line with an identical time frame last year.

    Maria Whiteman, CEO of Directline Holidays said: “This time last year we were enjoying a heat wave. This week we’ve seen the bookies slashing the chances on bets for a White Easter so it’s unsurprising such a lot of British holidaymakers are searhing for solace and booking a sun trip to peer forward to.”

    Whiteman added: “Britain’s bad weather has created a flood of passengers desirous to fly to sun soaked destinations akin to Egypt, Cape Verde, Balearics.”

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  • News: American Airlines announces leadership changes

    American Airlines has revealed that Bev Goulet was promoted to senior vp and chief integration officer for American Airlines.

    Last month, Goulet was appointed to steer the merger transition planning and integration coordination efforts with US Airways on behalf of yank. Immediately just before her appointment, she served as vp of corporate development, treasurer and chief restructuring officer.

    “For American, Bev has led the foremost successful airline restructuring in history, leading to savings of greater than $2 billion around the enterprise, and in addition played the lead role inside the merger evaluation process,” said Tom Horton, chairman, president and chief executive officer, American Airlines.

    “Bev is a skilled leader who will play a major leadership role in helping to set up a framework for the recent American to be very successful.”

    With Goulet’s move to the hot position, Peter Warlick have been promoted to vp and treasurer for American Airlines.

    “We are fortunate to have a person of Peter’s caliber on our team who’s capable of step into this key role.  Peter has the depth and breadth of expertise, having served in various key financial functions at American and having led major company-wide initiatives,” said Bella Goren, chief financial officer, American Airlines.

    Previously, Warlick served as managing director of fleet development, where he has played a key role in helping to execute on American’s historic aircraft fleet order in July 2011. Sooner than his role in leading American’s fleet development strategy, Warlick served in a number of leadership positions in the Finance organization, including managing director of treasury and managing director of corporate finance and banking. Warlick joined American in 1994 as a financial analyst.

    Warlick holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of industrial and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Denison University. 

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  • Preparing for your Holiday

    The majority of people book a holiday with plenty of time remaining, some even count down each day to their booked holiday date. Too make sure your fully prepared before you leave, bestholidaylettings are offering you a quick preparation guide.

    No, this is not the ‘remember your passport’ kind of guide. Firstly, have an idea of what you want out of your holiday, think of things you’d like to do, and research online to find out how you can make it happen. There so much information out there to be found, and you don’t have to wait until your there to see what’s on offer.

    Know how much money you need to take and get the exchange rate when it’s okay. We know this is unpredictable, but whenever you feel the rate is at a good or reasonable price, take it, it’s better than regretting it later.

    Do not over-pack. Most of the time people take items on holiday that do not get used, whether its a pair of jeans, hair straighteners or a big tub of hair gel. Airlines are becoming stricter and stricter on luggage weight, and there really is no need to take the risk, so picture yourself and holiday, and think ‘am i really going to use this?’

    Take important documents, and no not just your passport. There’s travel insurance, hotel and flight information, just take everything so you have it ready when someone asks for it. Again back to the suitcase; think about whether you’re going to bring gifts back, and make sure there’s space for those items.

    Holidays booked early are beneficial, but to make sure you see the benefits, prepare early. You can even start thinking about what you want in your hand luggage.

  • European Driving Holiday

    Heading out on the open road in a different country can be a scary prospect, but it really doesn’t have to be.

    Driving holidays offer a type of freedom that you can’t gain elsewhere. Rather than being limited one particular town or country, you can drive to the areas you want. Most package holidays can include public transport to popular areas, but who says that’s where you want to go?

    Driving holidays tend to be associated with America, such as driving from one state to another, perhaps ending in Vegas. Yet Europe also offers jaw dropping scenery and a fantastic open road feel. As an example, Best Holiday Lettings recommend the route from London to Barcelona. Why? Because there is so much to see, not only do you drive through three countries, you see the lifestyle and weather change (and improve) significantly in stages.

    The half way point on this journey is the centre of France, but before you make it to half way, stop off in Paris, the route runs directly through it. Not many people can say they were on a long drive and decided to have a cheeky stop off in Paris. Though you are technically driving through three countries, Barcelona is situated extremely close to the South of France, and the journey will offer tremendous views of beaches from France to Spain.

    Why not put down the plane ticket and take the ferry over to France in your own comfortable vehicle, it could be the holiday that tops the rest.

  • News: Miami set for record visitors in 2012

    Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) President & CEO William D. Talbert, III, CDME announced today that overnight visitors to bigger Miami and the Beaches increased +3.5% to a record-breaking 13.9 million overnight visitors in 2012, fueled by a +5.2% increase to a record 6.8 million international visitors and a rise of +1.8% to a record 7.1 million domestic visitors. 

    This marks the third consecutive year of record overnight visitors to the destination.         

    A record $21.8 billion in visitor expenditures was generated in 2012, a rise of +5.1% over the former year with international expenditures representing 70% of the full vs domestic. 2012 marked the fourth consecutive year of records on records for visitor spending. 

    “For the third year in a row, the strength of the Miami brand continued to draw record overnight visitors, generating record employment within the leisure and hospitality industry,” says Steven Haas, Chairman of the GMCVB Board of Directors. 

    “With a brand new record high of 112,300 industry jobs in 2012, Travel and Tourism continued to set the pace for the community’s recovery from the recession with three consecutive years of increased employment.”     

    In July 2012, the GMCVB unveiled its new branding campaign to capture its evolution by launching the “It’s So Miami” program in top global markets, including Big apple, Brazil and Germany. 

    The new tagline and eye-catching imagery showcases contrasting visuals of iconic destination scenes juxtaposed with people making the most of cultural attractions.  The hot campaign captures the vibe and diversity of way of life in Greater Miami and The Beaches.  “

    The Bureau’s aggressive marketing and expansion of the preferred summer and shoulder season promotions, including Miami Museum Month, Miami Romance Month, Miami Spice Restaurant Month, Miami Spa Month, Miami Attractions Month and Miami Live Music Month were enjoyed by more visitors and residents than ever in 2012,” says Talbert.       

    During 2012, the GMCVB continued its international expansion to 40 locations in 30 countries, which included extensive expansion within the Brazil market.  Cities/countries added to the worldwide network in 2012 included Ny, San Francisco, Jamaica, Bahamas and further cities in Brazil. 

    Among the end 25 hotel markets inside the U.S., Greater Miami and the Beaches’ ranked #4 for revenue per available room (RevPar), a rise of +7.9% in 2012 to a record $124.92.  Hotel room occupancy also ranked #4 with a rise of +1.3% to a record annual average of 76.4%, and average daily room rate (ADR) ranked #4 with a rise of +6.6% to an all time high of $163.59. 

    A record 13.4 million hotel room nights were sold in 2012, representing a +2.5% increase over the former year.  These sales generated a record $60.4 million in Convention Development Tax (CDT), a +8.5% increase over 2011 CDT collections.

    A record 19.8 million passengers were welcomed on the new Miami International Airport (MIA) in 2012, a +3.0% increase over 2011, which incorporates a record 9.8 million international passengers up +5.3% over 2011 and a record 10 million domestic passengers up +0.9% over 2011. 

    With 96%of overnight visitors to bigger Miami and the Beaches arriving by air in 2012, Miami International Airport is important to the success and growth of the travel and tourism industry.

    “Both MIA and the PortMiami are pillars of our travel and tourism industry,” states Talbert.  Within the last quarter of 2012, PortMiami welcomed an unprecedented seven new cruise ships in eight weeks further solidifying the port’s ranking as Cruise Capital of the sector.

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