Air China has launched the 'Air China Business Travel Card', becoming the first airline in China's civil aviation industry to introduce such a service. There are four types of card available and may be used to store credit, book tickets, collect frequent flyer miles and utilise complimentary services. The cards come with a credit value of RMB 20,000 - 300,000.
Visitor arrivals at Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal in June 2009 show an increase of six percent on the same month in 2008 with Thailand (37%) showing a remarkable year-on-year rise. The figures also show encouraging results, too, from European markets with an overall y-o-y growth of 25 percent.
Want to lure Chinese Travellers to New Zealand? Make yourself visible on the Internet
The Internet is the most popular medium for Chinese travellers seeking information about their trips, according the latest Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor. The Nielsen survey found that travellers will search for conventional destination information ahead of their trips (61 percent of leisure trips taken) before turning to online travel discussion forums (48 percent) to fine-tune their plans. Conventional travel agents were approached on only two in five travel occasions.
The Monitor also uncovered the media expenditure of the top 15 destinations for Chinese travellers as well as spending by national and state tourism bodies. According to Nielsen, in 2008 the total destination media expenditure in China from the top 15 destinations (by visitor number) was close to US$68million. The big spenders were in Asia Pacific with Korea (RoK) accounting for 31 percent of share of voice (SoV). Singapore accounted for some 22 percent SoV, followed by New Zealand, whose '100% Pure New Zealand' grabbed 15 percent.
"With these results showing that the largest proportion of China's outbound travellers, both business and leisure, use the Internet as a pre-trip information tool it makes sense that marketers should leverage that usage to increase the visibility of their own products and deals", says PATA's SIC Director John Koldowski.
Where to find an authentic English breakfast in London
Juicy sausages, thick-cut bacon, velvet-soft fried eggs and crisp buttered toast are the key ingredients of a classic full English breakfast. But anyone who has visited London will know just how easy it is to find a limp, taste-free and seriously overpriced version of the Britain's favorite morning meal. For those planning their next visit, here's a six-pack of road-tested London breakfast spots where you can tuck into the classics or try something unexpected.
River Cafe--Across from Putney Bridge underground station, this immaculate old-school eatery is like stepping back in time. Mosaic floors, art nouveau wall tiles and 1940s dark-wood furniture create a museum ambience, while the average age of the smiling counter staff is around 80. Rock cakes nestle like exhibits in a glass cabinet, but it's the great value in the all-day breakfasts that draws the chatty regulars.
With its bewildering list of 25 similar combinations--you will be reminded of the "Monty Python" Spam sketch while dithering between "egg, bacon and tomatoes" and "egg, bacon, sausage and tomatoes"--most breakfasts cost less than a fiver, or $8.50. And while exotic items such as salmon and vegetarian sausages appear occasionally, it's the simple but perfectly executed traditional fry-ups, pushed from the kitchen through a wooden serving hatch, that hit the spot.
Maria's Market Cafe--Nestled in Borough Market, this unassuming al fresco food stand is recommended for its legendary bubble and squeak, a fried working-class dish traditionally made from leftovers. Comprised here of potato and cabbage--it's crispy on the outside and butter-soft on the inside--it's like an English version of hash browns and accompanies hearty rounds of bacon, sausage and egg.
Nothing is more than the equivalent of $5 at Maria's, and the bubble and squeak turns out to be an ideal breakfast comfort food, especially when accompanied with tangy brown sauce and a steaming mug of strong tea (or "Rosy Lee," as a smiling Maria reminds me). Decamping to one of the green-checked tables to watch the clamorous market unfold around you may be the best way to start any London day out.
Must try: Bubble, bacon and cheese bap, Maria's hangover recommendation.
Information: Borough Market, near London Bridge underground station; breakfast from 5:30 a.m. Wednesday-Saturday.
Med Kitchen--In South Kensington's wasteland of humdrum breakfast options, this midpriced bistro is a standout. Hit the streetside seating on a balmy day or avoid the rain in the calming interior: think chunky wooden tables, earth-toned walls and a burbling jazz soundtrack.
The one-page breakfast menu (prices up to $14) covers the classics, but house specials include vegetarian eggs Benedict with portabello mushroom and a sugar-addicts pain au chocolate served with a bowl of whipped hot chocolate. The delectable eggs royale, a salmon version of eggs Benedict, is recommended. And if, like me, you miss the restaurant's regular breakfast hours it's also available on the lunch menu where it comes with a piled-high serving of thin-cut fries.
Tom's Kitchen--The bee's knees of London breakfast joints, this popular Chelsea bistro is possibly the only place in town where it's worth spending almost $18 for the first meal of the day. Local yuppies flock here for the warming, chatty ambience and a decor resembling a romanticized charcuterie, with gleaming white tiles, golden hardwood floors and artsy sepia prints of butchers and farm scenes.
But it's not just about looks here. The breakfast menu offers eye-rollingly good blueberry pancakes, bulging Belgian waffles and an eight-item full English breakfast that's like a greatest hits of perfect UK breakfast nosh, all sourced from top end suppliers. It includes a lovely herb-flecked sausage; crisp-edged bacon strips; and a rich, pate-like black pudding that easily could turn vegetarians back to the dark side. One caveat: book ahead for weekend brunch because the place usually is packed.
Must try: Full English breakfast.
Information: 27 Cale St., near Sloane Square underground station; tomskitchen.co.uk; breakfast 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday; brunch 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
El Vergel--Hidden on an unassuming southeast London side street, this smashing South American hole-in-the-wall is a genuine discovery. Packed with office workers at lunch, its bargain spicy breakfast selection is highly recommended. Tuck your legs under the communal wooden table at the back and indulge in a stomach-stuffing $8 Latin Breakfast (latte included): It'll set you up perfectly for a day of heavy London wandering.
With piquant chorizo sausage, a lake of spicy beans and a mound of pink scrambled eggs mixed with salsa, there is just room for four pieces of chunky bread to mop up your leftovers. And with cheery Cuban music percolating the air--you'll be tapping your feet while your eat--plus exotic Spanish chatter from the girls behind the counter, it's the perfect place to pretend it's not raining.
Brick Lane Beigel Bake--For breakfast on the run, this legendary, 24-hour, fancy-free bakery is an ideal pit stop. Recalling 1950s cafeterias with its condensation-covered windows and stainless-steel countertops, you will be jostling with cabdrivers and East London hipsters for outrageously cheap, fresh-baked bagels at just 33 cents a pop. You can also make a meal of it with a hot salt beef sandwich ($5) or smoked salmon and cream cheese-filled bagel ($2.50).
Study the menu before joining the fast-moving queue, since the people behind you will not appreciate too much dithering when it's your turn to order. Once you have your goodies, you can stand at the shelf lining the wall opposite or head outside for a strollable breakfast among the bohemian stores and colorful Indian businesses that make Brick Lane one of London's most vibrant thoroughfares.
Must try: Smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel.
Information: 159 Brick Lane, near Aldgate East underground station; breakfast available 24 hours.
Surrounded by beauty, with the world's best gelato at hand, Julietta Jameson finds the magic moments keep coming.
The holy grail for any traveller is that rare, exquisite moment that etches itself into your memory forever. A week in Verona and I had three of them.
The first was at four in the afternoon on my first day, wandering the pretty cobbled streets between the 1290 Sant'Anastasia church and the river Adige, which was flowing strongly from the spring thaw in the Alps. Up ahead, I saw a line coming out of a small corner shop with no signage. No sign needed. At that time of day, I knew a patient queue like that could only mean one thing – gelato artigianale, Italian ice-cream made traditionally with natural ingredients.
I joined the throng and was rewarded for my wait with a huge helping of the best gelato I have ever had ... and I've had some gelato. (I went back every day for the week I was there.)
Slurping ecstatically and strolling a short distance, I came to the Ponte Pietra, a bridge meticulously rebuilt from its original first-century material after being blown up in World War II.
I stopped on the bridge, which connects the old central city to the even older Roman ruins on the east side of the river, to eat, take in the beauty of the city either side of me and watch the rapids below. A family of musicians were playing piano accordion and fiddle for change.
I giggled at how great life could be. Bellissimo.
The second moment was in Piazza delle Erbe. Though a space with many beautiful baroque features, it has been in use as a square for more than 2000 years.
It was a Sunday morning. I sat alone at a front patio table in one of the cafes, drank two coffees, some water, ate a panino and lingered, blissfully watching the world go by and scribbling in my journal for almost two hours. No one tried to move me on. And they charged me only €6 ($10) for the pleasure. Try doing that at San Marco in Venice.
The third was being in the audience at the Verona Arena. Completed about 30 AD and the third-largest Roman amphitheatre in the world, it has been used for gladiator fights, public executions and, lately, is most famous for opera.
There was no opera on while I was in Verona but the US rock band The Killers were in town. I got lucky with a great seat. I danced the night away with an enthusiastic, well-behaved, young Italian audience, made new friends and thought I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at that moment. Verona just might be the Italian city of your imaginings.
It ticks all the boxes of expectations without even trying. This is not a city done up for tourists or geared to their dollar, although it does have its touristy pockets; the house and balcony of Shakespeare's fictional Juliet, for example.
By and large, it's simply a city where modern life blends with monuments of the past. Heritage is just an everyday part of life. It is revered and preserved but not put behind glass. Allowing The Killers to play at the Roman amphitheatre is a perfect example of that.
There is money in Verona. The second-largest city in the Veneto region after Venice, it's surrounded by rich wine country and a lively manufacturing industry. But it is not stuffy or pretentious like Milan, to its west, can be, nor is it jaded like Venice, to the east.
It's small enough to feel intimate, big enough to get your money's worth, clean, safe and easily navigable, its monuments will floor you and it is sigh-inducingly pretty.
It's also perfect for people-watching. Maybe the fact there are two football teams in Verona means it's awash with WAGs, or maybe it's just bellissima-mamma central. The young mums of Verona are something to behold. I've never seen so many fine timepieces paired with tattoos, diamond tennis bracelets with denim, sky-high heels with Hummer-sized prams.
Beauty of a more enduring kind is everywhere. Verona has some of Italy's most interesting and history-layered churches – and they can all be seen on the one ticket, which is valid for several days.
My pick was Basilica di San Zeno, one of the finest Romanesque churches surviving in Italy and featuring frescoes by Veronese.
The Duomo, meanwhile, has sculpture by Nicolo, paintings by Titian and a history that goes back to the fourth century.
The river snakes through town so there are a number of interesting bridges, from the much-loved Ponte Pietra to Ponte Vittorio, an art nouveau beauty guarded by heroic statues at either end. Each bridge affords incredible views of a truly beautiful city, made all the more lovely by surrounding green hills.
Castelvecchio Museum, located inside a castle, includes one such bridge, which shows how the castle was protected by water. One of the most important museums in Italy, Castelvecchio contains works by Rubens, Tintoretto, Bellini and Pisano – and none of them are second-rate. These are seriously great works created by the greats.
But Castelvecchio is so much more than that. The building itself is the Scaligeri castle, which was built in the 1300s and adapted brilliantly to show art – dating from the Lombards to the 19th century – as much as it was to give visitors a feel of the original flow of this extraordinarily intact structure.
Ah, the Scaligeri family. They are everywhere, from their ornate graveyard in the middle of town, to the statue of Dante erected because they welcomed him to town after Florence threw him out. Verona owes much to the Scaligeris.
After the Ostrogoths and the Lombards duked it out in the first millennium AD, control of Verona fell to Mastino I della Scala.
For 200 years, the family – and city – prospered and much of the great stuff that you see today in terms of monuments and architecture comes from the Scaligeris.
Then came the Milanese, Venetians, Napoleon and the Austrians. Verona became part of the republic of Italy in 1866.
Nestled near the northern mountain regions, it suffered badly during the world wars but the people also played a role proved to be a stronghold of the resistance movement.
All this history, even the Roman times beforehand, has left its mark. Piazza delle Erbe alone, with its miraculously surviving handsomeness, has a medieval shape taken from a Roman forum, the baroque facade of Palazzo Maffei, 15th-century frescoes and a 1368 statue of a Madonna standing in a Roman bath. And towering over it all, the astonishing, vertiginous Torre dei Lamberti, one of the world's grandest clock towers, built progressively from 1172 to measure 84 metres in height. Climb the tower for incredible vistas of the city.
Across the river is the lovely Giardino Giusti, considered one of the finest Renaissance gardens in Italy. With its mannered, manicured lower reaches, full of statues, lawns and hedges, to its wilder upper reaches, a layout typical of the Renaissance style, it's a peaceful, evocative place for a picnic or just to spend a hot afternoon.
Verona is not all about past culture, though. Importantly, it's a city where there is plenty of fun of the less-worthy kind to be had.
The shopping is phenomenal; those yummy mummies don't have to travel far for designer gear. From Sephora for top-range cosmetics to all the big Italian designers, this is a place to spend some serious cash – or just window shop. There are plenty of cheaper options, too.
It's also a food- and wine-lover's utopia. With stunning local wines on offer from sundown, when apertivo-time gets into full swing, to late-night fun in piazzas and bars down near the river, it's hard to resist a tipple or two.
The restaurants in Verona are terrific, modern, chic but very aware of their local traditions – just the way you want them to be. Again, the city benefits from the fact that these are establishments set up to serve locals, not to sting the visitors.
So gear up your "grazie", polish up your "prego" and prepare to dine as the Veronese do – deliciously and, of course, late.
And if you can get a ticket to absolutely anything that happens to be on at the Arena while you're in town, do so.
The writer was a guest of Singapore Airlines.
TRIP NOTES
GETTING THERE
Singapore Airlines flies from Sydney via Singapore to Milan, which is great for visits to northern Italian cities such as Verona. Fom Milan, it's easy to get to Verona by train. Consider Verona also if you are travelling to Venice. Again, a mere train ride away.
STAYING THERE
Nina Fiorenza is an Italo-Australian who runs a boutique holiday service from Verona. She has access to great properties, which she has hand-picked. If it's luxury you are after (on a budget to match) and a true local's knowledge with an understanding of Australians, contact Nina at italiadeluxe.com.
WHILE THERE
The Verona Card is great value. Valid for one day it costs €8 (about $13.70) or for three days €12. It includes free entry to museums, churches and monuments and free public transport. It's available from tourist offices and the sights. Gelateria Ponte Pietra is at 23 Via Ponte Pietra. It's open from 2.30pm until late, opening earlier on the weekend and closed on Thursdays.
Step through the entrance to Union Station on Toronto's Front Street West and there's an immediate transformation, as the noise and bustle of Canada's largest city gives way to the library-like hush of the Great Hall. The station itself impresses in both its size and robust construction; opened in 1927, it is one of the finest examples in Canada of the Beaux Arts style – and a national historic site.
Union Station is officially the busiest passenger transportation facility in Canada. So why, three evenings a week, should it take on the reverential air of a cathedral? Because the railway is at the heart of the Canadian consciousness.
High above, inscribed in stone, are the names of towns and cities located along thousands of miles of track: Saskatoon, Churchill, Halifax, Ottawa, Saint John, Prince Rupert, Vancouver. The last-named city, on Canada's Pacific coast, is the main destination for British travellers experiencing a long-distance train trip that is considerably more comfortable than Russia's Trans-Siberian Railway.
The nation's first transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, was completed in 1885. It was an ambitious project, constructed over 2,781 miles of prairie and wilderness. What resulted from this massive engineering feat unified Canada and shaped the young country's future. The railway linked the frontier lands of the West with the more established Eastern provinces and opened new trade routes from the Pacific countries to Europe.
As in the US, competition on the roads and air transport brought the transcontinental passenger service to an end. To save the legacy, the CP was amalgamated with the nationalised Canadian National Railway to form VIA Rail. Now, three times a week, the Canadian departs from Union Station, running through the heart of the world's second-largest country.
The ideal overture for such a trip is a night in the Royal York right opposite Union Station, one of a string of railway hotels built by Canadian Pacific to accommodate rail passengers in the days before sleeping cars; this one, like its counterparts in Ottawa, Banff and Jasper has acquired the Fairmont prefix and an extra dash of elegance.
Next evening, you can step aboard the gleaming steel cars of the Canadian. I was in a "Sleeping Tourer" cabin, the all-inclusive class offering a choice of accommodation either of berths, or cabins with private facilities. I was soon snuggled beneath my duvet. Initially the rattling and juddering of the train was disconcerting, but my roommate had some good advice: "Just go with the movement and let it lure you to sleep."
During the night, the Canadian rumbled into the Canadian Shield, a vast area of bedrock covering more than two-fifths of the country, resulting from glaciation millions of years ago. This is a landscape of rock, forest and lakes: the single province of Ontario contains a quarter of the world's fresh water.
A century ago William Hand described it as "A land where nature started to say something and stuttered a thousand times, an extraordinary region where there is one small landscape constantly shifting." Next morning, I watched the same landscape stutter past from the comfort of the "Park Car" at the back of the train. This exclusive car is for use of Sleeping Tourer-class passengers only. It consists of a domed observation deck above the Mural Lounge (and bar), and the rounded-end Bullet Lounge, providing armchair seating from which to observe the wrap-around panorama, plus a window looking back down the track just travelled.
I was mesmerised by the snaking of the train around boulders, some higher than the train itself, through avenues of pine and along the banks of countless lakes; Ontario means "shining waters" in the language of the native people. In summer the water is a dazzling turquoise blue, undisturbed except for breezes whispering across the top and the occasional canoe slicing through the perfect waters. In winter the only signs of life are dog kennel-sized huts, set in the middle of a frozen lake, each covering a hole drilled in the ice and possibly housing a very cold fisherman waiting patiently for a catch.
With a bit of planning, you could hop off to talk to them: in VIA Rail's bid to make the journey as passenger-friendly as possible, the train will stop practically anywhere with 48 hours' notice. Yet while the expresses on the Trans-Siberian Railway are scheduled to pause at dozens of stations on their way across Russia, the Canadian has only eight planned stops between Toronto and Vancouver. In mid-afternoon we arrived at the first, Hornepayne, which gave us the chance to step off the train and take a close-up look at this silver capsule we were travelling in. The sparkling stainless steel cars were commissioned by Canadian Pacific from the Budd Manufacturing Company of Philadelphia in 1955; more than half a century on, much restored and rejuvenated by VIA Rail, they are hauled across a continent up to 20 at a time by a pair of locomotives the size of houses.
Everyone in Sleeping Tourer – which, in the height of summer, can be as many as 250 passengers – eats in the dining cars. This gives the dining-car service coordinator, Janet Fletcher, logistical challenges as she oversees the team of chefs and dining attendants. But despite the time pressure, everything is just so: china, silverware, flowers and linen set the scene for a menu inspired by Canada's region and complemented by local wines. On the first full evening, Atlantic fish chowder, prime rib of slow-roasted beef and grilled rainbow trout were on the menu. Janet has worked on the train for 30 years: "It is a real privilege to show my country and the heritage of the train to Canadians and visitors from overseas."
Three changes in time zone from east to west provide the bonus of an extra hour to each day. I slept well, now accustomed to the sound and motion of the train, waking to marvel at the night sky, so littered with stars it was like looking at the darkness through a net curtain.
By the time the sun rose on day three, we had crossed into Manitoba – one of the three prairie provinces, the heartland of Canada. The landscape was as flat as a table-top, the horizon uninterrupted. Dawn bestowed a pink hue on the wheat in the fields. The occasional farm brought variety to the view, with barns and a grain elevator painted in primary colours.
"Look!" a voice called out. The first sighting of a car proved an unusual topic of discussion, exemplifying the splendid isolation we had enjoyed for the last 30 hours, followed shortly afterwards by a procession of electricity pylons announcing our imminent arrival in Winnipeg, capital of Manitoba.
Anyone suffering from cabin fever gets a break for up to four hours here. Thirty years ago, Winnipeg was voted "most boring city in the world" by Business Traveller magazine, but it has plenty of interest. You can reacquaint your legs with terra firma as you stroll along the banks of the Red or Assiniboine Rivers, and explore the Forks public market – a historic warehouse, stables and freight terminal transformed into a complex of restaurants, shops and cafés.
Back on board, I was fascinated by the way that my fellow passengers in the Bullet Lounge still seemed to have trouble settling to read their books, pages unturned in favour of the pleasure of staring out of the window. You would be forgiven for thinking that the unchallenging (yet strangely compelling) contours go on forever, but halfway across Alberta – about 60 hours into the trip – the quiet of the Park Car's domed observation deck was interrupted when a fellow passenger exclaimed "The Mountains!".
Across a long, flat carpet of pine and spruce, the snow-capped tips of the Miette Range of the Rockies hoisted themselves on to the horizon. Few could resist their first photo opportunity, and a clatter of shutters rippled through the observation deck.
Over lunch, the train rumbled along the banks of the Athabasca River into the heart of Jasper National Park. This is the largest of the four Rocky Mountain Parks, at 4,200 square miles – rather larger than Essex, and more scenic, too. The train pauses for 90 minutes at the town of Jasper, where the Jasper Park Lodge is the address of choice for passengers breaking their journeys: a collection of hunting lodges surrounded by lakes, rivers, and mountains.
At Jasper a locomotive engineer with the unusual name (especially for a man) of Tracy Klohn joined the train. We got talking. "I love the extremes, the seasons," he told me. "It's fabulous in the January snowstorms, just as much as at 6am coming east out of Kamloops in August."
His highlight of the trip coincided with the lowest point in this stretch of the Rockies: Yellowhead Pass, 3,718 feet above sea level, which also marks the boundary of Alberta and British Columbia.
On this stretch of the trip your head doesn't stop turning for the rest of the day, marvelling at the spectacular sights on offer: Moose Lake, four miles long and the starting point of the Fraser River which flows all the way to Vancouver; Mount Robson, the "Monarch of the Canadian Rockies" at almost 13,000 feet; bison and moose idly standing in a meadows watching us pass by; and further on Pyramid Falls – the water cascading close to the train, spraying the windows with glacial water.
When I woke on the final morning we were rumbling along the bank of the Fraser River, accompanied by great log rafts floating down to the mills.
The suburbs of Vancouver arrived rather too quickly for most of us. As we pulled into Pacific Central Station I asked myself what my abiding memory would be the day I get off the train for the last time. "Travelling in this silver bullet, this moving home, where the world goes on around us." I would say.
Traveller's guide
Getting there
Air New Zealand fly direct from Auckland to Vancouver. You can go on Air Canada, Qantas and other airlines but they all pass through USA, whereas direct Air New Zealand flight flies directly.
Getting across
Tickets for the Canadian are sold by us and other travel agencies in New Zealand. A 12 day Canadian Rail pass costs around NZ$1515 adult, NZ$1363 Senior & Child during peak season, off peak season price is lower.
On board
Cabins are furnished with armchairs that provide an alternative to the public spaces during the day; they are folded away during dinner to make room for the bunks. Each cabin has a private toilet and washbasin, and shared use of showers.
Staying there
Fairmont Royal York, 100 Front Street West, Toronto; Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Old Lodge Road,; Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, 900 West Georgia Street. To book a Fairmont in call us or book directly on their website.
If you are, you are part of the growingly frustrated lot that is returning to offline travel agency rather than booking its travel online. If you dreaded sitting down at your computer the last time you made travel arrangements or felt frustrated by all the time and effort it took to sort through pages of results for flights and hotels, join the crowd.
A new report, to be released Tuesday by Forrester Research, found that far from embracing the do-it-yourself era, many consumers were fed up with the complicated process of planning and booking travel.
“What we’ve seen is growing frustration,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a Forrester travel analyst. “Consumers see other Web sites becoming easier to use — retail Web sites, banking Web sites, media Web sites. But travel is treading water as a category. There are very few travel companies that are really looking to improve the planning and booking process.”
Instead, customers are forced to figure out extra fees, wade through fine print and understand industry terms like the difference between a deluxe and a standard room, in addition to educating themselves about destinations, flights and hotels, Mr. Harteveldt said.
“Travel companies expect the consumer to behave like a travel agent,” he explained. “The question I always ask these guys is, ‘Could your mother-in-law use your Web site without having to call you for help?’ The answer is always no.”
In fact, Mr. Harteveldt said a growing number of consumers appeared to be interested in using an offline travel agency, if they could find one.
“The fact that there are more people now who would consider using a good offline travel agent is telling me people are saying, ‘Enough already,’ ” he said.
Frustrations with various aspects of the travel experience are showing up in other research as well.
In late June, J. D. Power & Associates released its annual airline survey, which found that customer satisfaction had declined for the third consecutive year. Based on responses from 12,900 passengers, the airline industry scored 658 points on a 1,000-point scale this year, down from a peak of 692 in 2006.
The Power survey asks travellers about issues like the courtesy of gate agents and flight crew, aircraft cleanliness, frequency of in-flight updates, ticket prices and fees. Recent fare cuts have not yet improved the airlines’ image.
“Actually, passenger satisfaction with costs and fees is down from last year,” said Dale Haines, senior director for the travel practice at J. D. Power, pointing out that fees for checked bags or services like booking by phone can wipe out any savings on the ticket price.
The latest figures from the Department of Transportation show that the average domestic fare was $315 in the first quarter of 2009, a drop of 12.5 percent from its peak of $360 last fall.
“The fact that airfares have gone down from their peak frankly may not be resonating,” Mr. Haines said.By contrast, the latest J. D. Power hotel survey, released last week, rated the industry 756 out of 1,000. That number captures a wider variety of products than in the airline industry (ranging from economy to luxury hotels), and has been “fairly constant over time,” said Michael Drago, director of the hospitality and travel practice at J. D. Power.
Another widely followed survey, the American Customer Satisfaction Index, has been tracking airlines and hotels annually since 1996, most recently gave the airlines a 64 on a 100-point scale (a slight improvement from 2008) and the hotel industry a 75 (the same as last year).
“The airline score has gone up a little, but it’s still not very good,” said Claes Fornell, a business professor at the University of Michigan and creator of the index. “Compared to most industries, the airlines continue to under perform.”
The airlines that consistently score at the top of these types of customer satisfaction surveys are Southwest, Jet Blue and Alaska Airlines — all three are among the airlines that reported a profit in the second quarter.
As the industry faces what may be a prolonged passenger decline, analysts say companies are under greater pressure to address travellers’ concerns.
“Do you really want to run a business where you’re annoying one out of three of your customers?” Mr. Harteveldt said. “My concern is that this frustration could continue to grow.”
Even the industry’s main trade group, the U.S. Travel Association, has been recognizing the financial impact of what could be called the “frustration factor.” Its survey in May 2008 found that more than a quarter of travellers had avoided at least one trip in the previous year because of the air travel system.
“Before the recession hit, you couldn’t turn on the nightly news without more discussion about flight delays and other air travel hassles people were having,” said Geoff Freeman, senior vice president for public affairs at the association.
The trade group says the root of the problem is an outdated air traffic infrastructure, and has been pushing Congress to finance projects to update air traffic control technology to reduce delays. Some of these initiatives, which could take years to develop, are included in Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bills under consideration.
In the meantime, despite some improvements in airline performance because of a decline in the number of people traveling, Mr. Freeman acknowledged that frustrations remain — especially among the customers the industry counts on for its survival.
“Those who travel the most frequently are those who are most frustrated with the inefficiencies in the process,” he said. “As a society, we need to be thinking, what is the cost when someone says it’s not worth it to travel?”
SYDNEY - Cunard Line has released fares for its 2011 World Voyage programme which will see its newest ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth, make maiden visits to three Australian cities and will feature a Royal Rendezvous in Sydney with her big sister Queen Mary 2 on February 22, 2011.
Launching in December 2010, Queen Elizabeth will depart Southampton on her 103-night voyage on January 5, 2011, and will make 35 maiden calls including visits to Sydney (Feb 22), Melbourne (Feb 25) and Fremantle (March 1).
Meanwhile, Cunard’s flagship, Queen Mary 2, will visit Australia for a fourth time in 2011, with calls to Sydney (Feb 22), Adelaide (Feb 20) and Fremantle (Feb 17) during her 103-night world voyage which includes visits to South America, South Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean.
Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth will also enjoy a Royal Rendezvous in New York with their sister Queen Victoria on January 13 – an historic first meeting of the three Cunard Queens which will follow a tandem transAtlantic crossing by Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth.
The 2011 world voyage programme also offers an opportunity to sail on three ocean liners in one full world voyage.
Guests can board Queen Victoria in Southampton to sail to New York, then transfer to Queen Elizabeth to sail from New York to Sydney before joining Queen Mary in Sydney for the return voyage to Southampton.
The range of world cruises and line voyages on offer include:
- 103-night world voyage onboard Queen Elizabeth departing Southampton on January 5, 2011, visiting the USA, Asia, the Middle East and Europe and transiting the Panama and Suez Canals. Fares start from $25,529* per person twin share
- 24-night voyage onboard Queen Elizabeth departing LA to Sydney on January 29, 2011 priced from $6139* per person
- 41-night voyage onboard Queen Mary 2 departing New York to Sydney on January 13, 2011 priced from $12,309* per person.
Invite your family and friends to visit your country
Prime Minister's John Key's suggestion that every Kiwi should invite thier family and friend living overseas to visit New Zealand is very well thought of idea. It will certainly boost inbound tourism and help increase spending to the benefit of tourism sector. His suggestion can not be more opportune. While New Zealand is trying all avenues to attract foreignes to visit this beautiful island nation, UK is trying hard to shoo away them.
Speaking at a high-profile panel organized by the UK Tourism Society, Lelei TuiSamoa LeLaulu said the new Airline Passenger Departure tax leveled by the UK Government was hindering development in poorer nations by drastically reducing the number of British tourists to the developing world.
"British tourists take and leave more cash to island nations and most developing countries than the UK Government gives in aid," asserted LeLaulu, chairman of the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (www.fspi.org.fj), the largest non-government development agency in Oceania.
LeLaulu was speaking at the Tourism Society debate with the UN World Tourism Organization regarding stimulus for G-20 economies. The high profile panel debate looked at the implications of the G-20 Summit outcomes on the international tourism industry.
"Tourism is the largest voluntary transfer of resources from the rich to the not-so-rich in history," asserted LeLaulu, "and for the most part these tourism dividends go straight to benefit the communities which host the visitors."
Questioning the UK government's taxing of travelers for their carbon emissions, LeLaulu asserted the Green Globe sustainability index indicates European and North American travelers emit less carbon in developing world destinations than they would if they stayed in their own countries, "so UK citizens would be more climate friendly in Samoa or St. Lucia, for example, than they would be at home."
"Instead of deterring travel with these curious taxes, the British and other G-20 governments should issue vouchers worth US $1,000 to citizens of their countries who visited destinations which were climate friendly," he suggested.
"These vouchers could not be used on European airlines but would be cashed in when it was proved the money was used in climate-friendly hotels and other amenities at developing country destinations," he said. "Since the recession is caused in part by people not using their savings," he said, the G-20 economies would be stimulated "when people took money from their savings to pay travel agents and for tickets on their struggling airlines."
LeLaulu was part of a panel which included Lord Thurso MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Dr. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General for the UNWTO, Christopher Rodrigues OBE, Chairman of VisitBritain; Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, Minister of Tourism of the Republic of South Africa; and Professor Geoffrey Lipman of the Christel DeHaan Tourism & Travel Research Institute and Assistant Secretary General of the UNWTO.
I think he is right is suggesting that Instead of dampening travel for its citizens and curbing the flow of tourism cash for developing countries, the British and other G-20 Governments should offer cash incentives to its travelers who visit climate-friendly destinations.
