Informe semanal noticias Reino Unido elaborado por la oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Londres
- Tourism industry
Travel Bulletin, 22 February 2019: ABTA opens registrations for Travel Convention 2019
Registration for The Travel Convention is now open, with this year’s event taking place in Tokyo, Japan from October 7-9. The Convention will be held at the Prince Hotels & Resorts, Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, which is directly connected to the International Convention Center Pamir, where the business sessions will take place. All delegates will stay at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa, which is centrally located in Tokyo with direct access to Haneda International Airport, Shinkansen (bullet train) rail lines and only a few minutes’ walk from Shinagawa Station – one of the largest in Tokyo. Link
Travel Weekly, 21 February 2019: Heathrow performance takes off
Heathrow is claiming 2018 as a “milestone” year with passenger numbers climbing 2.7% to more than 80 million. The airport will release detailed plans for its preferred third runway expansion masterplan in further consultation in June. It remains on track to submit a planning application next year and for the first flights to use the new runway in 2026. Link
Travel Weekly, 21 February 2019: Gatwick drone chaos ‘thought to be result of inside job’
Police reportedly believe a current or former airport employee was behind the incident on December 19 that grounded aircraft over three days, with 1,000 flights cancelled and 140,000 passengers affected. Analysis of police witness reports, including from the most senior members of staff at the airport, have led officers to believe that the drone was probably operated by someone who knew the layout of the site, according to The Times, quoting Whitehall sources. Link
Travel Weekly, 20 February 2019: Tunisia state of emergency extended
A long-standing state of emergency in Tunisia has been further extended until March. The month-long extension from February 5 was revealed in revised Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice to the North African country yesterday. The state of emergency, which has been extended a number of times, was imposed after suicide attack on a police bus in November 2015, which followed twin terror attacks on foreign tourists in Tunis and Sousse earlier that year. Link
- Brexit
BBC, 15 February 2019: Theresa May’s strategy unchanged despite Tory row over defeat
This week, MP’s rejected a motion to endorse Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiating strategy with the EU regarding Brexit. Despite the latest government defeat, this vote had no legal force and Theresa May will return to Brussels for more talks on February 20, with the Irish backstop again being the main point of focus. Link
BBC, 15 February 2019: Eight Labour and three Tory MPs have resigned to form a new independent party
On February 18, seven Labour MPs resigned and formed a new independent party due to their former party’s handling on anti-Semitism and Brexit. Two days later, another Labour MP and three Tory MPs also resigned and joined the breakaway group. Link
Trade news
Travel Weekly, 22 February 2019: UK-EU flights ‘to continue’ even with no-deal Brexit
Flights between the UK and European Union are to be maintained without interruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The EU’s proposed regulation on air services connectivity has provisionally been agreed for after the UK’s March 29 exit. Aviation minister Liz Sugg said: “Passengers can continue to book flights with confidence as the EU has provisionally agreed legislation ensuring flights will continue in a no deal scenario. Link
Travel Weekly, 21 February 2019: Eurotunnel parent set for short-term Brexit impact
Channel Tunnel operator Getlink claims to be Brexit prepared on the back of record financial figures for 2018.The company’s net profits rose by 16% to €130 million as revenue increased by 5% to more than €1 billion. Chairman and CEO Jacques Gounon said: “The group has seen its ninth consecutive year of growth and has had an exceptional 2018 from both operational and financial perspectives with results that exceed market expectations. Link
Travel Weekly, 21 February 2019: Brexit blamed for Benidorm bookings dip
The number of Benidorm summer holidays booked by Brits dropped dramatically in January, with Brexit uncertainty blamed as the main reason. Bookings for summer 2019 are down by 6% so far, but the regional hoteliers’ association Hosbec reported that sales in January fell 15% because of British consumers’ worries about a no-deal Brexit. The association said only 46,000 packages were sold last month, compared to 54,000 in January 2018. Link
Travel Mole, 21 February 2019: Gibraltar row means Britons might need £52 visa to travel to EU
British tourists might need to apply for a £52 visa to travel to the EU after March 29 due to a fresh argument over the status of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory. Although remaining EU member states had agreed to exempt UK nationals from requiring a visa to travel to continental Europe after Brexit, Spain has insisted that the legislation being drawn up to allow this to happen should include a footnote describing Gibraltar as a ‘British colony’. However, this was rejected by the European parliament, which denounced the description as ‘colonial language which has no place in the world’. If the member states are unable to reach an agreement on the wording in the next few weeks, there will be no visa exemption for UK travellers to the EU after March 29. Link
Buying Business Travel, 20 February 2019: Buyers urged to ‘keep calm’ in run-up to Brexit
Travel buyers have been advised to “remain flexible and agile” to deal with the potential disruption caused by a no-deal Brexit. With the UK set to leave the EU on 29 March and no sign of an end to the political impasse over a potential deal, the subject was top of the agenda during a conference session on Brexit and the Global Risk Outlook at the Business Travel Show in London. Link
- Airlines
Travel Mole, 21 February 2019: Ryanair to open Toulouse base
Ryanair will open a new base at Toulouse in October as part of its winter 2019 schedule. It will base two aircraft at the airport with 20 routes, 11 of which are new. The new routes are Alicante, Brest, Budapest, Lille, Luxembourg, Marseille, Oujda, Palermo, Porto, Tangier and Valencia. Link
TTG, 22 February 2019: EasyJet unveils baggage app
EasyJet passengers can now scan their cabin bag to check its size before they leave for the airport using a new option on the airline’s app. The new app feature, which uses Apple’s ARKit 2 technology, works by using augmented reality combined with customers’ smartphone cameras. The scan itself provides an on-screen 3D box which, when combined with the phone’s camera, measures the cabin bag and indicates whether it fits within the maximum dimensions. Link
TTG, 18 February 2019: British Airways launches new London-Munich route
The year-round, three-times daily service to the Bavarian beer capital – home to Oktoberfest – leads in from £64 each way (hand baggage only) based on a return journey. It expands BA’s German network from London City to four routes. BA has also increased frequency to Berlin from London City to 18 return flights a week. In total, BA now operates 82 return flights a week to Germany (Munich, Berlin, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt) and 34 routes from London City airport. Link
- Travellers and travel agents
Travel Weekly, 20 February 2019: Travel counsellors model ‘changing’
An increasing number of Travel Counsellors agents are employing their own staff or partnering with fellow agents to “liberate talents” and grow their business. Travel Counsellors claims to have developed five types of home‑based models to meet the differing needs of its agents. Link
- Competitors
Travel Bulletin, 22 February 2019: Maldives witnesses record increase in UK arrivals
The Maldives has announced an impressive 10.2% year-on-year increase in the total number of UK visitor arrivals in 2018, when compared with 2017.In total, 114,602 UK tourists arrived in the Indian Ocean destination from January – December 2018, compared to 103,977 in 2017. December alone saw 10,784 UK tourist arrivals in the Maldives, representing an increase of 11% when compared to the same month in 2017 when 9,717 UK travellers arrived in the Maldives. The UK represents the second largest European inbound market for tourism to the Maldives and the third largest globally, with holidaymakers from the UK counting for 7.7% of total arrivals to the Maldives in 2018. Link
Travel Bulletin, 22 February 2019: Ras Al Khaimah attracts more than one million visitors in 2018
Ras Al Khaimah has attracted a record 1,072,066 visitors from domestic and key international markets in 2018, with the UK as the third international source market. The emirate’s Tourism Development Authority, in the consolidated results it announced, reported a 10% growth in visitors compared to 2017, led by the UAE domestic market which continues to generate 38% of overall visitors. The third largest international source market was the UK, with 63,054 visitors, up 11.5%. Link