Informe semanal Reino Unido elaborado por la oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Londres
- Tourism industry
Travel Weekly, 8 February 2019: WTM London generates record £3.4bn in deals
New event features and growth in the global tourism industry helped last year’s World Travel Market London to facilitate business deals totalling almost £3.4 billion. Independent research estimates the 2018 event will generate the record amount, either through contracts signed at WTM London or from negotiations with WTM Buyers’ Club members, which will lead to deals signed before WTM London 2019. WTM London 2017 generated travel industry deals worth £3.1 billion. Furthermore, WTM London 2018 saw visitor numbers rise by more than 4% to a record total of 32,462, and there were 4,664 exhibitors from 182 countries and regions. Link
Travel Weekly, 4 February 2019: Travel Counsellors reports record January
Travel Counsellors has smashed its all-time sales record, breaking through the £5 million barrier on Thursday. January 31 saw the highest figure achieved in a single day with £5.1 million in sales. This came as the company reported a 15% rise in sales in January over the same peak month last year. The company achieved global sales of £82 million. Six out of ten of the firm’s top sales days were achieved in January. Link
- Brexit
Status update
On week commencing February 4th, prime minister Theresa May attended meetings in Northern Ireland with the different political parties, including the DUP, whose votes she needs in Parliament, and who are totally opposed to the current version of the controversial backstop. She is due to fly out to Brussels on Thursday to plea with the EU to amend the policy, following their claim last week that they will not reopen the legal text of the withdrawal agreement that had been negotiated with the UK. Link
Trade news
Travel Weekly, 7 February 2019: No-deal Brexit will see return of roaming charges
Brits holidaying in the European Union will face the immediate return of mobile phone roaming charges if no Brexit deal is reached. The HuffPost reported that “a little-noticed government regulation laid before parliament on Tuesday (February 5) confirms that the UK will revoke the current legislation that allows holidaymakers and business people to use their smartphones in the EU at no extra cost”. The draft statutory instrument means that from March 29 phone users will be liable for surcharges when using phones in the EU. Link
Travel Weekly, 7 February 2019: Brexit uncertainties prompt long-haul sales
Families are looking farther afield for their annual holiday, but rising prices and Brexit uncertainty are hitting sales, agents and operators say. More than half (53%) of agents polled by Tipto exclusively for Travel Weekly reported more demand from families for long-haul or breaks beyond Europe. Barrhead president Jacqueline Dobson said “farther-flung destinations [are] becoming more appealing [to families]”, while Tui said Florida had been particularly popular. Link
Travel Weekly, 4 February 2019: No-deal Brexit ‘threatens 700,000 jobs’
More than 300,000 UK travel and tourism jobs could be at risk and almost 400,000 in Europe if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The stark warning comes in new analysis by the World Travel & Tourism Council. It claims that a no-deal Brexit would have a damaging impact on one of the UK’s most important economic sectors, which contributes £213.8 billion to GDP – 10.5% of the total – and supports four million jobs – 11.6% of the total. It found that In this situation, a no-deal Brexit would result in:
• A loss of 308,000 jobs in the UK economy
• A loss of 399,000 jobs in the rest of the EU
• A loss of £18.6 billion in GDP to the UK economy
• A loss of £22.0 billion in GDP to the economies of the rest of the EU
Travel Bulletin, 7 February 2019: Brexit to impact on airline industry
Financial Services company Moody’s has published its outlook on fundamental business conditions in the global passenger airline industry over the next 12 to 18 months. Among the main conclusions are a forecast for passenger demand exceeding capacity again, despite an ongoing slowdown in passenger demand. However, the report authors added that the growth differential between demand and capacity is likely to narrow as economic growth slows. Link
- Airlines
Buying Business Travel, 7 February 2019: Norwegian loses £131m in 2018
Norwegian has reported a net loss of nearly 1.5 billion Norwegian krone (£131 million) in 2018, blaming fuel costs, engine problems and “tough competition”. The news looks bad for the low-cost carrier, which has been introducing a series of cost-cutting measures to improve its results. The loss is a significant increase on the £27.4 million deficit recorded in 2017. Although Norwegian saw total revenue grow 30 per cent to NOK 40 billion (more than £3.6 billion), the airline says its profits were hit by high fuel prices, costs related to issues with Rolls Royce engines on Dreamliner aircraft and “tough competition” in its markets. Link
Travel Mole, 11 February 2019: EasyJet chairman: We’re ready for no-deal Brexit
EasyJet insists it is ready for a no-deal Brexit but continues to monitor wider external risks. Chairman John Barton met with shareholders today to reassure them of the airline’s Brexit contingency plans. He said although the airline is well prepared ‘operationally’, it remains focussed on the ‘broader external risks’ that could emerge, in particular in the event of a no deal. «These risks may be sector and/or non-sector specific and their impact is, by definition, less certain,» he said. Link
Travel Weekly, 7 February 2019: Ryanair urges action to avoid another ‘summer of chaos’
Ryanair has urged pan-European action to avoid another summer of chaos caused by air traffic control strikes. The budget carrier blamed air traffic control staff shortages for delaying more than 2,900 of its flights in January. Punctuality dropped back from 91% of flights being on time in January 2018 to 90% last month, excluding air traffic control-related delays. Link
- Travellers and travel agents
Travel Weekly, 7 February 2019: Jet2 expands Northern Lights breaks to Iceland
Jet2 and Jet2CityBreaks is more than doubling trips to Iceland to view the Northern Lights next winter. The company will operate 32 flights to from six bases, including 12 trips in October and November and 20 between February and April, 2020. Flights from East Midlands airport are being introduced for next winter’s programme of short breaks to Iceland. The expansion came as the first flight took off from Glasgow airport. Link
Travel Mole, 6 February 2019: All-inclusive packages are top choice of holidaying Brits this year
More holidaymakers are planning to book all-inclusive packages this summer than in previous years, according to comparison site TravelSupermarket. It said there had been a 14% increase in searches for all-inclusive holidays, which accounted for 31% of all holiday price searches on the Travelsupermaket site for summer 2019. This compares with 19% for B&B, 16% for half board, 15% self-catering, 15% room-only and 4% for full board.
According to TravelSupermarket, the top 10 most affordable holiday resort areas are:
1. Costa Brava, Spain (-5% median price reduction, compared with last summer)
2. Agadir, Morocco (-14% price drop for this summer compared with last on all-inclusive package holiday prices)
3. Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain (-14%)
4. Costa Dorada, Spain (-14%)
5. Sunny Beach, Bulgaria (-1.5%)
6. Turkey (Kusadasi and Bodrum and Antalya) (no year on year change)
7. Costa Blanca, Spain (-12%)
8. Corfu, Greece (-4%)
9 Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain (-8%)
10 Crete, Greece (no year on year price change)
- Competitors
Travel Bulletin, 8 February 2019: Spring and summer fun in Switzerland
Switzerland Tourism has launched an early campaign for 2019 highlighting a range of special events to attract visitors to the country particularly from April onwards. From April 9-13, Zermatt Unplugged will be on – this is a music festival held in Zermatt, a town better known for winter sports. Performers will include Tom Odell, Boy George and Passenger, with 80 concerts across 13 different locations in the village and three in the mountains. Link
