GO...UP & AWAY - JAXFAX Travel Marketing Magazine

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EUROPE Rail Hi-Speeds it to the Call for Value for Money By Maria Lisella As Eurostar–the English/French joint venture that gets travelers from central London to a Paris bistro in a little over two hours– celebrates its 15th anniversary, the European Union is fast moving toward the grand gesture of deregulating all of Europe’s railway systems, starting this year. The Eurostar has, no doubt, garnered its fair share of attention over the years as it has managed to bite into the airline market share. Since services first started on November 14, 1994, more than 100 million people have traveled on Eurostar, with an expected count of 10 million at the end of 2009. This particular rail ride has been a tremendous boost to rail travel as Eurostar now accounts for 80% of all passengers traveling directly between London and Paris, while London’s airports share the remaining 20% between them. Passengers traveling to or from London do so from the renovated St. Pancras Station, and in Paris clients go directly to the Gare du Nord. Clients can also opt for Brussels, Belgium or Lille in northern France. But the Eurostar is not the only celebrity in the rail yard. Railteam forecasts that by 2020 the number of international high-speed rail journeys on the Railteam network will have increased by at least 50 percent, with 68 million international trips being made per year compared with 45 million made in 2007. Railteam is an alliance between Europe’s leading high-speed rail operators, currently Deutsche Bahn (Germany), SNCF (France), Eurostar (UK, France and Belgium), NS Hispeed (Netherlands), ÖBB (Austria), SBB (Switzerland) and SNCB (Belgium), as well as three of their highspeed subsidiaries Thalys, Lyria and Alleo. Frédéric Langlois, president and CEO of Rail Europe, the major distributor of all rail products in the U.S., predicts that deregulation will further push the traveling public, both business and leisure traffic, toward total reliance on high-speed rail for short-haul travel. He has indicated in the past that the rule of thumb is that when rail travel time averages less than two hours or less, it grabs about 90% of the market share and when it is three hours or less, it takes about 70% of the market. Deregulation Will Broaden the Base & Travel Trends From October through December 2009, Rail Europe Inc. reported sales of 16% over the same period last year, while the number of passengers purchasing rail increased by 28%. “The increasing popularity of rail travel is due to the fact that it continues to offer the traveler the best experience and value for money, both of which are key factors in a down economy,” says Langlois. With the onset of deregulation however, the competition will heat up starting with Eurostar, although according to Eurostar chief executive Richard Brown that may not happen this year or next year. Reports in Rail Technology indicate that rival providers could come in the form of Deutsche Bahn, which would like to run direct services from London to German cities like Frankfurt and Cologne. Deutsche Bahn has already indicated that it is organizing its timetables from Brussels to Frankfurt and Cologne to match those of Eurostar’s arrivals, ensuring the waiting times from the U.K. to Germany move passengers in a streamlined way. The EUROSTAR Eurostar in Waterloo, London Netherland’s state-run railway company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen is also eyeing the Channel Tunnel between London and Amsterdam. Rail Europe reports an interesting travel trend that shows that an increasing number of travelers are choosing to purchase point-topoint tickets particularly in Italy, Spain, and France. The growing popularity of point-to-point tickets in these countries is easily attributed to the expansion and development of new high-speed routes in Spain over the last two years and in Italy as recently as December 2009. Indeed, according to the Eurail Group, Italy climbed the charts to become the second most popular country of choice for Pass holders while the One Country Pass available for Italy is currently the best selling Eurail Pass overall. Further, what has always seemed a pipe dream may actually come to fruition in the next seven years. Italy has approved funding to build the Messina Bridge, set to be the world’s longest suspension bridge. The 12,000 ft-long rail-cum-road bridge will link the island of Sicily to the Italian mainland. The bridge, to include four tracks for a highspeed railway line along with a highway, is expected to carry 200 trains daily and replace the slow ferry service between the island and mainland. Construction is expected to finish in 2017. Travel trends for 2010 point to the fact that value for money will continue to be one of the deciding factors this year, and travelers will search out the best deal and the best discounts. Eco travel is another growing trend and trains can help travelers reduce their carbon footprint. Traveling by high-speed trains generates 10 times less green house gas emissions than flying. With the growth of mobile applications and capabilities, mobile phones will play an important role in travel planning. Rail Europe plans to launch its mobile application in May 2010 so that visitors planning summer trips to Europe will have easy access to planning and booking tools to create their trips. Last fall, Rail Europe introduced an upgraded travel agent booking site, agent.raileurope.com, that now includes Amtrak USA Passenger Rail products in addition to the broad range of European rail passes and tickets previously available on the site. The site offers dynamic new features that allow travel agents to book train tickets in Europe & North America, explore detailed train and train station information, as well as access order history status and easily view agent commissions. Langlois stated, “We recognized the need to offer sophisticated online booking technology. Our new website provides travel agents the tools to easily and efficiently research, plan and book European and American rail vacations for their clients…we are thrilled to offer access to the American train market through our new partnership with Amtrak.” “The ability to reach rail centric travel agents through Rail Europe is vital to increasing the number of international passengers on board Amtrak trains,” said Emmett Fremaux, Amtrak’s vice president of marketing and product management. “We welcome the opportunity to work with Rail Europe to offer our products to even more travelers.” Call 888-382-7245; www.agent.raileurope.com 36 EUROPE WWW.JAXFAX.COM FEBRUARY 2010
Aeroflot’s Grand Opening at Terminal D Moscow and certainly Aeroflot will shed the last vestiges of their “Cold War” shabbiness this month on the opening day of Aeroflot’s new Terminal D at the Sheremetyevo International Airport. Its is expected to become Russia’s main air hub as well as home to most of Aeroflot’s domestic and international flights and its SkyTeam members and partner carriers. The Terminal is being touted as an architectural masterpiece as it displays digital copies of famous paintings from the State Russian Museum and the National Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts throughout. It has already won accolades such as the “ARX Award” that ates Russian architecture and development and the original architectural plan was nominated for the “Best Transport Infrastructure Object.” The most modern, comfortable and hi-tech facility at the Sheremetyevo airport, Terminal D can accommodate up to 12 million passengers annually, nearly doubling the capacity of the airport. Since November, Aeroflot has been moving its own flights and flights operated by its partners to the new Sheremetyevo Terminal D, located next to Terminal F (Sheremetyevo 2). Aeroflot’s 77 international flights, 33 international flights by partners and SkyTeam member carriers, Aeroflot’s 38 domestic daily flights, 7 flights by DonAvia, and 16 by Aeroflot Nord. Thirty of Aeroflot’s longhaul flights including some within the CIS countries, will remain in “Sheremetyevo-2” and in terminal C. Aeroflot also announced upgrades and changes for the airline including the arrival of a new Airbus 330-200 and changes to the airlines flight schedule. The A330-200 boasts 34-business class and 207 economy class seats. The IFE on board allows passengers to select “multi-channel video/audio programs; the world’s latest films and Russian films; international and Russian music videos; popular animation movies; musical albums by various performers; audio books; and interactive video games,” an Aeroflot spokeswoman said in one online report. For the U.S. market additional flights are among the most significant schedule changes: Flight 316 from JFK to SVO will now depart from New York at 7:05 p.m.; Flight 315 from SVO to JFK will now arrive in New York at 5:00 p.m.; as of June 1st through September 30 four additional flights will be added, bringing the total to 11 flights weekly from New York’s JFK airport to Moscow; and Flights SU317 and SU318 between Moscow and Washington will now operate on Thursdays. Agents are cautioned to advise clients to make sure their flight is on the list of flights departing from Terminal D at the entrance to Terminal D, if it does not appear on the list, refer them to the information desk. If their flight departs from another terminal of the Sheremetyevo airport, they will be invited to exit 6, where passengers can board shuttle buses to other terminals. The buses depart every 10 minutes. AEROFLOT Aeroflot Business Class Aeroflot was the first Russian carrier to enter the IOSA Registry, and has multiple times confirmed the certificate. Aeroflot has successfully passed the ISAGO (IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations) procedure. Aeroflot operates one of Europe’s youngest air fleet that consists of 115 aircraft. Aeroflot is based in Moscow, at the Sheremetyevo International Airport. Since Oct. 2009, the Aeroexpress Train has been streamlining passengers’ way to Moscow’s Belorusski Train Station to Sheremetevo Airport. Aeroxpress train tickets are now offered at the airline ticket offices, so agents can save clients’ time by getting both tickets simultaneously. For more information on Aeroflot, visit www.aeroflot.ru or www.aeroexpress.ru POLAND? WE CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE! As America’s #1 tour operator to Poland since 1946, we have an in, whatever you may require. GROUP TRAVEL. HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS. CAR RENTALS. FLY/DRIVE PROGRAMS SPA VACATIONS. FITS. INCENTIVES. CONSOLIDATOR AIR TICKETS ON LOT POLISH AIRLINES (THE ONLY NON-STOP TO POLAND FROM 3 U.S. GATEWAYS) ORDER FREE 2009 BROCHURES AT WWW.AMTA.COM CALL TOLL FREE TODAY 800-228-0877 FAX: 212-581-7925 | 505 8 AVE. NEW YORK NY 10018 VISIT: AMTA.COM VISIT: WWW.LOT.COM FEBRUARY 2010 WWW.JAXFAX.COM EUROPE 37
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Page 14: SUPERCLUBS RESORTS Snapshots 41-74
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Page 19 and 20: COUPLES RESORTS CARIBBEAN & BERMUDA
Page 21 and 22: CARIBBEAN & BERMUDA NEWS & BEST BUY
Page 23 and 24: FT LAUDERDALE To:MONTEGO BAY DAILY
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Page 37 and 38: Revealing Destinations ! LOUIS MAJE
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Page 66 and 67: GRAND VELAS ALL SUITES & SPA RESORT
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