Tag Archives: manhatten

Online discounts ‘blocked’ agents from selling Kuoni, admits new MD

Posted on by
Reply

Online discounts ‘blocked’ agents from selling Kuoni, admits new MD

Oct 05, 2011 07:50AM GMT

Kuoni’s online discount of 5% was the one remaining “blockage” for agents working with the operator, according to new managing director Derek Jones.

Jones made the comments following the operator’s decision to phase out online discounting from the end of this month.

Admitting that the issue of online discounting was “deep-rooted in the trade”, he said it was something he wanted to immediately address once he started his new role this week.

“It’s been under review for some time because it’s all about being multiple-channelled and any tension between those channels is a problem if we are trying to say that Kuoni is all about great service.

“Customers find it jarring if they go into a shop having researched online and then have to effectively start negotiating on price. It’s plainly ridiculous to have agents having to compete with our other distribution channels.”

Jones said the online discounts that had been available on Kuoni’s website had made agents cautious about using the site at all – even the special agents’ section.

“We’ve done so much with training and with working with so many good independent agents through Tipto and Travel Weekly’s Aspire luxury travel club but the online discount was the one thing that kept standing in the way. So as hard as we worked on all those other things for agents, we were never going to get the full benefit until we ditched it.”

Jones revealed Kuoni was adding new functionality to its trade site that would benefit agents.

“We have a dynamic calendar that gives agents the latest price on any date, but it will now also show them the availability left and also if there are any Kuoni Plus special deals to be had. It’s this kind of thing many agents have been missing out on because of the blockage caused by our online discount and they will hopefully now feel comfortable using our site.”

Jones said agents would probably get a chance to convert more sales from the move.

“Having looked at the mechanics, we only need to deliver a small increase in conversion from out independent partners to make it all work.”

Travel agents welcomed the move to drop the online discount, calling it “the best news the trade’s had in years”. They urged other operators such as Hayes & Jarvis and Virgin Holidays to follow suit.

Nick McKay, director of Clapham-based Travel Designers, said: “This will start to send out the message it’s not always about price.”

Dave Criddle Travel homeworker Lynne Fuell said: “I would like to see other larger operators doing the same thing.”

But rival Hayes & Jarvis, owned by Tui Travel, ruled out a similar move. Clare Tobin, managing director of Tui Travel’s specialist businesses, said: “The trade has our best offers in the market anyway.”

British tourist killed in New York helicopter crash

Posted on by
Reply

British tourist killed in New York helicopter crash

By Chloe Berman |  Oct 05, 2011 06:00AM GMT

A helicopter carrying four tourists has crashed into the East River in New York City, killing a 40-year-old British woman.

The privately owned Bell 206 aircraft spun out of control after take-off and fell into the river near 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. It is not clear was caused the crash.

Aboard the helicopter were a pilot and four passengers – a husband and wife, both British citizens, the wife’s daughter, who is also British and died at the scene, and the daughter’s Australian friend.

The 40-year-old victim was recovered by rescue workers and pronounced dead at the scene. The others made it to safety.

The passengers were friends of the pilot’s family: Paul and Harriet Nicholson, a British husband and wife who live in Portugal; the wife’s daughter, Sonia Marra, also British, who died at the scene; and the daughter’s friend Helen Tamaki, an Australian. The daughter and her friend were living in Sydney.

They were meeting up in New York to celebrate the birthdays of Marra and Paul Nicholson, 71. They were sightseeing and had planned to go to Linden, New Jersey, for dinner afterwards, police said.

New York major Bloomberg said the dead woman had been trapped inside the helicopter. US reports named the pilot as Paul Dudley, director of Linden airport in New Jersey, who once piloted a Cessna light plane that made an emergency landing in a Brooklyn park in November 2006 after engine failure.

Statue of Liberty to close for one year

Posted on by
Reply

Statue of Liberty to close for a year

Aug 11, 2011 07:50AM GMT

New York’s Statue of Liberty is to close for a year at the end of October for a $27.25 million renovation designed to make the interior safer and more accessible.

The US National Parks Service, which manages the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, said it will close the monument on October 28, after the 125th anniversary of its dedication, according to Associated Press.

Electrical and fire suppression systems are to be upgraded together with elevators and bathrooms. Liberty Island will remain open and the statue itself will be mostly unobstructed from view, officials said.

The statue was closed after the September 11 terror attacks for security precautions, but the base reopened in 2004 after a $20 million security upgrade. The observation deck at the top of the crown was reopened on July 4, 2009.

The National Parks Service controls the number of visitors to the crown of the statue, saying about 240 people visit each day. About 3.5 million people visit the monument every year.