Tag Archives: Tui Travel

Sunsail rebrand to broaden appeal

Posted on by
Reply

Sunsail rebrand to broaden appeal

By Phil Davies

Sunsail rebrand to broaden appealYachting specialist Sunsail is seeking to encourage more holidaymakers onto the water with a brand revamp.

The new brand identity is being unveiled this week in an effort to appeal to a wider customer base.

Research by the Tui-owned operator found that potential customers find it difficult to engage in sailing holidays due to a long list of perceived barriers to entry – it’s expensive, it’s too hard, it takes too long to learn, it’s cramped and uncomfortable and it’s “not for me”.

The company’s priority is to cater for the needs of ‘new to sailing’ consumers by helping them to more easily discover and experience the range of activities and holiday options available in destinations.

Sunsail provides a fleet of more than 800 yachts in 27 locations worldwide and runs a Beach Club in the Mediterranean.

The new brand identity reflects that “whoever has an experience with Sunsail has a sense of personal fulfillment,” the company said.

Head of global marketing Simon Conder said: “It is important that Sunsail retains its established values but at the same time develops a new and modern identity.

“The rebranding exercise will ensure that we get the right message out there. We feel it’s important to let people know what Sunsail stands for and ultimately make it easier for our current and potential clients to choose our brand and products.

“The brand identity now reflects and supports the leading position and landscape for Sunsail.

“Sunsail shares with its customers an incredible enthusiasm for sailing and its holidays offer zest, vitality and, above all, fun for all”.

Prices start at £399 per person for a seven-night Beach Club holiday on a half board basis at Sunsail Club Vounaki in Greece including flights from Gatwick, transfers and watersports.

Tui Travel to push for widening of package law scope

Posted on by
Reply

Tui Travel to push for widening of package law scope

By Ian Taylor

Tui Travel to push for widening of package law scopeTui Travel will lobby in Europe to have the proposed Package Travel Directive tightened and airline sales of holidays redefined as ‘customised packages’ rather than ‘assisted travel arrangements’.

If successful, Tui’s proposals would extend the liabilities of a package organiser to airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair.

Mike Bowers, Tui Travel UK’s general counsel, said: “We will say click-through sales are competing with our core offering and with dynamic packages, so should be treated as full packages.”

He said: “The EC is seeking, as far as it can, to capture all true holiday arrangements in an expanded definition of a package and has made a pretty good fist of it.

“The directive has been drafted with the intention of bringing in airline click-throughs, which fall within the definition of assisted travel arrangements where there is a transfer of booking data, but not personal data.

“We would like to see the same conditions apply to anything a customer thinks of as a holiday.”

Bowers added: “Anyone who cares about regulatory fairness, and fairness for the customer, should welcome the directive. It’s not perfect, but the European Commission has done a pretty decent job.”

He said: “Holidays need to be protected. You frequently have an intermediary who is not the end supplier, a service provided overseas and holidays purchased in advance.

“The market has changed since the 1990s, but for the customer these considerations are still relevant.”

Thomson launches flights with ‘world’s most-modern’ aircraft

Posted on by
Reply

Thomson launches flights with ‘world’s most-modern’ aircraft

By Ian Taylor

Thomson launches flights with 'world's most-modern' aircraftThomson Airways launched commercial services with the Boeing 787 on Friday, taking 290 passengers from Gatwick to Mahon, Menorca, on the Dreamliner’s maiden UK-operated flight.

Dave Burling, UK managing director of Thomson parent Tui Travel, said the 787 added a key piece to the company strategy of offering upmarket ‘differentiated’ holidays.

The aircraft will be deployed from next month on services to Cancun and Orlando and later to Thailand, Mauritius and the Pacific coast of Mexico.

Burling said: “The Dreamliner is important in differentiating our long-haul holidays. The flight is a bigger part of a long-haul holiday.”

He added: “We are very confident with the product at the other end.” Burling revealed Thomson opened 35 exclusive or differentiated properties in May.

The company describes two-thirds of its mainstream hotel product as ‘differentiated’, a proportion Burling said would increase. More than 90% of hotels in the programme are exclusive to Thomson.

The state-of-the-art Dreamliner is touted to transform long-haul flying because of its fuel efficiency and range, and the comfort it offers passengers.

Thomson Airways had planned to launch its summer 2013 long-haul programme with the 787 on May 1, but only took delivery of the first of its eight Dreamliners at the end of May.

The aircraft was grounded worldwide in January following a battery fire and only resumed flying last month.

Thomson will launch its long-haul 787 programme on July 8 with flights from Glasgow to Cancun and Manchester to Orlando. Gatwick flights will start the following day and services from East Midlands at the end of July.

The airline will add flights to Phuket in Thailand this winter – the first direct flights to the island from the UK – and to Mauritius and Puerta Vallerta in Mexico next summer.

The company has yet to announce plans for other destinations, but the 787 is capable of flying non-stop from the UK as far as Hawaii.

In the meantime, many passengers on Thomson Airways flights around the Mediterranean will get to experience the aircraft as the airline uses short-haul flights to familiarise its crew.

Those aboard on Friday and Saturday had been told in advance they would fly on the 787, but passengers on future short-haul flights will only find out at the airport.

The pilot, Captain John Murphy, told passengers: “This is a historic day for Thomson Airways. You are the first to fly on the 787 in the UK.

“We’ve been modernising our holidays and flights, and the 787 is the most modern aircraft in the world.”