Tui Malta sold to Cyprus's Aeolos Travel

Mosta, 28/09/05 - Tui Malta has been sold to Aeolos Travel of Cyprus.

An upbeat Sotos Stephanou, Aeolos managing director, had this to say about the new development: "It is with great pleasure that I welcome everyone at Tui Malta to our family and I look forward to a successful relationship that will, I`m sure, prove beneficial to all."

Founded in 1933, Aeolos is the oldest travel agency in Cyprus; it now has 10 branches on the island plus offices in Lebanon. Moreover, Germany's Tui AG owns 50 per cent of its shares.

Tui AG is also the sole shareholder of Tui Malta; consequently the sale is not expected to affect the day-to-day operation of the Pieta-based company.

Robin Oakes, managing director of Tui Malta told Island Travel Trader Online he does not expect major changes in the company's operations, but does see "lots of synergies with Aeolos's and Tui Malta's client base".

Ryanair adds Bratislava to its network

Bratislava, 28/09/05 - Ryanair says it will start regular services from the Slovak capital Bratislava in two weeks, in a move to further expand into growing eastern European markets, Reuters reports.

Ryanair's deputy chief executive Michael Cawley said the airline would open connections from Bratislava to Milan, London and Frankfurt.

"Response to these destinations was fantastic, we have registered 40,000 new reservations," Cawley told journalists in Bratislava.

Europe's largest no-frills airline said it planned to transport 400,000 passengers on its routes through Bratislava in the first year.

Cawley said the Irish-based airline was also considering adding destinations like Cyprus, Malta or Slovenia to further boost its expansion into the central and eastern European region.

The airline, competing with Slovakia-based carrier SkyEurope, said SkyEurope's position on the Slovak market was not important for Ryanair's activities in the region.

Bratislava Airport has benefited from SkyEurope's growth as passenger traffic soared by 57 percent in the first half of 2005 to 494,705 passengers.

The Slovak capital is also becoming an important alternative for budget airlines to Vienna Airport, located just 50 kilometres away.

Russia's middle classes trip out

Kuala Lumpur, 28/09/05 - Russia's emerging middle-class is driving annual growth rates of more than seven per cent in outbound travel, according to a new Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) report titled Total Tourism Russia. PATA's Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) launched the executive summary of the report at a PATA Travel Mart 2005 educational workshop titled Russia's Potential.

Russian outbound volume, including same-day visits and travel for non-tourism purposes, has risen by an average of 7.4 per cent a year since 2000, according to the report. Of the 24.5 million reported outbound trips in 2004, 54 per cent of them were to countries outside the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The top five Asia Pacific destinations for Russian travellers in 2004 were mainland China, 1,792,193; South Korea, 156,876; Thailand, 118,966; USA, 64,228 and Japan, 56,554. (Russians stopping-over in Hong Kong on their way to China may be counted twice.)

Some 44 per cent of Russian trips to non-CIS countries were for holiday, 32 per cent for other private travel and 13 per cent for business, according to official Goskomstat data.

PATA Director-SIC John Koldowski said: "Leisure travel out of Russia is currently growing at a much faster rate than business travel and most of that has been for sun and beach destinations, such as Goa in India and Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui in Thailand".

Commenting on MICE and business travel, Koldowski said: "Anecdotal evidence suggests that business travel is picking up after several years of depressed demand. The niche offering the greatest opportunities is employee incentive trips, especially to favourite holiday destinations, and particularly to those that offer visa-free entry or visas on arrival".

Reflecting their growing disposable incomes, spending by Russian travellers abroad has increased 15.5 per cent per year since 2000. Koldowski said: "The reputation of Russian tourists as big spenders, especially on branded and tax-free retail goods, has been backed up by credit card surveys over the past year".

Boosted by growth in outbound and domestic demand, Russian air traffic increased 16.7 per cent in 2004 to 83 billion revenue passenger-kilometres (RPK). In 2004, just under 50 per cent of all Russian trips to non-CIS countries were by aircraft. Koldowski said: "New international services are being scheduled, which augurs well for the future of the Russian outbound market".

Corinthia gears up for worldwide brand expansion

Floriana, 28/09/05 - Corinthia Hotels International recently held its annual sales conference, bringing together representatives from CHI`s regional sales offices in tourism generating markets, including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, India, Sweden and the US and the various sales managers from the chain's 20 properties worldwide.

Corinthia is planning on expanding the brand "to 40 or 50 properties in the next few years". CHI chairman Karmenu Vella said in his opening remarks. "It is important to consolidate the present success of the 20 CHI properties as a catalyst to the addition of further hotels to the worldwide portfolio", he added.

The sales meeting was preceded by a two-day workshop dedicated to the development of skills and tactics required in the meetings, incentives, conference and events (MICE) market. This sector features prominently in CHI's marketing mix, especially in view of its dedicated MICE programme events@corinthia, which guarantees 'success full' and 'stress free' conferences and events based on a set of service promises.

CHI's group director of sales and marketing, Geoff Andrew, led proceedings at the sales conference.

Cruise passengers down in August, but up in 2005

Valletta, 28/09/05 - August was not a good month for cruise liner passengers arriving in Malta. The number of passengers dropped 16.3 per cent to 35,348 compared to August 2004; put another way, there were 6,888 fewer cruise liner passengers than a year ago, the National Statistics Office reports.

Cruise passengers arriving from Italy went up by 5,102 to 11,265 from 6,163 in August last year. Other increases were recorded from Germany (+2,643), France (+470), the Netherlands (+334), Austria (+120) and Switzerland (+46).

On the other hand, cruise passengers arriving from the UK decreased by 10,046 to 1,253 from 11,299 in the same month last year. Other drops in arrivals were recorded from the US (-2,062), Greek (-600), Canadian (-523), Norwegian (-325), Swedish (-314), Danish (-231) and Irish (-202) markets. In the 'others' category there were 928 fewer

Meanwhile, in the first eight months of the year, the number of cruise passengers that visited Malta went up by 17.1 per cent to 183,154, an increase of 26,782 over the January-August period last year.

The major originating markets originated were Italy (49,246), Spain (37,687), Germany (27,947) and the US (15,600).

Interestingly, the greatest number of cruise liner passengers - 34.5 per cent - were between 40 and 59 years old, followed by passengers aged 20 to 39 and 60 to 79, at 25.3 and 23,5 per cent respectively.

Airlines should join emissions scheme says EU

Strasbourg, 28/09/05 - Aircraft taking off from airports in the European Union should join the bloc's emissions trading scheme to cut greenhouse gases that damage the environment, the EU executive commission proposed, Reuters reports.

The European Commission said emissions trading was the most promising way to enlist airlines in the fight against climate change. Taxes or charges - other options the EU executive considered imposing - were either less cost-efficient or less beneficial to the environment.

"The boom in flying is bringing with it a rapid rise in greenhouse gas emissions," environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said after fellow commissioners approved the plan.

Airlines and cargo carriers had an unfair advantage to other sectors in the economy which were required to reduce emissions of gases that warm the globe, he said.

"Aviation should also contribute in the fight against climate change. Emissions trading is the most cost-efficient way to do this and has the best economic and environmental results," he told reporters in Strasbourg.

The EU emissions trading scheme puts a limit on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main gas blamed for global warming, that big polluters like power plants can emit.

Companies buy more rights to pollute if they overshoot their targets, or sell them if they come in below the cap. Aviation makes up three percent of EU greenhouse gas emissions, but those emissions are growing fast and could hinder progress in other sectors if left unchecked, the commission said.

Ticket prices may rise by up to Eur9  (Lm3.87) per return flight as a result of the measures, making demand for flights grow at a "slightly slower rate", it said.

The commission's position will be tailored into a formal proposal by the end of 2006 or early 2007. It envisions the scheme covering emissions from EU and non-EU carriers taking off from any country within the 25 nation bloc. "EU and non-EU carriers would be treated equally," it said.

The commission said it wanted to strengthen other measures to curb aviation emissions, including improving air traffic management and hacking away legal obstacles to taxation of jet fuel. International agreements prevent countries from taxing jet fuel on international flights.

EU member states and the European parliament will respond to the commission before it formulates a draft law. Officials have said aviation could enter the scheme as early as 2008.

Dimas said the scheme may start by covering aviation's emissions of C02, with the possible addition of other gases like nitrogen oxides later. He said it would likely be three to four years before aviation joined the scheme.

European airports and some major airlines have supported inclusion in the system as a better alternative to tax, but some politicians and environmentalists want airlines to do more.

"Inclusion in the emissions-trading scheme is a necessary first step but it is no substitute for tough measures such as the introduction of a Europe-wide aviation tax and the requirement for airlines to pay duty on the fuel they use," said Chris Davies, a liberal democrat in the European parliament.

Britain, which holds the rotating EU presidency, welcomed the decision, as did British Airways, which wants the scheme to apply solely to flights within the EU initially. BA makes most of its profits on long-haul routes outside of the EU.

Travel-Malta Destination Management - a new name on the tourism scene

Mosta, 22/09/05 - Travel-Malta Destination Management is a new, Birkirkara-based, company that started operating on the 1 August by Giovanni Corrieri and Alfred Attard.

Travel-Malta – which has nothing to do with Travelmalta.com, this site - is a three-division company; one focusing on inbound travel. It also organises tours, excursions, car hire and activity holidays.

The second division, destination management, organises meetings, conferences and tailor-made incentive trips for overseas companies and associations.

The third division handles outbound tourism and is staffed by a team of knowledgeable experts who can prepare bespoke trips. Besides booking flights and accommodation for individuals and package holidays this division also sells cruises and coach tours from the UK and continental Europe.

Although Travel-Malta Destination Management is a young company, the experience of its management and staff ensure that its service is second to none. Both its directors, Corrieri and Attard, have been in the travel business for most of their working lives.

Corrieri has been in the travel industry since 1968; he joined Air Malta in 1973 and held various overseas posts. On his return to Malta in the late '80s he was responsible for setting up Malta Air Charter, the intra-islands helicopter service. In 1996 he was appointed managing director of Sterling Travel & Tourism and held that position until the company was sold by Air Malta in July. Giovanni Corrieri is Travel-Malta's managing director.

His partner, Alfred Attard, is Travel-Malta's financial director. He, too, has extensive experience of the travel industry. Between the mid '80s and early '90s he worked in the United Kingdom for Sunspot Tours. When he returned to Malta in 1993 he left Sunspot as its chief accountant and joined Sterling Travel & Tourism as the company's accountant.

Italo-Maltese joint venture buys KM's Air Supplies

Mosta, 20/09/05 - A joint venture between Malta's M Demajo Group, the Bianchi Group of Companies - which owns a four per cent stake of Malta International Airport - along with the Italian-owned Nuance Group has bought Air Supplies & Catering Company from Air Malta, Island Travel Trader Online has learned.

Last January Air Malta invited bids for 60 per cent of Air Supplies, its airport concessionaire, lack of interest from the marketplace obliged the airline to relaunch its offer in July for 100 per cent of the company.

Air Supplies operates 407 square metres of retail space at Malta International Airport plus the duty free shops at Tripoli airport.

GECOS/Gruppo PAM and Stefanel bought the Nuance Group, formerly owned by Swissair, in July 2002.

The GECOS/Gruppo PAM is a leader in Italian food retailing, with an annual turnover of some Eur2.2 billion and more than 10,600 employees. Founded in Venice in 1958 as a supermarket operator it has grown over the years both organically and through acquisitions.

Stefanel, meanwhile, was founded near Venice in 1959. Its initial focus was on the manufacture and wholesale of woollen and knitted garments. The company has since expanded globally and into men's and women's clothing manufacture, marketing and retailing with its own Stefanel brands.

US lawyers to swoop on Malta in October

Sliema, 20/09/05 - Some 250 lawyers from the International Academy of Trial Lawyers of America will be holding a conference in Malta next month.

The academy is limited to "the top 500 lawyers in the US, and virtually every major legal matter in America is handled by a member of the academy".

The conference is being organised by P&A Sullivan of Sliema. Says Robert Pullicino, the DMC's incoming manager: "this meeting will prove to be an excellent marketing exercise in promoting the hosting of upmarket clientele from the United States".

An exclusive tour programme and a gala dinner is being arranged for the American lawyers, at which members of Malta's bar will be invited.

Exclusive
European 2000 to launch Malta-Trapani air link

Mosta, 17/09/05 - Luqa-based European 2000 Airline Services is launching a new scheduled service from Trapani, in western Sicily, to Malta and Tunis.

The twice-weekly services will be operated using European 2000's 19-seater Fairchild Metro 23 - a twin turboprop aircraft - for the 45-minute flight that will be inaugurated on 23 September.

The Malta-Trapani service will be operated on Fridays and Sundays. On Fridays, the aircraft will leave Malta at 10:30; the return trip from Trapani's Birgi airport will be at 12:15. On Sundays flights will take-off from Malta International Airport at noon and the Sicilian airport at 20:30.

The Trapani-Tunis-Trapani sectors will also be flown on Fridays and Sundays as well.

Return tickets will cost from Eur89, excluding taxes, or the Maltese currency equivalent, European 2000 managing director Ray Micallef told Island Travel Trader Online.

In Trapani, tour operator Scirocco World Travel will handle bookings and ticketing.

Want to be Air Malta's next CEO?

Mosta 17/09/05 - Fancy becoming Air Malta's next chief executive? If so, you have a fortnight in which to apply.

Swiss-born Ernst Funk, the flag carrier's incumbent, is leaving at the end of the year and KM has been advertising locally for a replacement.

If you fancy your chances, you will need to demonstrate "sound business acumen with a proven track record..." Have had a job at "senior management level at an international airline" and have "experience of leadership through a time of significant change".

If you have what it takes, send your CV to auditors KPMG Advisory Services in Pieta before 30 September.

Our money is on a senior staffer already at Air Malta getting the job, but then again you never know.

Hotel occupancy up but profits down in Q2

St Julian's, 15/09/05 - The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association's  (MHRA) quarterly survey conducted by Deloitte reported that despite an overall 0.7 per cent increase in tourism volumes in April, May and June, there was a 1.4 per cent fall in room-nights generated due to a shorter average length of stay. However, the reduction in the supply of hotel rooms helped occupancy to increase, although rates fell whilst costs rose, leading to a fall in profits.

In the five star sector room occupancy rose by three per cent to 72 per cent for the quarter, whilst Average Achieved Room Rates (AARR) fell by 2.5 per cent to Lm39.22. Operating profit fell by nearly four per cent.

In the four star sector room occupancy rose by nearly seven points to 78 per cent for the second quarter, combined with a one per cent increase in AARR to Lm14.57. This helped total revenue to rise by more than five per cent and operating profits were nine per cent up on last year. Nick Captur from Deloitte explained: "The four star category has seen a six per cent reduction in room supply since last year, which has obviously benefited the business environment for the remaining hotels in that category, even if the number of room-nights demanded in the four star sector fell by two per cent in the first half of this year, it's a simple demand and supply equation. It is also to be expected that some of the weaker properties in the cohort closed for redevelopment, improving the averages reported for the remaining sample."

In the three star sector room occupancy rose five points to 76 per cent for the quarter, whilst AARR fell by 2.6 per cent to Lm7.59. Operating profit fell by nearly three per cent.

"The overall findings of the survey show that generally there is a marginal improvement over last year for many key performance indicators, but costs are also rising and the going remains tough as evidenced by falling levels of operating profits for many hotels before taking into account other rising costs such as interest on their bank debt. There therefore remains pressure for higher volumes at better prices all the time", Captur added.

On an international comparative basis Deloitte's HotelBenchmark survey published in London and reported in the MHRA survey suggested that Malta achieved a mid-ranking position out of five Mediterranean resorts, with the best increase in occupancy but a fall in room rates, whilst Mallorca and Cyprus reported improved rates.

Commenting on the survey findings MHRA president Justin Zammit Tabona said: "It is with much regret that I have to state that the additional 50,000 tourist arrivals which government urged us to attract by year-end will not materialize. This was a set condition imposed on the tourism industry as the proverbial 'carrot' for the much needed additional promotional funds. It has to be said that with all the best intentions of all the players in the industry to meet the target imposed, this will not be achievable.

"As much as we all yearn and strive to increase our much sought after bed nights, the general outlook of product Malta admittedly leaves much to be desired. Efforts by government to spruce up the islands' image in view of the forthcoming CHOGM meeting and the European Tourism Forum, amongst others, is much appreciated. However, this embellishment exercise should be an ongoing annual programme".

Maltese travellers up in July, beat tax introduction

Valletta, 15/09/05 - A total of 28,711 Malta residents travelled abroad in July, up 9.5 per cent over July 2004, the National Statistics Office reports. Of these, 24,454 left the islands by air.

The most plausible reason for this upsurge in July traffic is avoidance of the doubling of the departure tax to Lm20 that was introduced on 1 August.

In the first seven months of 2005, meanwhile, 111,554 Malta residents left the country by air, an increase of 5.5 per cent over the same period last year. In the period under review the most popular destination for Malta-based travellers continues to be the United Kingdom, which accounted for 23.2 per cent of those travelling by air - up 2.2 points over 2004. This was followed by Italy (22.1 per cent), Tunisia (8.7 per cent), Germany (5.8 per cent), France (5.4 per cent), the Netherlands (2.9 per cent) and Spain (1.5 per cent).

Air Malta to ferry Messina footballers around Italy

Luqa, 15/09/05 - Air Malta has signed a one-year agreement with Italian Serie A football club Messina. The airline will fly the Messina players and officials throughout Italy when the team plays away matches. The deal also sees Air Malta’s logo placed on all the club’s football kits.

The signing of the agreement was held last week in Messina by Air Malta’s chairman Lawrence Zammit and Vincenzo Franza, vice president of Messina FC.

Commenting on this agreement Zammit said: “We are very happy to have concluded this commercial agreement, which is a first for a Maltese organisation. The good results achieved with the launch of the Catania-Gatwick route have given us the drive to strengthen the airline’s presence in the region. Similar Air Malta services from the region are in the pipeline. This agreement shows that Air Malta is willing to diversify its activities and is actively working to increase revenue from alternative sources. It is also a clear commitment to Malta and the islands’ promotion overseas as the agreement’s main objectives is to advertise Malta and Air Malta throughout all Italy.”

Accor to equip its hotels worldwide with flat screen TVs

Mosta, 15/09/05 - Accor, which manages two properties on Malta, signed an exclusive agreement with LG Electronics under which the latter will equip the former's Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure, Suitehotel, Ibis and Red Roof Inn hotels around the world with LCD flat screen TVs. The project, which is unprecedented in the hotel industry, represents a potential market of 260,000 television sets, or more than half of France's entire LCD TV market.

By offering customers a product that has captured the imagination of today's TV viewers, Accor says it is proactively responding to their expectations, while transforming its hotels into a showcase for technological innovation. "Travellers no longer choose their hotel solely on status. They also take into account the conditions of their stay," said Jean-Marc Espalioux, chairman of the Accor management board. In the past, Novotel innovated by introducing a television set in every room. Today, with flat screen TVs, Accor is again bringing leading-edge technology into hotels."

The LG Electronics television sets that will be installed in Accor properties are specially designed for hotel customers, featuring a clock, news bulletins, a volume limiting device, pay-TV access, theft-proof installation and digital inputs so that customers can use the TV screen for their computers, pocket DVD players or digital cameras. Another advantage is that LCD screens on standby consume three or four times less energy than a cathode ray tube screen.

For Accor, the priority is once again to offer customers a more pleasant stay by providing them with the latest innovations. Two years ago, in an industry first, Accor deployed Wi-FI hotspot networks in nearly 2,000 hotels, half of its total portfolio. High-speed, wireless internet access has proven very popular, even in the economy segment, where Accor is one of the few hotel operators to offer it.

Similarly, Accor is introducing flat screen TVs not only in upscale and midscale properties, but also in its economy chains - Ibis and, in the United States, Red Roof Inn.