In the news this week: Sunny destinations for European holidaymakers in winter. direct hotel billing from eNett and Cornerstone, Amadeus Altéa Suite for Vistara
European holidaymakers fleeing the winter cold to chase the sun
More Europeans prefer sunny destinations for their winter holidays.
More and more Europeans taking winter holidays are leaving the cold winter months behind to search for the sun, preferring beach holidays to winter sports, according to the latest survey of the World Travel Monitor by IPK International.
The study, which was commissioned by ITB Berlin, examines European trends in winter holidays abroad. It shows that over the past seven years the number of Europeans taking winter holidays has risen by around 50%.
During the winter of 2013 Europeans undertook around 127 million holiday trips abroad. This means that compared to summer holidays, winter holidays have gained a significant market share.
Other key findings:
- Over the past seven years, in terms of market share, European winter trips abroad have increased by 30% to 40%. UK and German citizens, in particular, yearn to travel abroad in winter.
- In 2013, Germany headed the list of having the most number of citizens escaping winter to follow the sun, followed by France and Russia.
- In recent years, Russian travellers have made up a disproportionately large share of the market. Overall, there has been significant growth in the number of foreign holiday trips undertaken by Russians.
- Winter holidays abroad have always been very important for the Swedes; 52% preferred holidaying in the cold winter months to trips abroad in summer.
- For 50% of those polled in Finland, France, Spain, Italy and Croatia, winter holidays abroad were also very important.
- In 2013, around 25% of Europeans going abroad for winter holidays went on beach holidays, 23% took city breaks, and 17% booked round trips. By contrast, holidays to snowbound destinations made up only 7% of the winter trips abroad.
- For skiing trips or holidays in the snow domestic destinations are generally preferred to those abroad.
- In recent years, in terms of their market share, winter beach holidays have increased by 4% while winter sports holidays have fallen by 3%. At the same time other types of holidays have more or less retained their market share.
- In 2013, Europeans spent an average of eight days on winter trips, with overall spending amounting to around 890 Euros.
- Beach holidays averaged 19 days, considerably longer than winter sports holidays (seven days).
- At around 1,000 Euros, travel spending on beach holidays also exceeded the amount spent on winter sports trips (around 700 Euros).
- Spain was the number one destination for winter beach holidays, followed by Turkey, Egypt, Thailand and Greece.
-
Spain was also the most popular winter holiday destination, followed by Germany, France, Austria and Italy.
- Austria was the most popular foreign winter sports destination, with France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany as distant runners-up.
Dr. Martin Buck, director of travel & logistics at Messe Berlin, said, “Nowadays, when people yearn for wintertime beach holidays in the sun this results in different travel behaviour to that of only a few years ago. The relatively poor summer weather experienced in large parts of Germany in 2014 could well favour this trend and over the coming months could generate extra income for popular destinations in the sun.“
eNett and Cornerstone partner to offer hotel direct billing to TMCs
New direct hotel billing payment solution for TMCs
Payment solution provider, eNett International, and travel technology company, Cornerstone Information Systems, have teamed up to develop a direct hotel billing payment solution for Travel Management Companies (TMCs).
The solutions allow TMCs to have access to Virtual Account Numbers (VANs), which automatically relays payment instructions and data to the hotel without having to use a traveller’s personal or corporate credit card. This saves processing time, while improving reconciliation, usage, and spend control.
VANs also help travel managers better service their corporate clients, providing greater control over their payments by automatically linking these payments to corporate policy and eliminating unapproved charges.
TMCs and their corporate clients do not have to change banking relationships, and there are also several low-cost FX options available across 27 currencies. eNett customers can also earn rebates for transactions paid with VANs as soon as they start transacting2.
This solution is available via the Travelport Travel Commerce Platform, as well as other GDSs, and so does not require any change to existing back-end systems.
eNett managing director and CEO, Anthony Hynes, said, “We developed eNett VANs specifically to address the inefficiencies of travel payments, making innovative and integrated technology accessible to companies of all sizes. The rapid uptake of VANs globally has been driven by a need for new payment solutions to meet evolving industry needs.”
Vistara implements Amadeus’ airline IT solutions
Amadeus Altéa Suite for Vistara./ Image credit: Singapore Airlines
Vistara, a joint venture between India’s Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines, is the first airline in India to adopt the Amadeus Altéa Suite, which is already used by more than 120 airlines worldwide.
The solution powers the airline’s travel reservations, inventory management, airport departure control systems, as well as revenue accounting and revenue management.
Vistara has also committed to Amadeus‘ e-commerce and loyalty solutions to drive online bookings and optimise their frequent flyer programme. These will also help the carrier derive maximum operational efficiencies, reduce unnecessary waiting times at airports and ensure a seamless experience for its customers.
Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO of Vistara, said, “Our technology partnership with Amadeus will be a key differentiator offering advanced features and an integrated platform for our customers across multiple channels including mobile and web.”
Added Hazem Hussein, EVP, airline commercial, Amadeus Asia Pacific, “There is a huge opportunity for full service carriers like Vistara to revolutionise Indian air travel with technology as the key differentiator. In today’s fiercely competitive aviation industry, technology can be the make or break difference for airlines.”
Based on existing airline contracts, Amadeus estimates that by 2017 the number of Passengers Boarded (PBs) managed by Altéa will be around one billion.
• Featured image (sunny beach) credit: Yury-Smelov/Shutterstock
