News and Events

Travel brand of the decade

To celebrate our own 20 year birthday this year we sponsored a one-off  "Travel brand of the decade"  Chartered Institute of Travel Marketing (CIMTIG) award which was presented on Thursday 24 March.

The view from Pow Wow

The mood was optimistic at the 43rd Pow Wow held in Orlando this week. Roger Dow, the CEO and president of the US Travel Association talked of an "industry recovery underway."New York for example, posted an 11% increase in total visitors in the first quarter of this year (although no stats were given for UK arrivals).

2010 Marketing? Think Differently

It's World Travel Market 2009 and this is a speech given at a Caribbean Tourism Organisation Event during the show

TUI UK & Ireland Trends Report

We launched the TUI UK and Ireland annual trends report today. I've been involved in projects for TUI for more than a decade and this organisation never ceases to surprise me. Working for them once a year is a bit like being a maiden aunt who is guaranteed to irritate her small nieces and nephews by proclaiming how much they've  grown, or changed. Well TUI UK and Ireland has grown and changed and the company I saw this year has been transformed from the business it was just a year ago.

Luxury insight from Sarah Miller, Conde Nast Traveller

What does luxury mean to different people? How are luxury buyers changing? These are just two of the areas discussed by Sarah Miller, editor of Conde Nast Traveller and publishing director Simon Leadsford at a presentation at bgb this week. Key trends highlighted by Sarah Miller included:

Predictions for 2010 from ITT

There was surprisingly little drama about economic gloom at this year's ITT conference. Instead, in measured and thoughtful debates, Kuoni's Peter Rothwell and other panellists predicted next year would be slightly better than this year. Tim Williamson of TUI thought trading conditions might be tougher next year but said there was a real sense of optimism in the business about how quickly Mexico is recovering in popularity after the swine flu issues of earlier this year.  Mike Greenacre of the Co-Operative Travel Group said he expected further consolidation as small to medium sized businesses go out of business this autumn as they run out of cash. We heard Terry Fisher of Gold Medal encourage industry partners to "respect the supply chain" and work closely with agents and operators to drive volumes. Jumairah Beach supported Terry's comments saying in December they were looking at 50 per cent occupancy for the first quarter of 2009, but after working closely with trade partners to reach last minute decision-makers had finished Q1 with occupancy levels of 91, 93 and 96 per cent.

bgb Travel Consultant Network expands

bgb's Travel Consultants Network service has been boosted by the appointment of a third consultant. Rob Bates has signed up to become a member of the travel specialist network after setting up his own PR business. Rob has spent nine years in travel communications, following a career in TV. He has in-house experience at Air New Zealand and Icelandair as well as agency experience working on clients such as Tourism Australia, the Spanish Tourist Office and individual members of The Leading Hotels of the World.

How do your friends describe you?

How do your friends describe your personality? Take the same test for your country or organisation. How would you describe it to your friends to encourage them to travel there, or with your business?

Trust a constant theme at Trav Summit

Trust was a constant theme of the 2009 Travolution PhoCusWright summit in London this week. Speaker after speaker mentioned its value in their online model

bgb wins Travel Marketing Award

bgb communications scooped a prestigious Silver Travel Marketing Award at last night's Chartered Insitute of Marketing's annual awards.

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