March 15, 2010US Airways Vacations, in partnership with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, recently hosted its Fourth Annual $25,000 Vegas Scavenger Hunt, a competition where registered agents had a chance to show off their sleuthing skills to win a trip to Las Vegas and their share of $25,000 in air travel. The scavenger hunt took place Feb. 16 and featured 24 travel agents. March 10, 2010Pleasant Holidays rolled out several plans to boost agent bookings for Mexico. March 8, 2010Remote Lands, a tour operator specializing in Asia, has hired Wendy Clayton to the newly created position of vice president of sales. March 8, 2010Traveler demand has prompted Lakani World Tours to create a series of escorted programs to less-accessible, exotic destinations. March 5, 2010Tour operators are seeing customers book more international trips for 2010, indicating that U.S. travelers are starting to invest more in their vacations again and are feeling secure enough in their jobs to leave the office for longer. March 4, 2010MLT Vacations is trying to beef up business with group bookings on its Delta Vacations and Continental Airlines Vacations brands with Flexible Getaways, a program designed for groups of 10 or more people who need to travel separately or on different dates. March 3, 2010Emerging from a year fraught with setbacks that included a deadly motorcoach crash and the H1N1 flu outbreak, the still-nascent China inbound travel industry is poised to regain momentum in 2010. February 26, 2010Go Travel South, a vacation packager based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, ceased operations this week. February 25, 2010Island Routes Caribbean Adventure Tours launched a new destination, the Exumas chain in the Out Islands of the Bahamas. The company offers 19 sea and land programs in the Exumas. February 23, 2010As demand starts to return, tour operators and vacation packagers are beginning to shift marketing strategies, carefully weaning customers off the heavy discounting environment of 2009 to bring prices back up while also taking steps to persuade them to book earlier. February 18, 2010The U.S. Tour Operators Association has relaunched its website with several new search options to find tour operators that serve particular destinations or interests. February 17, 2010There are generally two ways for travel agents to experience a tour product: by participating in an agent-only familiarization trip or by applying an agent discount to a regular tour product. Insight Vacations felt they needed a third option. February 16, 2010Asia Transpacific Journeys is making its first foray into Asia Minor with a new small-group trip to Turkey. February 9, 2010European tour operator conglomerate TUI Travel reported an 8% decrease in first-quarter revenue on Tuesday. Revenue was $3.95 billion, down from $4.28 billion one year prior. February 2, 2010Most travel companies are just starting to see signs of possible recovery, but at Collette Vacations, "we stand a pretty good chance of having our best year ever," Collette CFO John Galvin said. January 29, 2010Asia Pacific Travel Ltd., a tour operator specializing in North Korea, said North Korea’s state-run travel agency has informed the operator that American tourists will be allowed to visit the country year-round. January 21, 2010The National Tour Association's board of directors established the organization's priority advocacy issues for the year. January 20, 2010Adventures by Disney has introduced the Gateway Collection, lower-priced itineraries with more free time built in. January 19, 2010Following a year in which they were forced to cancel and combine published departures as tour demand plummeted, many operators have decided it is better to reduce capacity for 2010 than to be forced to cancel tours. January 19, 2010Responding to consumers' desire to experience more yet spend less, Papillon Airways Inc. has eliminated all existing packages. January 14, 2010Travel Bound, the wholesaler that sells exclusively through travel agents, has released its 2010 Travel Agent Guide, a 176-page, geographically arranged directory of the company's hotels and services for independent travelers. January 13, 2010Farmingdale, N.Y.-based Travel Impressions has added Washington, D.C. to its product portfolio. January 12, 2010Steve Cox, co-founder and executive director of International Expeditions, is marking the nature travel company's 30th anniversary by hosting a nine-day trip to Costa Rica in March. January 12, 2010Travel Impressions 2010 game plan includes the addition of two "solid industry pros" to its Caribbean team, according to John Hanratty, senior vice president and chief marketing officer. January 11, 2010The Carlyle Group, a New York-based private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in Brazilian tour operator and cruise company CVC Brasil Operadora e Agencia de Viagens in anticipation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, the Carlyle Group said Friday. |