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In this issue
World Travel Market
From our members
Top tip
Industry news
Ongoing
The next issue
World travel Market
The World Travel Market takes
place at Excel from ** to **
November. But what do travel
writers’ think of the event?
- I am definitely going. I
went last year and it was
great for making contacts
and getting ideas. The press
rooms upstairs are a good
place to meet.
- Am a WTM regular. Monday
is the day to go. It gets
progressively less important
through the week as all the
top people on the stands
only go in for the first
couple of days. You will
need some sort of press
accreditation to get it on
that day and
pre-registration is a help.
Also remember that
officially you are there to
write about the WTM/exhibitors
not to flog them stuff or
bag freebies. Once you are
in nobody cares but that is
the line to stick to when
registering.
- WTM is bewilderingly huge,
and you will get more out of
it with some advanced
planning as to what you are
trying to achieve and do.
The show catalogue with
contacts for all exhibitors
is worth getting on its own.
- It's really not a big
place for editorial
contacts, as the stands are
dedicated to the different
tourist boards and
operators. Editors are
there, but wandering around
like the rest of us - and
likely to keep a low
profile. It is good for
making PR contacts for press
trips.
- WTM is a great place to
make travel trade contacts
but editors have no time for
you and even if they do
forget you by the end of the
day so much is going on. One
day is not enough and it is
often better to briefly see
people on Monday to make an
appointment for Tuesday.
- A tip: brochures and press
packs are weighty and often
contain irrelevant material.
Ask for them to be mailed to
you. Those who are really
interested will follow up
and send you something.
These are the ones worth
keeping in touch with. If
they are not interested
enough to send out a media
pack then they probably will
not be interested in
following up on press trips.
From our members
Word of warning about floppy
disks
Everywhere I've travelled
since 9/11 I've been allowed to
hand my disks (and films) around
for inspection by hand.
Recently at Gatwick I was forced
to put them through the
x-ray. The films were okay
BUT THE DISKS WERE
CORRUPTED.
Imagine - two weeks-worth of
notes, information, thoughts,
all gone! It's taken me
until now to try and remember
most of it and get it typed
up! Unfortunately some
things will never be recalled.
Barbara Bothwell, MCIJ, WWN
Barbbothwell@aol.com
Thanks
I am Aberdeen-based, so I was
intrigued to learn about the
Grampian tourist initiative,
especially as I was supposed to
be on their mailing list...
I'm now developing some of
their ideas into feature
proposals. I've also taken
advantage of a review copy of
the AA 100 Walks guidebook, one
of which I put to the test last
weekend.
Amanda MacKenzie
Top tip
How to stop your address book
spreading infection
With
us travel writers relying on our
e-address books, here is a
simple, ingenious and very
effective way to stop spreading
a virus.
As you may know, if a worm
or virus gets into
your computer it heads straight
for your e-mail address
book, and sends itself to
everyone in there.
This trick won't keep the
virus from getting into your
computer, but it will stop it
from using your address book to
spread further, and it will
alert you to the fact,
that a worm has infected
your system.
Here's what you do. Open your
address book and click on new
contact. In the window where you
would type your contacts
firstname, type in AAAAAAA..
Also enter the email
address AAAAAAA@a.aaa
The name AAAAAAA will be
placed at the top of your
address book as entry #1. This
will be where the worm will
start in an effort to send
itself to all your friends. But,
when it tries to send itself to
AAAAAAA, it will be
undeliverable because of the
phony e-mail address.
The worm goes no further and
your friends will not be
infected.
But as the e-mail cannot be
delivered, you will be notified
of this, almost immediately, in
your In Box. You know right away
that you have the worm.
Industry news
Industry news provides
snippets of information that
might give a lead or two. It is
compiled from a range of
sources, in particular,
www.travemedia.com.
You can subscribe to
travmedia at http://www.travmedia.com/register_industry.php
Build your own hols
increasingly popular
Leading online travel
retailer/supplier Online Travel
Corporation (OTC) says that DIY
holidays now represent 31% of
all online transactions.
Paris, Prague and New York are
the top three most popular
Build-Your-Own (BYO)
destinations, confirming the
growing appeal to UK consumers
of taking an increased number of
shorter breaks.
Long-haul destinations are also
growing in appeal, with New York
the number one BYO destination
and Sydney market-leader when it
comes to flight-only sales.
Onlinetravel.com's top 10’s
Self-packaged destinations
1. Paris 2. Prague 3. New York
4. Barcelona 5.
Amsterdam 6. Rome 7. Brussels 8.
Madrid 9. Venice 10.
Dublin
Long-haul self-packaged
destinations
1. New York 2. Dubai 3.
Chicago 4. Los Angeles 5.
Boston 6. Miami 7. Orlando 8.
Bangkok 9. San Francisco 10.
Barbados
SeeAmerica Media Marketplace
at World Travel Market
The Travel Industry of
America will host the second
SeeAmerica Media Marketplace at
World Travel Market on November
10, the first day of the show.
This year's event will be
sponsored by Hertz Europe and
Marriott International and will
feature 35 U.S. exhibitors. Last
year's two hour event drew more
than 125 European media for one
on one meetings with U.S.
suppliers. Contact Mike Pina at
Mpina@tia.org.
Free London Pass for all WTM
Delegates
World
Travel Market is offering a free
London Pass to all WTM delegates
this year. Contact Jennifer
Duffy at jenny@londonpass.com or
020 7907 1542.
CaribWorld launches 2004
brochure
CaribWorld
has launched its biggest-ever
brochure covering 45 islands in
25 Caribbean countries and
Bermuda. On offer are more
than 200 hotels plus
self-catering holidays together
with luxury yacht and clipper
cruises, twin-centre options in
the US and Caribbean plus Latin
America tours. Contact Joan
Pearson at joan@beaconpr.co.uk
or 01572 748800.
Chocolate breaks In Brussels
The
Clarion Le Chatelain All Suite
Hotel in Brussels is offering
Belgian chocolate tasting
breaks. Contact Catherine Allen
at callen@bugsgang.co.uk or 020
7437 1792.
Guides to Barcelona and
Krakow
Thomas
Cook has published city guides
to Barcelona and Krakow. Contact
Faith Wootton at faith.wootton@thomascook.com
or +44 1733 417271.
Get up & Go expands
Get
up & Go, Australia's only
travel magazine for mature
travellers, is doubling its
frequency and launching an
e-newsletter to satisfy booming
demand in the niche mature
travel sector. Contact Robert
Marson at robert@sparkgroup.com.au.
The Langham, Hotel Hong Kong
The
Langham Hotel Hong Kong
(formerly the Great Eagle Hotel
Hong Kong) offers substantial
savings of approx 50% this
winter. Contact Ian Mills
at imills@avenuesales.co.uk or
01474 707934.
New walking guide for South
West England
South West Tourism has produced
a new walking guide. Contact
Hannah Collingbourne at
pressoffice@swtourism.co.uk or
01392 353 218.
Brussels From Above
Brussels now has one of
largest passenger carrying
balloons in the world. It is
5500 m3 in diameter, permanently
inflated with helium and carries
up to 30 people at a time.
Contact Dawn Page at dawn@visitflanders.co.uk.
SkyEurope
SkyEurope Airlines is
launching a daily low fare
connection from Stansted to
Budapest in 14 November 2003.
The service will be operated by
SkyEurope’s Boeing 737-500,
133 passenger aircraft. The
service follows SkyEurope’s
Vienna Bratislava route which
was launched in July and which
will increase to six days a week
from October. Contact Gill Wison
at gill.wilson@cecta.org or
01844 338332
Visit London appoints Ken
Kelling
Visit
London, the organisation
responsible for marketing London
to visitors in the UK and
overseas, has announced the
appointment of Ken Kelling as
general manager - corporate
affairs. Contact Jenny
Kite at jkite@visitlondon.com or
020 7932 2040.
New travel website
Group Leisure online is a new
industry website for group
travel organisers and industry
professionals. Visit
www.groupleisure.com.
Museums by night in Brussels
For
a limited season almost 40
Brussels' Museums will be open
until 10 pm on
Thursdays. Contact dawn@visitflanders.co.uk
or 020 7307 7741.
BA
introduces lower fares
British Airways has
introduced new lower fares
across selected flights to
Spain, Portugal, France, Malta
and Gibraltar for travel during
October and
throughout winter.
The fares are bookable only on
ba.com and are available for
travelup to 12 February 2004.
Contact Ali Rigby or James
Christie on 01293 664634/1.
Road to the Isles
The road from Invergarry to
Skye (the main A87 and historic
"Road to the Isles")
has been voted Britain's best
driving route. Contact Caroline
Keith at caroline@thekeithconsultancy.co.uk
or 01463 811000.
Butlins stages National Brass
Band Festival
Butlins
Skegness will stage the
Mineworkers National Brass Band
Festival, over the weekend of
Friday November 28 - Monday 1st
December. Contact Lesley
Penniston at lesley.penniston@bourne-leisure.co.uk
or 01442 203165.
bmi Reinforces Commitment To
Northern Ireland
bmi,
the UK's second largest full
service scheduled airline, is to
further underline its commitment
to Northern Ireland by
introducing an increase in
services between Belfast City
and Heathrow. Contact Phil
Shepherd at phil.shepherd@flybmi.com
or 01332 854236.
London press conference to
launch Antwerp’s Rubens 2004
celebration
The
city of Antwerp, is planning to
unveil its Rubens exhibition at
a November press conference in
London. Contact Dawn Page at
dawn@visitflanders.co.uk or 020
7307 7741.
26th international Swiss hot
air ballooning week
Over 80 hot-air balloons from
15 countries will meet again in
the skies above Château-d-Oex
between 24 January and 1
February.
Historic Germany from Great
Rail Journeys
A
brand-new itinerary taking in
some of the lesser-known gems of
Germany - including Wernigerode,
Weimar and Eisenach - is on
offer in 2004 from Great Rail
Journeys. Contact Joan Pearson
at joan@beaconpr.co.uk or 01572
748800.
Channel Islands Tennerfest
The 'Tennerfest' in Jersey and
Guernsey runs from October to 12
November. Contact Joan
Pearson at joan@beaconpr.co.uk
or 01572 748800.
Mexico celebrates Day Of The
Dead
Mexico’s Day of the Dead
celebrations takes place from 31
October to 2 November.
Contact Karin Jones at
karin_jones@flightcentre.co.uk
or 07990 553 839.
Boat, Caravan and outdoor
Show
The 43rd National Boat,
Caravan and Outdoor Show takes
place at the NEC Birmingham from
14 to 22 February 2004. Contcat
Nina Gardiner at nina.gardiner@biggroup.co.uk
or 0870 7300963.
Tea leaf reading at the
Athenaeum
The
Athenaeum Hotel has appointed
the world's first ever resident
tasseographer (tea leaf reader)
as part of a celebration of
afternoon tea. Contact Brett
Perkins brett@truecoms.co.uk or
020 7495 7414.
What's New in San Francisco
"What's
New" is a bimonthly listing
of new venues, attractions and
activities compiled by the San
Francisco Convention &
Visitors Bureau (SFCVB). For a
citywide listing of events
planned for the year 2003 and
beyond, visit www.sfvisitor.org.
Contact Tanya Pampalone at
tpampalone@sfcvb.org or +1 (415)
227-2603.
East London open studios
East London’s Open Studios
takes place over the week ends
of 23-23 and 29-30 November.
Contact Tasmin de Lara at tasmin@mazorcaprojects.com
or 020 7729 3301.
Thomson Sponsors Young Ski
Racers
Thomson
Ski is providing eight bursaries
for the winners of the English
Ski Council 'Thomson Grand Prix
Series' to train at the British
Ski Academy in Les Houches near
Chamonix in France. Contact :
Marion Telsnig at mariontelsnig@s-h-g.co.uk
or 020 939 5027.
What costs where
Research by All-Hotels.com
has revealed Dublin (ave £114
pppn) is the most expensive city
for hotel accommodation in
Europe, while Prague 9£49) is
the cheapest.
For those crossing the Atlantic,
the much sung-about state of
Oklahoma City in Tennessee
(£31.13) America's cheapest
city for hotel stays while the
sunshine city of Santa Monica,
California charges a whopping
£167.
Contact Daniel Johnson at
daniel.johnson@rooster.co.uk or
020 7691 3939.
Birmingham Book Festival
The Birmingham Book Festival
takes place from 9-24 October.
Ricky Tomlinson, Terry Jones,
Alexi Sayle and Griff Rhus Jones
will attend. Contact Katy Boss
at katy@bookcommunications.co.uk
or 0121 202 5000.
Ondon Pass sets up travel
professionals website
Creators
of The London Pass, The Leisure
Pass Group have launched a
travel professionals site
www.lptravelpro.com within their
website www.londonpass.com.
Contact : Jennifer Duffy at
jenny@londonpass.com or 020 7907
1542.
bmi buys more planes
bmi is to take delivery of
four Airbus Industrie A319
aircraft with options for five
additional aircraft. Contact
Phil Shepherd at phil.shepherd@flybmi.com
or 01332 854236.
Scotland’s Autumn Gold
Campaign
Visitscotland's Autumn Gold
campaign offers deals throughout
October and November to make the
most of the season. Call 0845 22
55 121 for your free brochure or
go to www.visitscotland.com for
even more offers which are
updated daily.
For further press information on
what to see and do in Scotland,
visuals or
press trip requests, please
contact Gayle Wilson on
0131 472
2337 or
gayle.wilson@visitscotland.com
or Karin Finlay or 0131 472
2321 or karin.finlay@visitscotland.com
at the VisitScotland Press
Office:
London Chocolate Week
London Chocolate Week takes
place from 113-19 October.
Contact Kate Jones at kate@nudgepr.co.uk
or 0208 630 9214.
British Travel Trade Fair
The British Travel Trade Fair
takes place at NEC Birmingham on
3-4 March, 2004. Contact Ross
Williams on 020 7603 2168.
Ongoing
New newsletter for travel
writers
Robert Jones, who runs
www.wherewillwego.com (see
below) is launching Travelwithme,
a newsletter for
travel writers.
This will be produced
on a monthly basis and will
feature up to 25 tour operators
that would like to get their
businesses noticed by travel
writers.
The first issue is due
to be completed by 15
August so if any CIoJ Travel
Writers’ who would like to
visit the website after that
date go to www.travelwith.me.uk.
Photo gallery
Robert's second initiative is
a new photo gallery that is
featured on the
www.wherewillwego home page.
This has been set up for tour
operators to show images that
might entice travellers to visit
a destination and as a place for
travel writers’ and
photojournalists to place images
that they might wish sell to
tour operators, magazines,
design companies etc.
Visit www.wherewillwego.com
and look at the top left of the
home page.
Wherewillwego.com
Travel website
wherewillwego.com is offering
CIoJ Travel Writers’ the
chance to submit reviews for its
Travel reviews from around
the globe pages.
No fee is involved (on either
side) but it does provide a shop
window for your features and a
way for editors (worldwide) to
see your writing style. In
return Robert Jones of
wherewillwego.com is publishing
information on the CIoJ Travel
Writers’ and will pass
information on us to other
travel writers’ who approach
him
Bradt
Bradt Travel Guides are happy
to provide CIoJ members with
complimentary copies of any of
their guides for research in
return for a mention of the
guide in print.
For a full list see their
website
www.bradt-travelguides.com.
- To request a particular
guide email ashley@williamjack.co.uk.
Footprint
Footprint Handbooks (www.footprintbooks.com)
is providing the CIoJ Travel
Writers’ review copies of its
best selling guides. Footprint
publishes detailed, full colour,
guides which provide a wealth of
information to journalists
planning, visiting and writing
on destinations worldwide.
CIoJ Travel Writers’ can
request review copies of a
Footprint handbook although this
support should be reflected,
where appropriate, in any copy
produced.
- To request a particular
guide email ashley@williamjack.co.uk.
Response Source
Response Source (www.responsesource.com)
is a relatively new journalist
enquiry system, which is now
being accessed by thousands of
journalists and PR
practitioners.
Response Source allows a
journalist to send requests for
information to public relations
agencies in specific sectors.
These agencies then respond
direct if appropriate.
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