Travel Trends

Emirates, the Middle Eastern airline, is the only travel company among the 50 fastest growing brands,  according to a new book from Jim Stengel and Millward Brown. The 'Stengel 50' were chosen because they had built the deepest customer relationships and achieved the greatest financial growth from 2001-2011. They are: More …

Amadeus, a global distribution system for travel agents, has signed a product distribution agreement with the German-based Hotel Reservation Service (HRS), which has a hotel database of 250,000, including 50,o00 hard to access independent properties. System integration is under way and will be complete by July.

This really shouldn't be a story but it is. Virgin Australia is now offering all travellers, even those on the cheapest fares, flying its business routes – state capital to state capital – free beer and wine from Monday to Friday between 4pm and 7pm. Those on leisure routes will still have to pay. In other news, Virgin today launched Business Class across most of its network. The carrier's come a long way from its low cost roots.

Tourism spending continues to grow and contributes almost $35 billion – or $94.8 million a day – to the Australian economy, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). "Despite a year of global economic challenges and natural disasters, tourism growth was supported by …. an increase in the number of visitors from overseas (up 3.8%). More …

Drive holidays seem have been forgotten in the frenzy by Australians to fly to their destination, either here or overseas.

But the reality is that, despite the lack of hype, road trips are far from dead with Tourism Research Australia estimating that 71 per cent of domestic overnight trips still involve a car.

So fair to say that getting in the car and driving somewhere is at the very heart of the Australian regional tourism economy. Yet road trips and drive holidays are undergoing rapid change. More …

Premium domestic airfare prices are falling sharply in Australia due to weaker demand, according to Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, the Qantas business travel market is also under fresh attack from Virgin Australia, which announced it will operate a wide-bodied A330 in the morning peak between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's busiest corporate route.

Six of the world's biggest hotels groups – Choice Hotels International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott International and Wyndham Hotel Group – have partnered in Roomkey.com, a new accommodation meta-search site that urges visitors to "Search, Book, Relax". More …

A survey of almost 2500 travellers by Travelzoo Australia reveals that almost one in three Australians believes airline passengers should be charged according to their weight.  Debate on this controversial topic was sparked yesterday by former Qantas Chief Economist Tony Webber who argued that “overweight” passengers should pay more to fly because airlines incur higher fuel costs to transport them. More …

Jetset Travelworld has just announced a restructure that leaves former wholesale boss Simon Bernardi, who returned from holidays on Monday, without a job to start 2012. Bernardi was hired 15 months ago to lead the company's wholesale operations after the JTG-Stella Travel merger. More …

Jetstar has revamped its northern Australia schedule, launching four Darwin-Manila-Tokyo flights a week, increasing weekly Darwin-Singapore services from seven to 10 and cancelling  its four times a week service connecting Darwin and Ho Chi Minh City. The changes apply from March 25.

HMAS Otway in Holbrook

Tourism started as highway trade in ancient times to service traveller's desire for food, fuel and rest.

So what happens when highways are improved and these towns bypassed?

There's a real life case study happening on the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne  right now. More …

Disturbing story out of the Maldives where the local government has just lifted a six day ban on the operation of spas after establishing they were not being used for prostitution – a claim made by the hardline Islamist opposition Adhaalath party which organised a "huge" anti-spa demonstration in the capital of Male. President Mohamed Nasheed reacted by banning spas, More …

As a former public relations flack, I love a bit of PR speak, the kind of language which only ever appears in a press release or statement. Here's a classic from Vanessa Regan of Tiger Airways. "Since resuming domestic services, customers have embraced Tiger's affordable airfares coupled with industry leading reliability." For the record, Tiger is increasing capacity out of Melbourne and Sydney from late March.

Australians are now more likely to travel long-haul than any other major tourism nation, according to research from the Canadian Tourism Commission. "With one out of every two Australians having taken a long-haul trip in the past three years or planning to do so in the next two years, Australia now leads the Global Tourism Watch markets in terms of propensity for long-haul travel." More …

You’ve got to love the endless optimism of the Gold Coast whatever you think of it as a holiday destination. All that sun, sand, surf, traffic and high-rise – suits some, alienates others. More …

Booking.com, TripAdvisor, TotalTravel, Agoda Australia and Check-in.com.au made the strongest gains in Australian web accommodation market share over the past year, according to Hitwise. Market leader Wotif.com  continued to grow share, though at a modest pace, as did leading holiday rental site Stayz, while HotelClub, Ninemsn Travel,  RatesToGo, Travelmate, Quickbeds and TakeABreak were among OTAs losing share. More …

Don't like the weather forecast? Then censor it. That's what Gold Coast Tourism boss Martin Winter would like to do. He's had a go in today's Courier Mail at the weather bureau for forecasting a wet summer, saying it's no good for tourism. More …

Travel conglomerate Thomas Cook, founded in 1841, is in crisis. The company yesterday wrote off £573m and announced plans to close up to 200 travel agencies.  The company, which has started divesting underperforming hotels, also intends selling aircraft and is investigating further cost cuts. The group sells more than 22 million holidays a year in the UK. See report in The Independent.

Expedia reports a major shift to US mobile bookings which is translating to a big increase in last minute transactions. "The booking window is changing," said Dhiren Fonseca, co-president of Expedia's Partner Services Group. "We've seen a 28% growth in sameday transactions. More …