When a Czech Republic native who works
for the European Tour Operators Association
mentioned a new Czech regulation to ETOA Executive Director Tom
Jenkins, his ears perked up.
The regulation, the
staffer told him, would require that all visitors to the
Czech Republic have travel insurance to enter the
country. What little information Jenkins could find about it -- all
written in Czech -- left it unclear when it might go into effect,
or if its already in effect.
He sent a letter to
government officials asking for clarification -- and urging them to
abandon the idea.
What hotel
has the highest occupancy rate in San Juan these days? The
city has more than 6,000 rooms in all styles and price ranges, but
TC hears that the most popular hotel is none other than the
125-room Best Western San Juan Airport Hotel,
which opened in July 2004 after a $7 million redo -- and hasnt
faced an empty bed since.
Is the high
occupancy rate related to the number and frequency of flights
canceled by American? Take a guess.
On National
Philanthropy Day (Feb. 27), TC learned that Boston-based
tour operator Grand Circle Corp. will receive an
award for its philanthropic efforts from the Committee to Encourage
Corporate Philanthropy, an association founded by Paul Newman and
Ken Derr of Chevron.
TC hears
that the Sabre-Northwest GDS agreement may be more of a
marketing victory for Sabre than a financial
one.
Sabre can tell the
world it locked up the participation of a major carrier for five
years despite tough market dynamics and new competitors.
However, Sabre may
have given up a lot of ground on economics.
Heres one theory
industry insiders are offering on how the unpublicized deal went
down:
Northwest, which filed for bankruptcy
protection in September, pays Sabre pennies on the dollar for
pre-bankruptcy transactions.
And Sabre gives
Northwest a substantial discount on GDS fees in the five-year deal,
getting in the range of the numbers Northwest had in
mind.
Then Sabre writes
off the discount as a loss. With the momentum from the marketing
win, Sabre can go out and try to garner new agreements.