holidaydirectuk.com

People are prepared to cut back on drinking and eating out during the current financial turmoil in order to save up for their holiday, a new study shows.

A quarter say they are adapting their weekly expenditure and compromising on nights out in the short term, according to the poll of more than 1,500 Britons for lastminute.com.

Almost half (44%) are prepared to put up with a less comfortable travelling experience such as minimal legroom on budget airlines to esure they get away and more than a quarter are now more prepared to take inconvenient connecting flights to make their holiday affordable.

One in eight of parenst admit to taking their children out of school during term time to take advantage of cheaper holiday prices.

The study also found that a quarter of consumers view their holiday as more important than ever due to the credit crunch.

Thirty five per cent said that future holidays are helping to “motivate” them through the current tough times.

And 44% of people said the internet had made them more spontaneous with holiday bookings across all age groups, with 14% booking a holiday online within a week or less to departure.

A third believe they are more adventurous about where they go on holiday than they were a decade ago due to internet booking.

Meanwhile, almost a quarter (23%) say they are bored with the standard package holiday and look for more adventure in their holidays now.

Lastminute.com managing director John Bevan said the company’s use of dynamic packaging was enabling it to respond to demand for shorter duration breaks as people look for more affordable flights and accommodation options.

“Dynamic packaging gives the consumer flexibility so they can choose their length of stay. For example, travelling out on a Tuesday and returning on a Saturday would work out cheaper,” he said.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are dropping their fuel surcharges from midnight tonight.

Virgin announced its plans to reduce prices yesterday afternoon and BA followed suit this morning with exactly the same reductions.

Neither airline has lowered the surcharge for its premium customers.

From midnight, BA World Traveller passengers will pay £13 less on longer sectors and £10 less on shorter sectors.

World Traveller Plus passengers will pay £6.50 less on longer sectors and £5 on shorter sectors.

The changes will mean the surcharge for long haul flights of more than nine hours will drop by £13 per flight from £109 per flight to £96 per flight.

The surcharge for long haul flights of less than nine hours will drop by £10 per flight from £78 per flight to £68 per flight.

Meanwhile, Economy passengers with Virgin Atlantic will pay £10 less on shorter sectors and £13 less on longer sectors, while Premium Economy passengers will pay £5 less on shorter sectors and £6.50 less on longer sectors.

But for Upper Class passengers there is no reduction.

A spokesman for Virgin said: “Upper Class passengers pay more as their space and baggage allowances onboard are much greater.

“Also, Virgin Atlantic is still paying just under half of the rise in the cost of fuel since we introduced the charges initially (in 2004) and we are not passing these costs back to our passengers.”

For shorter sectors, the new fuel charges will be £68 for Economy and £83 for Premium Economy, but will remain at £98 for Upper Class.

On longer sectors - Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Beijing Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Mauritius, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Hong Kong - charges will be £96, £114.50 and £133 respectively.

Cary Lam, Holiday Direct managing director, will be holding the next seminar at Holiday Direct head offices in Southampton on November 15th at 1pm

This is a great opportunity for prospective members to speak directly with Cary about the changes in the travel industry, and how agents can be a success in today’s market. Holiday Direct are making huge advances to stay ahed of the game, this is your chance to see how you can be a part of it.

Seminar will be held at Holiday Direct offices:
19-20 Marina Building,
William Street,
Shamrock Quay,
Southmpton,
Hants SO14 5QL.

Holiday Direct Travel Group are preparing to announce to members their uptake of TravelTek technology to allow in house bulk loading of HOD offers to Teletext, as well as to a new generation of TravelTek powered websites later in the year.

‘The Commercial Controller product allows us to keep tight control whilst uploading offers to Teletext and other platforms’ commented Cary Lam, Holiday Direct’s Managing Director.

‘Alongside the Titan system from TravelTek we have a solution for members to load the most complex hotel contracts, combine their prices with low cost flights and transfers and present these offers to the public via various online advertising outlets. We have complete control over all content showing to the public via the Titan system.’

‘With our steady increase in advertising space over the years, this will represent a great investment for us allowing our members instant access to the market. The advertising can be tailored to suit them and it will all be managed at head office.’

‘In the current financial climate it will be agents who are pro active, and that can afford to keep a high profile, that will be rewarded with the biggest benefit in the new year. We are confident of strong sales in 2009 and are doing all we can to guarantee that!’

The Commercial Controller / Titan platform will be available to Holiday Direct members in October 2008.