Behind the scenes with the English National Ballet: 14 January
German Coach Travel Forum: Canterbury 28 January
2010 Coach Holiday Conference, Cardiff: 17-19 February
British Tourism Week: 15-21 March
Best of Britain & Ireland Show: 17-20 March
www.findacoachholiday.com goes live in January
CTC member events in pictures
New CTC members
Free training with People 1st
Free driver recruitment website
Festive greetings to CTC supporters
Behind the scenes with the English National Ballet: 14 January
New member English National Ballet is internationally recognised for its grand scale productions of classical ballet. In 2010 the Company celebrates its 60th anniversary with a series of celebrations and special events and is inviting CTC operator members to join them for a sneak preview and to watch the performance of the spectacular The Snow Queen.
The event at the London Coliseum in St Martin’s Lane, London features an illustrated talk with members of the Company, a premium ticket to the matinee performance of Michael Corder’s The Snow Queen, refreshments and lunch. Start time is 11.15am and the visit finishes at about 5pm (guests who do not wish to stay for the performance may leave early).
Promoting your Business in the German Coach and Group Travel Market is the theme of the RDA UK & Ireland members get together and forum taking place in Canterbury on 28 January which is being organised in co-operation with the Coach Tourism Council.
CTC suppliers and operators are welcome to attend and find out about current German tourism and coach market developments and how to successfully do business in Germany.Operators will also be particularly interested in the opening of the Canterbury coach park which follows a networking lunch. Speakers include CTC chairman Sean Taggart and Dieter Gauf, CEO of RDA.
The forum takes place in the Canterbury Cathedral Conference Centre, starting at 11am. For further details and to register contact admin@coachtourismcouncil.co.uk
2010 Coach Holiday Conference, Cardiff: 17-19 February
Book now for the 2010 Coach Holiday Conference being held at the Mercure Holland House Hotel from 17-19 February 2010. It’s a must attend event for anyone involved in coach tourism not just to discuss, debate and learn about current issues but to network and do business with travel industry colleagues.
As previously announced there is a great line up of speakers including the leaders of VisitEngland, VisitWales and the Shadow Culture Minister – as well as experts from the banking and hotel industries. Supported and hosted by VisitWales, Southern Wales Tourism and Accor Hospitality, the event also includes a choice of four guided visits to heritage and cultural attractions in Cardiff and south Wales and of course, the popular CTC Workshop for suppliers and operators.
Last but not least there are more than £500 worth of FREE offers for ALL coach and wholesaler delegates including a weekend break with Mercure Hotels, Stena Line ferry crossing to Ireland, a £50 MacarthurGlen gift card for use at the Bridgend Designer Outlet and tickets to the hit West End show, Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
Delegate rates are from just £145 for operators and from £165 for suppliers to include welcome lunch, two nights DBB including a Gala Dinner with entertainment.
Promote your business during British Tourism Week 2010 from 15 to 21 March. This week-long promotion aims to raise awareness of tourism in the UK and underline what it does for the economy, jobs and leisure industry. BTW is organised by VisitBritain with the support of The Tourism Society, and an Executive Committee which includes the Coach Tourism Council.
It’s a great opportunity for CTC members to get involved in local promotions. With a General Election looming why not invite your local MP to visit your company and find out what you do and hear why they should do something about coach parking, especially in London. It’s a good photo opportunity too. You could also consider self promotion through competitions in local newspapers, working with local schools on promoting attractions, holding a public open day or offering special trips to local/regional attractions.
Templates for letters and promotional material can be found and downloaded from the British Tourism Week website.
The CTC will have one of the most visual ‘stands’ in the form of a coach at the Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum 2010 taking place on 17-18 March at London’s Olympia and the consumer show which takes place on the following two days 19-20 March. We see this as a great opportunity to showcase the modern face of coach tourism and hope as many members will support both the trade and consumer shows.
Registration has now opened for the Travel Trade Forum 2010 which will showcase the latest industry developments as well as offering frank debates, inspiring seminars and exclusive networking opportunities. There will be more than 300 exhibitors for this the UK’s only trade exhibition solely serving the domestic tourism market in Britain and Ireland.
Event Director, Angie Watson said: “We are building on the successes and learnings from the inaugural event in 2009 and we are delighted with the unprecedented interest and support from across the industry. We have already seen the event grow in size by 20% and have introduced a number of exciting initiatives including an innovative VIP Domestic Hosted Buyers Programme to ensure the quality visitor base continues to grow.“
The CTC’s new consumer website exclusively for coach operator members goes live in early January. All operators are urged to complete and return the form issued by our web designer recently and ensure they are fully represented on the new site.
The new site will provide members with an additional marketing tool, be more user friendly and a useful source of information for consumers wanting to find an escorted tour from near where they live. A key element will be to make it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for more quickly with a simple drop down menu. Members will also be able to input their late offers.
There will be a simplified stand alone B2B trade facing site for all CTC members based on the current design.
CTC member events in pictures
Ramada Jarvis kindly hosted our first pre-Christmas networking event at the Ramada Leeds Parkway Hotel. More than 50 people enjoyed a great evening of entertainment and hospitality and thanks must go to Brett Arscott and his team for putting on and hosting such an excellent event. Brett (far right) is pictured with Father Christmas and guests at the dinner as are three operator supporters, Andrews of Tideswell, David Palmer Coaches and Eddie Brown Tours.
A group of members also took a trip back in time to the glamour of Las Vegas in the 50s and 60s to enjoy the music and songs of legends Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jnr and Dean Martin as guests of Applause at a matinee performance of The Rat Pack, at London’s Adelphi Theatre. Pictured are (l to r) Mark Wood of Woods Coaches, Claudia Coelho of Applause and Mike and Janet Scutt, Viewfinder Tours.
Several CTC members were guests of the Irish Ambassador to London at a dinner held at the Irish Embassy. Pictured (left to right) are Steve Moore, ICT/South Quay Travel, His Excellency The Irish Ambassador Bobby MacDonagh, the CTC’s Chris Wales and Dermot Hogan and Lawrence Bate from Tourism Ireland.
A welcome to new members
The CTC is delighted to welcome several new additions to membership. They include four new coach tour operators - Laver Holidays in Leicestershire, R. B. Travel in Northamptonshire and Bullocks Coaches of Cheshire and Manchester, are all family-owned firms with full coach tour programmes. Also joining is Stanley Travel of Hanwell in West London.
New supplier members are Advantage Now, a new sales representation company for individual; and small hotel chains set up by Andy Duthie and Howard Dunks and Continuum Leading Attractions which features the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, Oxford Castle and the Canterbury Tales.
Free training with People 1st
Free training sessions in marketing and customer service are being offered across the country throughout January 2010 by People 1st, the sector skills council for the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism industry. The events are particularly relevant to small and medium-sized businesses in the sector. The classes will also help businesses find out how to access public funding for training under the Train to Gain initiative. For details visit www.people1st.co.uk
People 1st and GoSkills are also running the Steering Group of The Diploma in Travel Tourism, which will be introduced in schools and colleges from September next year to give students an opportunity to get a new and relevant qualification in the travel & tourism industry.
CTC chief executive Chris Wales, who is representing the CTC on the steering group, has recently become a Diploma champion. He said: "A Diploma dedicated to the travel and tourism sector will undoubtedly raise the standards of candidates entering the industry and I very much look forward to working closely with consortia to help deliver this excellent new qualification. Employer engagement is crucial for the successful take-up and delivery of the Diploma and I would seriously urge more businesses to get involved through offering work experience, giving masterclasses within colleges, and helping with lesson planning. The benefits to businesses are numerous – access to better prepared and highly motivated young people, a reduction in recruitment costs, and the opportunity to play an active part in the local community."
The UK Driving Jobs website which launched in April 2008, is offering CTC members who have driver vacancies the chance to advertise their positions free on www.uk-driving-jobs.co.uk
If you would like to take advantage of this offer please register your contact, email and address details and also include the description for the job you wish to advertise via info@uk-driving-jobs.co.uk or if you want to discuss please call Richard Blake or one of him team at UK Driving Jobs on 0207 607 8282 and they will explain the benefits of this offer.
Festive greetings for Christmas and 2010
On behalf of CTC Chairman Sean Taggart, Chief Executive Chris Wales, Paul Ovington and the CTC Board we should like to offer all members a Happy Christmas and all good wishes in these difficult times, for a successful 2010. We do hope all of you will be renewing your membership in 2010 and continue to help us promote touring by coach in the year ahead.
For ideas on where to book a short break by coach this autumn click here
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