Travel Industry Predictions 2009

My 3 (UK market) travel industry predictions for 2009

• Ryanair to break another deal with another of their ancillary partners expedia style.
  
• January "peak booking period" to be worst ever by sales (passenger) volume.
• 3 destinations that will do well from UK perspective South Africa (RAND has followed the pound down), Iceland (incredible nature, weaker currency) , Australia (A380 efficiency, "low" oil price)

Seasons Greetings

Happy Christmas Everyone !

Credit Crunch : what would you cut first - Xmas or Hols?

Interesting poll over at the incredibly well visited moneysavingexpert website.

They are asking : Which would you cut first… Christmas or Summer Holiday? 

The average UK family is said to spend £600 on Christmas, and not that much more on a holiday. So in tight times, which would you give up spending money on first?

Note: If you are of a different religion, please substitute your nearest equivalent celebration e.g. Hanukah, Eid, Diwali for Christmas in the answer below. 

So far almost 2500 votes and the results at time of writing are :

A. I’d give up Christmas. 45%
B. I’d give up the (summer) holiday. 41%
C. I don’t do Christmas anyway. 4%
D. I don’t take a holiday anyway. 7%
E. I don’t do either. 3%

Corporate Travel Rant

We have now booked our flights to go to Santander which gave an interesting insight to the in-efficient world of corporate travel in Sweden.
For Therese's flights out, the cheapest way was with easyJet from Copenhagen to Stansted then from Stansted direct to Santander with Ryanair. (yes taking a risk with a "self" connection).

What was interesting was they way she had to book these flights - through a corporate travel agency which handles all the bookings for the company she works for. When I looked at what they had done I could see that :

• They inflated prices by adding on massive booking fees. Who needs commission when you can add 50% as a booking fee ? The Ryanair flight was £66.43 but that was invoiced at 1245SEK (should be about 800SEK).

• They paid £10.59 for travel insurance which was not only unnecessary it would also be invalid for a claim since (clearly stated by Ryanair) Therese is not a UK resident.

• They paid £4 for a credit card charge. If we had been able to book it ourselves I could have used debit card to reduce this.

But what I really found absurd was that on the invoice they had some sort of very high "from price" and a claimed "saving" for using their services. I guess this to keep someone in the procurement department happy, they probably get a monthly report saying how much they have "saved"

So, please remind me to start my own corporate travel agency when I get back to Sweden.

I will leave you with Carol Beer . . . .

Win a holiday or two

I have won a couple of holidays in my time, when I worked at TUI I was lucky enough to go to Germany V Italy in the 2006 world cup. And as a member of the general public I managed to win a eurostar trip to Bruges via a survey in the Sunday Times.


So as my first experiment with using the web to make money or anyway to see how much traffic I can generate and what works best I have started another little blog.


I figure people love free stuff and people love holidays so . . .


welcome to my free holidays blog



I am using google alerts to be notified of new competitions when they come online and just making new posts when I get time. When the opportunity arises I am using affiliate links. I will mostly keep it free from other ads and banners for the time being as I want it to look fresh and encourage people to come back rather than give them a headache.

Affiliate Ambitions

Update 2nd Jan : I started a new blog dedicated to affiliate marketing for the travel industry

One of the things I have been thinking about now that I am out of a job is whether I should get into creating and maintaining websites and generating an income from affiliate marketing.

. . .The first thing I have done is signed up to some of the major UK affiliate networks. . . .



Why me ?

I am interested in this because I have got the analytical mindset to spot trends, optimise the websites etc as well as the creativity to exploit ideas and opportunities as they arise. I know I've got a lot to learn but now I have some time to get my head round it all. I think I will stick to the travel industry to start with at least, as it should be there I can most easily create useful content to encourage a loyal set of visitors.



What is affiliate marketing ?

I've got some experience with this from when I worked in the travel industry. In a nutshell it's where a "publisher" puts an advert or text link on their website and the "advertiser" rewards them for that - usually on a performance related basis such as % of sales.





Even if I can't make enough headway or get too bored with working from home, then the experience it will give me can only help me in my job search (example, someone kindly sent me this job the other day) and frankly I have nothing to lose at the moment.... What swings it is the move to Spain as this way I can get going on something straight away and have some continuity when I come back.

Santander Beckons

Bit of news . . .

Thanks to the fact that I am not working, my beautiful partner Therese has taken the opportunity to accept a project from her current employer. So our little family will be moving to Santander shortly after Christmas where she will help e-on Spain with their accounting.

Not an obvious choice of location for a winter perhaps, given that I just looked up a website saying it has similar weather to Scotland !


View Larger Map

It seems Santander is a good place to learn Spanish / learn to surf but most of all I will be looking forward to spending time with my daughter at this precious age. I learnt a bit of Spanish when I was working in Mexico / Dom Rep but when I tried to recall it all I was getting was Swedish !

List of British Affiliate Networks

Today I joined a couple of the UK Affiliate networks to get a better idea of what is is all about and see what advertisers are available / what commissions are on offer.
(Also because it's a Monday and I needed something to get on with).

I am looking into this as it's something I have worked with a little bit in the past and am really interested in. I know it's hard work and very competitive driving traffic to a website but to me "the cut" seems pretty reasonable considering the only major risk or cost is the time I spend on the project. Compare that with your average airline running at 1% margin and massive amounts of capital at risk.


Here they are :

AffiliateWindow - I was a bit put off by the £5 joining fee but you get that added to your account so it's not really a fee. Plenty of travel companies here including STA, and lonely planet (books)

Affiliate Future - Seems to be very strong on travel. Affiliatefuture have RIU, Jet2, Virgin Atlantic, and monarch all on their books.

Tradedoubler - A Swedish company, Tradedoubler has BA, Opodo and other big names.

Paid On Results - Not so strong on travel but plenty of other e-tailers. I also like that they email you a daily summary of activity on your account and pages like this with tips on how to get the most out of being an affiliate publisher.

I will add more as I join them.

What to do next

Now that I have been released by Sterling, I can concentrate on what to do next . . .

I don't want to jump into any job, I'm not panicking. I would rather sieze the opportunity to spend the extra time with my daughter while figuring out what to do next.

I'm happy to stay in the travel industry because it's so broken.

Starting to Meet Travel Companies

I had the pleasure of meeting a real life travel entrepenuer today. . .

Mr Stephan Ekbergh is behind openjet in the UK, Travelstart in Sweden and a whole host of other online travel companies operating around the world.

Thanks to linkedin, a meeting was arranged and I was fortunate enough have a tour of the Travelstart Nordic HQ and chat with Stephan about his businesses and my future plans post Sterling. It was great to talk to someone with a helicopter view of the online travel industry and nice to have some encouragment for my own plans. Travelstart is an innovative company with great technology and a very slick front-end website.

Anyone that knows me well will know that for as long as I remember I had wanted to create businesses. While other kids were idolizing Ian Rush I was more into Sir Richard Branson and Sir John Harvey Jones !! I don't think I'm a capitalistic pig but I just love commerce. When I was a kid my uncle said that by the time I was 30 I would either be in prison or be a millionaire !. Still a few months to go ;)

Snowing in Malmo

First snow of this winter today in Malmö, South Sweden . . . .

Sterling Airlines Will not be sold

Todays news is apparently final.
Sterling will not be sold as a going concern. It's been a rollercoaster. Only yesterday night things were looking up and I thought I would be back in the office by Monday.

Despite the fact that there have been a few "finals" throughout the Sterling Airlines Soap Opera this should be the end of the matter... For my employment anyway. I just got an email that I will finally been released from the employment with them.

Mixed feelings on this, obviously I am sad for the staff. Sterling had a special spirit, a viking spirit and there are were some very talented people working there. However the bankruptcy and sale process has been so protracted I feel kind of relieved which is a stark contrast to 29OCT when I was very upset. (to be honest I cried).

Have a look at this list of airlines that have gone under in one way or another in 2008. I saw this a couple of weeks ago and made me feel a little less sad about our own bankruptcy. It's a tough marketplace.

Danmark V Wales football friendly

Had a great day today, went to Copenhagen.

Despite crossing the Oresund Bridge from Sweden to Denmark almost every working day for the last couple of years I would only get as far as the airport and so am not even very familiar with the Danish capital.


View Larger Map
Above - Copenhagen airport is the first thing you get to when coming from Sweden over the Oresund bridge.

I met a good friend in the city and first we went to the famous Tivoli gardens, my first time. Whilst in Tivoli we had a meal at Wagamana, his first time. Then as we still had a long wait until the Denmark V Wales kick-off we went to the cinema (my first time for a couple of years except a couple of weeks when I took my daughter to a 40min cartoon called Laban for her first trip to "the pictures" ). Saw a horror movie called The Strangers. I give it 6 out of 10, could of had a twist or two but didn't. Or was that the twist ?

Then onto the main event, watching Wales play hosts Denmark at the impressive Brondby stadium. It was raining, not heavily but kind of like a mist that you don't notice that much but you still get pretty wet. There wasn't that many Wales fans as I expected, maybe it was 200 and a total attendance of around 10'000. Here is the match report from the BBC, they probably tell it better than me. Wish I had brought my camera along. It was good to see 2 Swansea players on the pitch and also former Swan Sam Rickets.

Latest Sterling news is all pretty positive, the buyer is ready to sign a deal, the union has agreed a pay cut so we could be back at work on Monday. What a difference a day makes ! There is a news story here that explains who the buyer is.

Do the Brits know STERLING AIRLINES WENT BANKRUPT ?!

Despite having quite a few (14 this summer) routes out of the UK, it seems like news of Sterling going bankrupt has failed to reach the general public in Britain.

I'm not surprised of course given everything else that is in the news - credit-crisis, Obama, Swansea winning at Norwich and everything . . . Plus, on the day of the bankruptcy the news was overshadowed by the bmi takover by Lufty, but I haven't had many messages from those back home since Sterling filed. A few from the travel industry have been in touch though and obviously family and close friends.

One problem you always get with searching the internet for Sterling is that apart from being an excellent airline it also many other things including a name for the British pound. If I ever start an airline remind me to come up with a name that can only be related to the airline, Robair perhaps ?

Then again it could be a good thing that not many people know, in case Sterling is relaunched . . .

Talks to sell Sterling Airlines Fail

Not good news today

Apparently talks to sell Sterling have fallen through. There is of course plenty of news on the Sterling airlines sale in Danish but it's not so easy to find anything in English. Here is one I found using Google News.

Basically the talks collapsed because the union wouldn't agree to demands to change working practices to bring Sterling inline with their rivals. What this would mean is lower basic pay and more sector based and commission for onboard sales.

The problem Sterling has is that some of its competitors have access to much cheaper labour but are allowed to fly the same routes. This is what Open Skies is all about and is good for customers as it has led to a huge ammount of new scheduled flight routes as well as lower prices.

Meet up with team in Malmö

Had a meet up with my team (i.e. revenue management team) today.
And on my home patch of Malmö too. So nice to see everyone and great that so many people could come over the bridge.

I went to my Swedish lesson afterwards. Hard to explain to people that ask that I am not sacked, I am still waiting. I am not aware that we have a status like this in the UK. Could be wrong but I think in Britain you can only be emlployed, unemployed or on holiday ?!

Linkedin reviews come flooding in. Thanks

The linkedin reccomendations have came flooding in over the last couple of days.

Thanks to a gentle encouragement I don't mind admitting.

Here is my linkedin profile, I think you have to be registered to see all the reccomendations I have been fortunate enougth to recieve though. I must admit I have been really impressed by the linkedin website, another idea I wish I had though of... Tripadvisor for humans, facebook for adults.

It's been a great morale boost and should be pretty useful as it seems Linkedin is very well used up here in Scandinavia. Assuming I need a new job of course . . I'm still in this strange limbo situation where I am not working but waiting for Sterling and am not allowed to look for a new job until either I get released or re-employed by the new entity.

Doing some DIY figured something out

Had a bit of a revelation today while trying to keep busy by fixing up some of the paintwork on our 100 year old apartment in Malmö . . .

I was wondering why I was so "into" the travel industry, or why I was crazy enough to want to keep working there when the job security is lousy, the pay below average etc etc,

Well cheap holidays must help I hear you cry, but for me that isn't the biggy as you could just earn more e.g. (until recently) in banking then pay for whichever holiday you want.

No. What I figured out when I was up my ladder is that I like to fix things and in the travel industry there are plenty of things to fix!. This isn't a reflection on Sterling, this I will generalise, applies all over the travel industry and is a result of lots of consolidation, slim margins and ever changing demand / marketplace / technology.

So if you are a handyman or woman maybe there is a place in the tourism sector for you! Maybe travel companies can consider this an interview question from now on ; )

Interweb is brilliant in't it ?

Now I am suspended from my job I have been spending a lot of time online and I was just thinking how different it is to be made redundant now compared to even 15 years ago.

I can :

• easily keep in touch with ex colleagues from work.
• easily search and apply for jobs online - even jobs in other countries.
• explore other options such as my own enterprise or new training.

Just imagine before internet, or before internet was widely used how isolated you might feel being out of work and how hard it might be to find a new job or anyway a job that suited you.

The problem for me is more not knowing what will happen to my current eomployer and if they will survive and take me back. Until that is clarified I can't really look for another job, can't even relax or go on holiday though as we could get called back anytime.

Good Weekend

Had a great weekend.


I'm really glad that I have got such a great family around me. Of course having family responsibilities brings an extra worry but actually it really helps to keep things in perspective, keep busy and keep positive.

Looking forward to being able to spend more time with my wonderful daughter Eva.

Sterling Airlines Facebook page

There are loads of groups popping up on facebook about sterling airlines. Mostly these are for staff to stay in touch and share memories and information.



There is also a Sterling fan page that was setup back in April but didn't have much activity before now. Thanks to the bankruptcy there are now over 200 fans. I'm sure it's the same on the Sterling website, such a shame that it couldn't have been kept open to at least get some ancillary revenue.



Every few months for the past half decade Ryanair pretend they are going to start Transatlantic flights, they still haven't but I'm sure their website gets a boost in visitor numbers every time they do these announcements - all for free. If people get bored of this, Ryanair should announce they are going bankrupt to get their traffic up ;)

Tribute to Sterling - The Airline

The Sterling.dk webmaster posted this video tribute to Sterling on facebook and I thought it was rather poignant. Probably just for those lucky enough to work at Sterling Airways / Sterling Airlines though or ?

Danish breakfast every Friday

Today was pretty nice and as each day goes by I feel less sad about Sterling and more hopeful for the future and happy for the good memories.




The major morale booster was all our old team met up for Breakfast (in Denmark it is customary to have breakfast in the workplace with your colleagues every Friday), at one of our guys house out near Roskilde. He had already arranged to leave Sterling to get a job closer to home and today was supposed to be his last day !

Day after Sterling Bankruptcy

Just reflected on what happened yesterday, I'm not sure what the exact sequence of trauma goes but isn't something like denial, anger then acceptance ?

While it does feel nice in a way to have a day off work (just the escape from the daily commute etc) I'm a lot less upset than yesterday and a bit more angry - e.g. how can governments pump literally billions into propping up banks and not help an airline that gives Scandinavia 1 million inbound tourists and supports thousands of jobs. Instead of paying tax the tourists (VAT is 25%) go somewhere else and the employees take benefits instead of paying tax (approx 50%).

Saying all that I have never particuarly been a lefty when it come to economics, but then again well I came to Scandinavia I haven't minded paying the high tax as I can see where it's being spent on excellent public facilities which I prefer to the Iraq war!

Apart from that I'm still hopeful that a white knight will rescue Sterling airlines, even though I haven't seen that happen at other bankrupt airlines such as XL and silverjet. I think it's OK for young people like me to lose their jobs as we can always move onto something else but I do feel sorry for some of the older people, crew in particular as it would be harder for them to get a job in the current airline and general economic situation.

Sterling Airlines Bankrupt I'm suspended

Today was an awful day.


About 1 minute after I woke up I got a text to watch the TV news as the airline I work for had filed for bankruptcy. All operations have been cancelled. The fleet of Boeing 737s was all back in Scandinavia and has been grounded. Here is the message on the Sterling website


Sterling Airlines had been in talks with potential buyers but because a deal could not be reached a decision was made, on the advice of lawyers to file for bankruptcy. I went into work anyway as there was a meeting to explain the situation. Trouble was it was mostly in Danish which is not my strongest language, and also the meeting was run by lawyers who do in general have a hard time giving straight answers.

We Sterling employees haven't been sacked but equally there is no guarantee that our jobs will be saved and it is also not clear if there is enough money to pay our wages for October.

So this is the first post in this blog . . . Things can only get better. The reason I decided to start this job is to diarise what I'm sure will be a very dynamic time in my life. If the airline cannot be brought back to life in some form then I will need a new job.