TAT monitors Eurozone decline
May 7, 2013 by Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit
Filed under News, Thailand
BANGKOK, 7 May 2013: Tourism Authority of Thailand says a decline in charter flights from Eurozone countries reduced trips from Scandinavia during the first quarter of the year.
TAT deputy governor for International marketing Europe, Africa, Middle East & America, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, said leisure trips from Denmark, Sweden and Finland decreased by around 5% to 10% in the first Q1 of this year.
“The decline was mainly due to a lower number of charter flights to Thailand when compared to the same period last year and that was caused by worsening economic conditions in Europe.”
CX’s 2012 profits plunge
HONG KONG, 14 March 2013: Cathay Pacific said Wednesday that 2012 net profit plunged more than 83%, as the Hong Kong flag carrier was buffeted by persistently high fuel prices and the Eurozone financial crisis.
The airline said profit stood at HK$916 million (US$118 million), down from the HK$5.5 billion it recorded in 2011. Revenue rose 1% to HK$99.4 billion from HK$98.4 billion in 2011.
Cathay said it carried a total of 29.0 million passengers in 2012, a 5% rise year-on-year, but its premium class sales were hit as companies cut back on travel for executives.
Thomas Cook posts losses
LONDON, 29 November 2012: Travel firm Thomas Cook on Wednesday posted deepening losses, hit by the eurozone crisis, Middle East unrest and high fuel costs, and added it was mulling options for its French and North American units.
Thomas Cook said in a results statement that it had suffered a loss after taxation of £585.9 million (US$937.9 million, 725.5 million euros) in the year to September, compared with a shortfall of £520.7 million in 2010/2011.
Total revenues fell 3.2% to £9.5 billion in a “difficult” trading environment, as customers in Europe shunned destinations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) area — particularly in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
Euro strikes hit flights
MADRID, 14 November 2012: A wave of anti-austerity anger breaks across Europe on Wednesday, with general strikes in Spain and Portugal spearheading a day of protest that will ground more than 700 commercial flights.
Growing angst over public spending cuts and tax increases is being exposed in particular in debt-struck eurozone economies already suffering high unemployment and recession.
Clashes between riot police and protesters have broken out in stricken Eurozone states such as Greece and Italy, and less frequently in Spain, now grappling also with the despair of evicted home-owners.
Iberia faces more job cuts
LONDON, 12 November 2012: Loss-making Iberia on Friday announced plans to axe 4,500 jobs to save Spain’s biggest airline from collapse and warned more cuts could follow against the backdrop of economic crisis in the Eurozone country.
“Iberia is in a fight for survival,” Iberia’s chief executive Rafael Sanchez-Lozano said in a statement issued by parent group International Airlines Group (IAG), which also owns profit-making British Airways.
Iberia “is unprofitable in all its markets. We have to take tough decisions now to save the company and return it to profitability,” said Sanchez-Lozano.
Eurozone troubles worry agents
July 26, 2012 by Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit
Filed under Associations, News, Thailand
BANGKOK, 26 July 2012: Association of Thai Travel Agents says its member companies are pursuing new markets to make up for declines in the Eurozone. Two markets that are showing strong potential are ASEAN and Eastern Europe with the latter escaping the economic impact of a declining Euro and a debt crisis in the EU.
ATTA president, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, said travel firms should not overlook the importance of neighbouring country markets as they will become important producers of year-round business over the next three years.
“A sovereign debt crisis in Europe, will hit our turnover in tourism even though the market still increased in the first half of the year.”
Shadow cast over Spanish Sands
June 27, 2012 by AFP
Filed under Europe, Hospitality, News
MADRID, 27 June 2012: The eurozone crisis and financing problems have cast a shadow on plans to build a giant Las Vegas-inspired casino complex in Madrid or Barcelona, Michael Leven, the number two of Las Vegas Sands Corp said Tuesday.
The “Eurovegas” was projected by its backers to create up to 250,000 jobs in a country where a quarter of the workforce is unemployed.
Leven would not rule out that the project could be scrapped but he said at a press conference that a decision whether to go ahead can now be expected “by 1 September”.
IATA: Deep cuts in airline profits
Beijing, 11 June 2012: Airline industry group, IATA, warned on Monday global profits would reduce more than halve this year owing to surging oil prices and the eurozone crisis, with European carriers suffering losses of US$1.1 billion.
Tony Tyler, head of the International Air Transport Association, also hit out at a controversial carbon tax scheme put in place by the European Union, lashing it as a “polarising obstacle to real progress”.
Tyler told the group’s annual general meeting in Beijing that “2012 is another challenging year. We expect revenues of US$631 billion but a profit of just US$3.0 billion”.
TAT readies for ITB gig
February 7, 2012 by TTRweekly Staff
Filed under Europe, News
BANGKOK, 7 February 2012: Tourism Authority of Thailand will promote four niche markets at ITB Berlin this year hoping it will help to build a growth in first-time visits to the country from European markets, TAT deputy governor for international marketing, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, told TTR Weekly.
ITB opens 7 March against the backdrop of a Eurozone crisis, rising fuel prices and looming war threats in the Middle East.
A severe cold snap if it continues could also disrupt travel across the continent and make it more difficult for visitors attending Europe’s top travel trade show. Read more
