Thomas Cook brand relaunches as online travel agency

The Chinese-owned Thomas Cook brand relaunched Wednesday as an online travel agency following the British group's collapse last year.

"The new 'COVID-ready' travel company will initially sell holidays to destinations on the government's safe travel corridor list," said Thomas Cook, which is owned by Fosun Tourism Group.

"Thomas Cook has a proud heritage and after acquiring the brand last year we wanted to quickly return it to its home in the UK," said Fosun's chairman and chief executive, Jim Qian. 

 "Supporting the growth of the brand in China and its relaunch in the UK is a big step in our plan to turn Thomas Cook into a global success story and a key milestone in the development of the Fosun Tourism Group's strategy," he said.

Fosun, which also owns France-based resort giant Club Med, acquired the brand and online assets of Thomas Cook in November.  

Thomas Cook's demise one year ago sparked 22,000 job losses worldwide and triggered Britain's biggest repatriation since World War II, with the government paying to fly home 140,000 stranded tourists.

The 178-year-old British company had declared bankruptcy after an attempt to secure $250 million from private investors fell through.

Thomas Cook's stores across the UK had struggled against fierce online competition, while the company had blamed Brexit uncertainty for a drop in bookings before its collapse.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Prince William and Kate expecting third child

London - Prince William and his wife Kate are expecting their third child, Kensington Palace announced on Monday, adding that she would not be attending a planned engagement due to a severe form of morning sickness.

The news comes on the week that the royal couple's eldest child, four-year-old Prince George, begins school in London. They also have a daughter, two-year-old Princess Charlotte.

"Their royal highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are very pleased to announce that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their third child," the palace said in a statement.

William is second in line to the throne and his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II, along with members of both families, was said to be "delighted" at the news.

The palace confirmed that "as with her previous two pregnancies, the Duchess is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum", a severe form of morning sickness.

"Her royal highness will no longer carry out her planned engagement at the Hornsey Road Children's Centre in London today. The Duchess is being cared for at Kensington Palace,"

 

Source - TheNation

Push for visa-free travel between #Britain and the #EU

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The travel industry in Britain is appealing to the British government to maintain visa-free travel between Britain and the rest of Europe, and to protect British holidaymakers’ rights to health insurance and free mobile-roaming during Brexit negotiations.
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Recently, the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) released a report titled “Making a success of Brexit for travel and tourism”, outlining a set of priorities the group sees as essential for the travel industry’s post-Brexit prosperity.
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Given that the EU is Britain’s biggest market for overseas holidays, Abta is asking the government to maintain visa-free travel to countries within the EU.
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In 2015, British residents made 37 million holiday and business trips to countries within Europe.
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Conversely, EU residents also made more than 16 million trips to Britain.
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“While immigration is a contentious issue, securing visa-free travel for holidays and short business trips should be the goal of the government,” reads the report.

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.FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

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 “It is important that we maintain fast and efficient processes through our airports and ports and avoid lengthy queues to enable EU nationals to easily visit us, and UK visitors to travel to the EU.”.
The group is also urging the government to safeguard consumer travel rights that all European citizens enjoy, including access to free or reduced cost healthcare via the European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) which was used more than 215,000 times in 2015 by British citizens. As part of EU membership, travellers are likewise entitled to compensation for delayed and cancelled flights, while the EU Package Travel Directive protects people on package holidays..

Abolish roaming fees.
“Abta urges the government to secure the UK’s continued participation in the Ehic scheme, which guarantees UK travellers reciprocal access to healthcare systems across Europe.”

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The group is also asking that Britons be able to take advantage of the abolition of roaming fees in Europe that will be effective next month.

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“The government must replicate this EU-level agreement to ensure that British and EU customers continue to benefit from the abolition of these additional charges.”

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Source - TheJakartaPost