Tui and flat pricing, Branding lessons, Expedia pricing boosts revenues, Cue for queues , Dubai-ing China and more….our pick of the week’s news

Death to discounting

Over the next two years Tui Travel plans introduce flat pricing across its distribution channels and a service fee for those who choose expert in store advice. This follows the rollout of technology which allows Tui Travel to track bookings across distribution channels. Service charges, which have been trialled, will be introduced along with single pricing online - and on the high street - and be set at less than 1% of the price of a holiday. So the price of the booking will be the same but the service fee different. The system, Phoenix, is already in use in part of the UK business. Tui Travel takes 45% of UK bookings online, compared with only 4% in Germany where 80% go through third parties.

Security opportunities  

Frequent fliers who voluntarily share information with government make have an easier journey through security in the future, according to this ABC news report. Airport security leading to long queues and passenger distress is a growing problem for the airline industry. Speaking at a global aviation conference Tony Tyler, director general and chief executive of the International Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade group predicted, however, that by 2020 one-size-fits all approach to passenger screening could be replaced with a system based on individual passenger risk. The industry hopes to test the concept at a handful of airports starting late next year. In the meantime, to keep people flying airlines should really be focusing on how the journey from start to finish can be made easier.

Burnt by branding

Getting plenty of news coverage after a branding campaign is usually good news. Not so for the Scottish city of Edinburgh whose recent ‘Incredinburgh’ marketing campaign has been reported on by a number of news organisations after city councillors branded it ‘twee’ and ‘appalling’. Marketing Edinburgh has been forced to delay its plans as a result. Also in the UK, another campaign that has come under fire is the curious Suffolkcampaign, announced by VisitSuffolk, a county’s tourism agency, last month. It includes a strong social networking element with Twitter users being encouraged to use hashtags #proudtobecurious and #curiouscounty.MPs here are not happy either with one saying that: “Curious County does not give a very clear message about Suffolk. It is often used as a euphemism for something that is not quite right.”  Branding, it seems, can be incredibly and curiously difficult.

Pricing pays off

In what appears to be a bit of a growing trend, to give customers more payment flexibility Expediahas launched a new offering. The so-called Traveller Preference Programme gives people the choice to pay either at the time of booking or upon check out at hotel directly.By providing a more bespoke service for customers, hotel partners are, according to Expedia, already benefiting from revenue increases through increased booking volumes.  Participating hotels say they are receiving more bookings when a traveller is offered a choice of how they would like to pay. Another benefit realized by participating hotels is improved placement in hotel search results. So far Expedia has more than 13,000 hotels signed up for the ETP programme, including large global and regional chains as well as many independent hotels. 

Eyes on China 

Dubai-born Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts has signed a global direct connectivity agreement with Ctrip.com International Ltd, China's travel service enterprise. This is the first time a luxury hotel group from the Middle East has signed an agreement of this nature with Ctrip. Direct connectivity between Ctrip and Jumeirah will allow Ctrip customers' reservations to be delivered automatically and within seconds to Jumeirah hotels.  Once the direct connect technology is in place, special offers and a consumer contests will be launched. Jumeirah expects a growth of 14% from the Chinese market to its worldwide portfolio in 2013.  

Meet me in LatAm

Latin America is one of the fastest growing events and conference markets. It is this – and the growing demand for online destination and video content – that has driven a new online content venture between Corporaction TTI and Meeting the World. The deal will allow Meeting the World to bring its detailed video reports of events to planners, travel agents and buyers to Latin America. Meeting the World produces in-depth destination video reports, designed to save travel and meetings planners time and money, while helping them create better meeting and travel experiences. Corporacion TTI will now distribute these video reports much more widely to increase the accessibility of Meeting the World’s destination content to the sector. The result: meeting planners will now gain valuable insights without even setting foot on a plane.