BA passenger strikes back!

I spent last week on the Italian island of Sicily.  All through the winter I’d been looking forward to a spring break touring the island, with visits to the outstanding archeological sites and other attractions, as part of a group of parents from my son’s school, accompanied by the enthusiastic head of classics.

When I first received the itinerary, I only vaguely noted we were flying British Airways to Catania, one of the two major airports on the island, the other being Palermo.  (In fact Ryanair have subsequently started to operate weekly flights to Trapani in the far west).

Worry beforehand

Although it wasn’t long before the Unite union strike ballot, and the possibility of strike action by BA cabin crew began to cast a long shadow over the trip, there was no question of cancelling or postponing.  There were simply too many people, and too much complicated diary juggling  involved, to allow for that.

We knew that the rules stipulated that unions have to give seven days notice of strike action, so it was with a huge sigh of relief as seven days before departure on 15th March came and went without an announcement, and more strike free days ticked by.  It still came as a hammer blow though, when on Friday afternoon 12th March (before we were due to travel out on the Monday of the same weekend), that we learned that the date of our return on 20th March was the first date to be affected by strike action.

It was decided we’d go ahead with the trip in any event,  and worry what was going to happen to the return flight later. I received quite a few phone calls and ‘good luck’ emails from friends and colleagues who knew I was travelling BA on the first strike day. Although we were due to return on a Saturday, so if the worst came to the worst those with work commitments theoretically had a day to play with, it was the worry of uncertainty that stressed everyone out, above all Caroline, the tour organisor who was also accompanying us – an unenviable task in this particular instance.

Draw on all available back up

While we sat back enjoying our tour (of which more another time),  poor Caroline had to spend hours on the phone to the tour operator through whom the trip had been booked, monitoring whether our return flight had been cancelled or not, and weighing up various alternative options.

It’s at times like these, that you thank your lucky stars that you have a tour organiser and a tour operator to sort things out rather than having to do it yourself – which I would’ve done had I booked my own flights direct with BA. At least most of us could get on with enjoyng our holiday!

What happened to us

Two days before we were due to fly back, on the Wednesday 17th March, ironically as we were strolling along the ridge to the temple of Concord, at the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, news finally came through that our return flight from Catania to Gatwick had been cancelled by British Airways.

After all the options had been examined, and the implications to our itinerary had been weighed up by Caroline and the tour operator,  the best solution proved to be an Alitalia Air One flight from Palermo to Milan Linate, and then a wait for a connecting Alitalia flight back to Heathrow.  Since our cars were all parked at Gatwick, where we’d departed from, BA were obliged to lay on a coach to take us back there on arrival, as well.

How the trip was affected

I guess we were pretty lucky as a group, to come away relatively unscathed from our experiences on this occasion. Sicily as a destination is fantastic, particularly at this time of year with all the wild flowers in bloom. However, every member of the group was still put to considerable inconvenience, in addition to the tour organiser who accompanied us. Here’s a summary:

• I personally witnessed poor attitude and service from BA cabin crew.  One member of the cabin staff on our outward flight to Catania had to be prompted on numerous  occasions to fetch a glass of water for a neighbouring passenger who needed it to take medication. She was made to feel a nuisance.
• The switch of airports for our return flight from Catania to Palermo meant that we lost about half a day in Sicily from  our itinerary. The direct consequences of this were:

1. we had to get up an hour earlier for breakfast on the last day in order to have any time to visit Taormina
2. we had to completely miss a trip to the finest Roman mosaics in Europe at Piazza Armerina (usually a highlight of any trip to Sicily, and one I was particularly looking forward to), in favour of a three hour journey across the island to Palermo.
3. as a result of the necessary changes to the itinerary, four members of the group opted to stay in Palermo for two nights and completely miss visiting Taormina
4. instead of a planned leisurely picnic lunch in the countryside on our last day in Sicily, we had to eat our sandwiches in a motorway service area en route to Palermo
5. the revised flights via Milan involved an earlier than scheduled take off, with an additional 3 hours travelling time, and although a coach was organised from Heathrow to Gatwick to collect people’s cars, the journey home ended up  longer and later  at night than had been anticipated.

With another British Airways strike starting tomorrow, you can probably expect to read more tales of woe in the media; but believe me, whatever happens, there will be plenty more personal experiences like mine that don’t get written about.   Visitors to Britain are probably having comparable experiences to ours, right here, in our home country. Unfortunately it’s almost bound to have a detrimental effect on perceptions of Britain abroad, and subtle but long term damage could be being done to the image of Britain as a destination. Not something we need with London 2012 coming up.

Did you enjoy reading this post? Virtual Viv could write an article or news release for your organisation. Photo journalism assignments particularly welcomed.  Comment about what I’ve written below, or contact me at Manifold Associates.

Until next time…

Escaping to the sun, with a BA strike on the horizon!

It’s just a short post this week, as I’m off to the airport for a flight to Italy. I’m flying BA, and due to return on one of the strike days, so I may be gone some time… I’ll let you know next week about my experiences!

In the meantime, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) has joined the Tourism Alliance in announcing its Manifesto for Tourism. Inevitably it lobbies for support of outbound as well as inbound tourism to the UK; but it’s good to see more organisations joining the bandwagon to make tourism an election issue.

Have you seen the latest (March) edition of ‘Heritage Today’ the English Heritage magazine? It features a smug looking picture of Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport. However, if you read the accompanying article, which also features interviews with  Conservative and Lib Dem shadow ministers, you’ll soon notice that the current Government is short on plans for future tourism policy, compared to the other two parties, with Mr Bradshaw dwelling only on past achievement.

I see from my latest mailing from the Tourism Society, that Tobias Ellwood, the impressive Conservative Shadow Minister for Culture Media and Sport, and MP for Bournemouth East,  who I’ve heard speak at a Tourism South East event,  is scheduled to give the keynote speech at The Tourism Society’s annual conference in London on 14th June. By all possible reckonings that will be taking place after the general election – does he know something that we don’t? With the ABTA manifesto calling for the creation of a Tourism Minister, perhaps this could be a first appearance. Not before time!

Did you enjoy reading this post? Virtual Viv could write for you. If you’re involved in the visitor economy, I can also  teach you sector specific marketing and media skills. Comment about what I’ve written below, or contact me at Manifold Associates.

Until next time…

Could tourism be a winner in the election?

The coming battle

One thing’s for certain. Some time during the next three months there’s going to be a general election. All the indications are that it will be one of the most closely fought struggles to win  the ‘hearts and minds’ of the British people since the Second World War.

I wonder if tourism could become an issue in the campaign. It might not look likely at this point; but if and when a parliamentary candidate comes canvassing, we can be ready. The Tourism Alliance has produced a handy briefing document to mobilise everyone involved in the visitor economy, with its manifesto for tourism, which anyone can download. It demonstrates the hard facts of economic value we all help deliver. It’s somewhat annoyingly been deemed to contribute ‘invisible earnings’ to the economy. So, as an industry, let’s get more visible!

Why tourism deserves to be an issue

Get ready to lobby any politicians who come calling, with the central message that they need to ‘take tourism seriously’, (far more seriously than the current government  does at the moment). With London 2012 around the corner, we’ve got lots to shout about.

We simply can’t afford not to make the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase ourselves as a visitor destination, while we’re  centre of attention on the world stage.  We mustn’t pull any punches about why we’re an industry that deserves more government backing, whoever ends up in power.

What’s tourism worth?

The World Tourism Organisation confirms that the UK has the sixth largest tourism industry in the world (after France, Spain, USA, China and Italy). It supports 2.65m jobs, in 200,000 businesses, some 80% of which are classified as ‘small or medium sized enterprises’(SMEs). Among them of course is my own, Manifold Associates, so I feel perfectly entitled to have an opinion about our industry, which is worth £114Bn annually to the UK economy.

Key messages for politicians

• Tourism is fairly evenly spread across the UK. Its benefits can be felt everywhere from large cities to coastal  resorts, market towns and isolated rural communities
• It’s a service industry that’s highly labour intensive, offering excellent employment opportunities for young people. Employing a highly diverse workforce, it offers  greater  opportunities for part time employment than any other sector of the economy
• There are relatively low barriers to entry and considerable underutilised capacity, enabling the industry to respond quickly to changes in demand
• The high latent demand by visitors attracted by the country’s heritage, vibrant culture, sport, and education (including English language learning), combined with the powerful international appeal of London, means that the sector can offer a high and rapid return on investment
• The industry can deliver sustainable growth; but as a country the UK needs to take action to improve the competitiveness of our visa and air passenger duty charges, which don’t bear favourable comparison with the 25 EU countries included in the Schengen agreement
• Support is needed for wider delivery of programmes that assist tourism businesses to operate more sustainably and encourage inbound travel. This is a truly heartfelt plea, as training programmes that are helping to develop this potential already exist; but even I have to earn a crust, so, frustratingly, it just can’t happen unless these projects get more funding.
• Provide adequate funding for Visit England to capitalise on the opportunity to grow domestic tourism

Time for tactical marketing

With the election at the very most three months distant, now’s also the time to think about tactical marketing and PR opportunities coming our way.

Just last week, The Daily Telegraph gave national coverage to news that Robert Cook, boss of the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison brands, has already equipped his hotels near the three main party headquarters with red yellow and blue cushions carrying the message “when you stay at Hotel du Vin you are guaranteed a seat”.

Politicians of all persuasion, their agents and spin doctors will be descending on marginal constituencies across the land in the coming weeks, as soon as the election date is finalised, if not before. They’re all be on the lookout for campaign winning photo opportunities, and locations suitable for holding press conferences and media interviews. So there’s no time to be lost. Get thinking about the opportunities for your business, and update your contact database. Start making plans now, so you don’t miss out!

Practical help

Manifold Associates is here to help tourism businesses looking for hands-on help with media relations and marketing in the coming months. We also deliver training that gives even the smallest business confidence and practical skills to help you quickly get organised to start doing things for yourself.

Respond below, or visit Manifold Associates for more information about what we offer.

Until next time…