The Latest Package Holiday And Travel Industry News

After her much publicised spat with Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother, Jade Goody and her Big Brother friends have been invited to take a holiday to India by the India Tourism Office so that they can experience the "healing nature" of the country. The invite was expressed in the form of an open letter to Jade and her Big Brother pals, which was printed in a number of British newspapers including the Times and the Guardian.

India Tourism was quoted as saying, "Once your current commitments are over may we invite you to experience the healing nature of India", and followed by describing India as, "(a place) where ancient and modern co-exist and a multitude of religions live in harmony". There were a number of references to the beauty of India as a country including the incredible diversity of the landscapes and wildlife. There is certainly evidence to back up the claims as anyone that has enjoyed holidays in Goa or Kerala will vouch for.

The story has also been reported with much enthusiasm in the Indian press and turned up on India themed websites such as newkerala.com, which has news and features about India and particularly the beautiful tourist area of Kerala in the southwest.

It remains to be seen whether Jade and the others will take up the gracious invite that was offered by the India Tourism Office. If they do they might have the opportunity to enjoy beautiful areas such as Kerala (pictured). The story will no doubt continue to spark debate about the issues involved and raise the profile of the relationship between Britain and India. Ironically, holidays to India are as popular as ever with Holiday Hypermarket customers, with Goa holidays being particularly popular among British travellers looking for an exciting and unique winter sun destination.

It was announced today that two of the travel industry’s largest companies, MyTravel PLC and Thomas Cook AG are set to merge into one company. The surprise move comes after much speculation of late in the business and travel press that both Thomas Cook and MyTravel were interested in the purchase of the First Choice Holidays mainstream division. The MyTravel group has only recently returned to profit after a slump over the past few years, while Thomas Cook has returned improved profits in the UK for the third successive year, despite a slight decrease in passenger numbers.

The merger between MyTravel and Thomas Cook is expected to be finalised by June 2007, although the completion of the merger is said to be subject to the approval of the MyTravel shareholders. A general meeting is likely to be convened to vote on the matter soon but it is understood that the directors of MyTravel view this as a positive move for the company. According to the press release that was released today by MyTravel, "The directors of MyTravel intend unanimously to recommend to MyTravel Shareholders that they vote in favour of the Merger, as they intend to do in relation to their own shareholdings."

Having announced their intentions to merge, the newly formed alliance of MyTravel and Thomas Cook have said that there is likely to be further acquisitions on the way. However, it is not thought that the enlarged group, which the BBC have reported will be incorporated under the parent company banner of 'Thomas Cook Group', will continue any pursuit of the First Choice mainstream division. First Choice have also announced that they have terminated talks over the sale of their mainstream holiday division. It is hoped that the merger will see pre-tax cost benefits of £75m per annum once all of the benefits of the merger come to fruition. MyTravel chairman Michael Beckett said, "Thomas Cook is a household name and the joining of the two groups will create an even stronger force in this highly competitive market." Share prices of both companies saw a significant rise today after the merger was announced.

As the newly formed company establishes itself in the travel marketplace Holiday Hypermarket will continue to supply customers with the best holidays available from Thomas Cook and the MyTravel companies including Airtours Holidays, Manos Holidays and Panorama Holidays. In addition Holiday Hypermarket customers will also continue to benefit from the choice of millions of other holidays from leading UK Tour Operators such as First Choice Holidays, Kuoni Holidays, Libra Holidays, Olympic Holidays and many more.

New regulations have been announced to introduce interviews for first-time passport applicants from April 2007. The proposals are aimed at reducing incidences of fraudulent passport applications by making face-to-face interviews compulsory for those applying for their first passport. Officials at the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) said that the changes are "vital" to significantly reduce passport fraud in the future. However, the scheme is likely to be rolled out gradually meaning that initially not all first-time applicants will be asked to attend an interview. Applicants will be contacted within eight working days of the receipt of their completed application form if they are required for interview.

It is believed that currently 74% of fraudulent passport applications are from first-time adult applications. First-time applications account for around 10% of the yearly total and it is expected that in the region of 610,000 interviews will take place each year once the new regulations take effect. The IPS aim to have offices conducting the interviews within one hour’s travelling time of 99% of the population of the UK, with more than half within 15 minutes.

The interviews are expected to last in the region of 10-20 minutes and will focus on areas such as the applicants’ previous addresses and bank details. Critics of the scheme say that these security measures may deter the minority of ‘chancers’ that try to obtain a passport under false pretences but will not deter serious fraudsters. Guy Herbert, the secretary of the NO2ID campaign, which lobbies against the introduction of ID cards in Britain said, "It is being misrepresented as essential for passports, but it is identity card work by the back door."

By 2009 it is expected that everyone will be required to attend one of the new centres to renew their passport, so that authorities are able to obtain background information, photographs and fingerprints for the biometric passports that will become the norm. Some people may also be interviewed as part of the passport renewal process. The move brings the UK in line with most other European countries who already conduct interviews for first time applicants.

Plans were announced yesterday to instigate a merger between First Choice Holidays PLC and TUI AG. The planned merger, which is subject to the agreement of shareholders and the approval of the competition authorities, will see these two major players in the travel industry combine to form an entirely new company. TUI AG is the company that owns the well known Thomson Holidays brand in the UK, so the proposed merger will see two of the best known names in the UK travel industry become part of the same company. The news comes just a short time after the tie-in between the other two big names in UK travel, Thomas Cook and MyTravel, who announced their proposal to merge in early February.

The consolidation of the two companies is expected to take place towards the end of the year. The company will be listed on the London Stock Exchange and the headquarters will be in the UK. First Choice Chief Executive Peter Long will take charge of the new company with TUI Northern Europe Chief Exec Peter Rothwell reporting to Long as deputy CEO. The merger sees the TUI group taking the 51% majority share in the new company. TUI Travel PLC, as it is being referred to, is expected to take 27 million customers to 200 destinations every year. The merger should produce significant savings for the new company and give them a very strong position within the UK holiday market for both specialist and mainstream holidays.