A Reflection on the Last Two Weeks for Gay Travellers

Sadly, I haven't been able to keep this blog up to date over the last two momentous weeks for gay travellers as life has been very hectic indeed.

As I last wrote, we lost Aspire - a small upmarket brand and brought down in the overall demise of XL Airways and the whole XL group. What I did not know then was that Throb and Respect also had large parts of their flying programme with XL Airways and have now ceased trading. The future of Sensations a brand merged with Respect in January 2008 is currently in doubt.

From our perspective at Amro Worldwide, the old holiday company model of pre-buying and paying for flight seats and accommodation before selling it was well past its sell-by date. Online booking and demand for tailor-made holidays of variable duration had taken over from the once traditional 7 or 14 night holiday package with fixed departure dates. I'm surprised it took XL to push these brands over the cliff especially in the light of all the recent rumours and blogs on the subject. Amro has never followed this model and will not do so.

Gay Travellers are entitled to expect their travel arrangements to be financially sound and backed by the Civil Aviation Authority ATOL scheme, to provide knowledgeable advice, feature a wide range of flexible holiday options plus excellent service as well as great value either through online internet booking or a promptly answered call-centre. Over the past six years, Amro Worldwide has striven to meet these objectives and I believe we are well placed to serve the community of which we are members into the future.

Andrew

Gran Canaria

The last week has seen a flood of enquiries for Gran Canaria from people who two weeks ago had never heard of Amro Worldwide. This is terrific news for us so its perhaps worth explaining how we fit into the GC gay travel scene.

Until this year, Amro never had a GC programme - this was a very deliberate choice. Respect, Sensations, Throb etc had good product and Amro could offer very little that was different. But around a year ago, our established clients, suffering under the credit crunch, asked us about holidays in Europe. We appointed a local agent on the island and introduced a small programme of 3/4 star hotels. It far exceeded our sales expectations.

To cope with those whose holidays were cancelled, we have now expanded this programme to include many of the self-catering properties previously featured by those companies - apartments such as Valaparaiso, Carmen and Barbados are all now searchable and bookable online or through our call-centre. We also have a deal into Los Almendros over the next few weeks - the former exclusively Respect property - although don't expect the cute staff you fancied on your last visit to still be there! Phone our call-centre for more information.

In addition, we're off shortly to review and expand our range of places to stay, ensuring they fit within our brand values of Gay Travel: Tried and Trusted. So look out for a great new gay travel programme.

ATOL and all that !!

I make no apology for plugging time and time again, at this difficult time, that Amro Worldwide holds ATOL5826 issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority for your holiday protection. Nearly seven years ago when I was planning the launch of Amro, I decided that we should aspire to provide the very highest standards and levels of financial protection for our holidaying travellers. It was simply nothing more than I expected when I travelled and I failed to see why the gay community should expect anything less.

Getting an ATOL isn't easy. All the Director's of Amro Holidays Ltd were personally vetted by the Civil Aviation Authority Consumer Protection Group. I was interviewed for over an hour about how I would run the business and my background. A financial bond was taken meaning if Amro failed, I would loose my home - not an easy thing to agree to! To cap it all, I had to find £50,000 in cash.

With those sort of financial penalties around, I don't take chances with Amro and that's why I believe we remain and prosper in the business of gay travel. Our holidays are no more expensive than any others and in a lot of cases far cheaper, so I often wonder why anyone takes a chance and books their precious holiday with any holiday company which does not hold an ATOL.

Andrew

Aspire Holidays in Administration

Further to my blog earlier today, I am delighted that the CAA have advised that Amro Worldwide is now able to re-book all disappointed Aspire Holidays customers without their having to go through claiming a refund from the CAA. In many cases, we can book these cutomers into exactly the same hotels on the same dates as before so really minimising the inconvenience to them.

Just give us a call, we'll just need a faxed copy of your Aspire Holiday invoice and payment and we'll then get you away.

Andrew

Another Airline Failure

Woke up to the news that XL Airlines had entered administration and all flights were grounded. Worse still, this had pushed their parent XL Group also into adminstration and to cease trading. This leaves over 250,000 passengers either stranded or without their expected holiday. XL Group was the third largest UK tour operator after ThomasCook/MyTravel/Airtours and Tui Travel (Thomsons/FirstChoice) and is a mega blow to the travel industry. It's on par with the Intasun/ILG failures of the early 90's and the Clarkson/CourtLine of the 70's.

One of XL group's brands was Aspire Holidays - a competitor of ours in the gay & lesbian market. We're sorry for all their customers, particularly those who are yet to travel and will have had their holidays cancelled. As all Aspire Holidays were ATOL Protected - as are Amro Worldwide's - those currently away will be able to continue their holidays and be brought home at no extra cost. Those still to travel will need to make a claim and will eventually get their money back.

We're happy to help any Aspire customers with this process and to re-book their holiday.

But as I said in my blog just a two weeks ago - why does anyone book any travel in the current climate without being absolutely sure they are financially protected.

Andrew

Searching for a Cheap Holiday Deal

If one thing has characterised the last week, it's that plenty of people are fed up with the terrible weather and are looking for spot of sunshine over the next few weeks before the dark winter nights set in. Sadly, though, those last minute cheap deals just aren't that cheap with the increase in aviation fuel and the fall in the pounds exchange rate. This is really starting to impact on the price of that essential holiday break plus overall supply and demand is in balance as a result of widespread capacity cuts. But that's not to say that searching through our website doesn't reveal some enticing bargains particularly if you are prepared to be a bit adventurous.

In the £350 - £400 pp price bracket we have good availability at our Queens Hotel in Dalyan, Turkey. Not the most obvious destination but the Queens is gay owned and run and the small town of Dalyan welcomes us boyz and girlz with open arms. There's a great beach, some interesting local culture and excellent restaurants. Best of all it's outside the Eurozone so your pound buys a lot once you are there.

Just a little more at £599 pp are our clutch of gay guest house properties in Ft Lauderdale on Florida's sunshine atlantic coast. You'll be guaranteed superb weather here in the low '80s over the next couple of months and the pound still buys excellent value here. This price has to be a bargain as it includes return flights on Virgin Atlantic to Miami and 7 nights room and breakfast.