p9 nov7 5/11/08 20:50 Page 9
ttglive.com
news
Alpha buys two niche firms
Tricia Holly-Davis.
Second World War by the Anglo-Austrian Society,
ALPHA Consolidations, the company backed initially arranging for Austrian children to visit
by Steven and Tony Freudmann, has bought the UK to escape the chaos and food shortages
Austria Travel and Travel Club of Upminster for in Austria.
an undisclosed sum. The business was acquired by Travel Club of
As part of the deal, Seligo, the trade-only Upminster in 1999 and now specialises in
online accommodation and transfers firm owned bespoke holidays to Austria, which it sells
by Alpha Consolidations’ parent company Alpha through retailers.
Prospects, will sell Austria Travel and Travel Club Paul Chandler, the present head of Travel Club
of Upminster products. Steven (left) and Tony Freudmann: niche firm acquisitions of Upminster, will continue to work as a senior
Alpha Prospects was established in January adviser at the company as well as Austria Travel
and floated on the Plus stock market, a junior both Alpha Consolidations and its Unpackaged for at least three years.
version of the Alternative Investment Market, Group subsidiary. The companies’ IT and financial functions will
with the aim of raising funds on the markets to A family-run business founded in 1936, Travel transfer to Unpackaged’s Birmingham office but
buy travel companies. Club of Upminster is a direct seller of villas in customer-facing functions will stay in Upminster.
Tony Freudmann, brother of Steven, the Majorca, Menorca, Algarve, Crete and Corfu.
chairman of ITT and Triton, is chief executive of Austria Travel was founded just after the ■ City & finance news, p20
BA mulls sequel YOU’VE GOK THE LOOK: Air New
Zealand passengers can now hope to
to ‘Pam Ann’
emerge from their flights looking fresh
as a daisy – with the help of TV star
Gok Wan. The How to Look Good Naked
viral campaign
presenter has produced a Style in the
Sky guide for the airline. It aims to help
travellers step off the plane looking
BRITISH Airways could produce a sequel to last “gorgeous and ready for anything”.
year’s controversial viral marketing campaign
featuring stand-up comedian Pam Ann.
The five clips featuring Pam Ann and four BA
cabin crew proved very successful for BA when
launched in October 2007.
They attracted more than a million views in the
first six weeks, 5,000 recruitment referrals and an
estimated £700,000 worth of media coverage.
However, speaking at the Future of Social
Media conference, Chris Davies, BA’s digital
marketing manager, admitted it had been his
“biggest challenge” to convince the airline to use
Pam Ann, with her risque brand of humour.
Davies said: “The campaign was very off-brand
for BA and there were concerns internally.
“For a viral campaign to be successful, it
has to be different. It worked because it was
Best of Britain secures 150 exhibitors
unexpected activity for BA and created a buzz.
“We’re a traditional brand and new media NEARLY 150 exhibitors have signed up for the Organisers are also offering preferential rates
allows us to reach a new audience that we Best of Britain & Ireland 2009 exhibition next at the first Britain and Ireland Marketplace (BIM)
wouldn’t normally reach, as you can take a year, to be held in London. workshop on March 25.
different tone in viral. The show, which replaces the long-running The workshop is being run by UKinbound and
“The viral campaign was a test case and we British Travel Trade Fair held in Birmingham, has the European Tour Operators’ Association and
felt it worked, so we’re potentially thinking of a a target of 400 exhibitors for the event on March will take place at Banqueting House, Whitehall,
sequel. It opened the management’s eyes.” 26-29, which includes two days just for the trade. kicking off to the main event.
07.11.2008 09
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