TRAVEL AGENTS – AUSTRALIA

Passports, travel documents exposed in data breach

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Original article by David Swan
The Age – Page: Online : 9-Jan-24

Melbourne travel agency Inspiring Vacations is investigating a data breach that saw a non-password protected database leaked online. The database contained around 112,000 records, including passport images, travel visa certificates, and documents with partial credit card numbers on them. The breach was detected by cybersecurity researcher Jeremiah Fowler, who says the leaked data could be used for a range of illegal activities, such as identity theft, while Inspiring Vacations has informed the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner of the breach.

CORPORATES
INSPIRING VACATIONS, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE AUSTRALIAN INFORMATION COMMISSIONER

Class action threat against travel providers over coronavirus vouchers

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Original article by Alison Xiao
abc.net au – Page: Online : 5-May-20

Slater & Gordon has announced plans for a class action against travel providers over the treatment of customers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrew Paull from Slater & Gordon claims travel providers have pressured customers into accepting limited travel vouchers as a result of cancellations caused by the pandemic, when in fact customers were entitled for a full cash refund. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has received over 6,000 complaints from customers of travel companies regarding cancellation fees and refund policies.

CORPORATES
SLATER AND GORDON LIMITED – ASX SGH, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT

Isolate rule to kill airlines: Flight Centre

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 16-Mar-20

Flight Centre CEO Graham Turner does not expect that self-quarantining people who arrive in Australia will be effective in stopping the coronavirus from spreading, while he warns that it will have a major impact on airlines and the domestic economy. Meanwhile, Qantas and Jetstar will offer travel credit vouchers to customers who want to cancel domestic and international flights that have been booked up to the end of May. Virgin Australia has advised that it is still considering its response to the new travel restrictions.

CORPORATES
FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH

Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Qantas leading for travel website visits

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 6-Apr-18

The Roy Morgan Travel Agent Monitor Market Indicator Report reveals that tripadvisor.com.au is the number one website for Australians to visit when planning a holiday, with 15.7% of Australians aged 14+ visiting the website in an average four weeks. Booking.com and Qantas are the second and third-ranked travel websites in terms of visitations in an average four weeks, at 13.6% and 13.5% respectively. The Travel Agent Monitor Report also reveals that while online may be increasing as the dominant information source used for planning overseas and domestic trips, when it comes to booking trips overseas most Australians still choose to use a travel agent instead of a website. Some 42.5% of Australians aged 14+ used a travel agent to book their last overseas trip in the 12 months to December, while 15.5% used a travel booking website.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TRIPADVISOR LLC, BOOKING.COM (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Airbnb, Flight Centre book travel deal

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Original article by Yolanda Redrup
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 27-Jun-17

Flight Centre and Airbnb have released details of a new partnership, under which business customers will be able to book Airbnb accommodation through the Flight Centre website. Airbnb executive David Holyoke notes that it is generating a growing proportion of its revenue from business travellers, while Flight Centre’s Andrew Flannery says corporate clients who are staying overseas for extended periods find the idea of living "like a local" appealing.

CORPORATES
FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, CARLSON WAGONLIT TRAVEL, BCD TRAVEL, MARRIOTT CORPORATION

And Australia’s new favourite travel agent is…Booking.com!

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 28-Mar-17

The latest data from the Roy Morgan Holiday Tracker survey shows that 13.5 million Australians aged 14+ (68.3% of the population) take at least one holiday in an average 12-month period. Booking.com is now the most widely used travel agent, with 9.3% of the population (just over 1.8 million holiday-goers) using it at least once in the year to December 2016. Flight Centre (9.0%) is the second-most popular, while relative newcomer Airbnb (4.8%) is in third position. Flight Centre was the most popular agent (9.4%) when Roy Morgan’s last travel agent findings (for June 2015) were released, well ahead of Booking.com (5.8%) and Wotif.com (5.2%). However, Flight Centre maintains a healthy lead as the travel agent more Australians would consider using next time they take a holiday (23.4%, virtually unchanged from 23.6%).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, BOOKING.COM (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED, TRIVAGO, EXPEDIA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HOTELS.COM LP, HELLOWORLD LIMITED – ASX HLO

Australia’s most popular travel agents and the holiday-goers more (or less) likely to use them

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Aug-16

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that just over 13.7 million Australians aged 14+ took at least one holiday in the year to June 2016. Some 7.3 million (52.8 per cent) reported using a travel agent or tour operator for at least one of the trips they took – more than double the number (3.2 million) that did not use one at all. The survey also shows that 12.6 per cent of Australian holiday-goers used Flight Centre for at least one trip, ahead of online accommodation service Booking.com (11.4 per cent), Wotif.com (6.8 per cent), Webjet (6.1 per cent) and Airbnb (5.5 per cent). Analysis using Roy Morgan Research’s Helix Personas consumer profiling tool shows that members of the Social Flyers community are most likely to have booked their holiday via Flight Centre (22.5 per cent), while Rural Traditionalists (4.0 per cent) are least likely to have used Flight Centre.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, BOOKING.COM (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED, WEBJET LIMITED – ASX WEB, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Flight Centre slides as brokers cut forecasts

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 25-May-16

Shares in Flight Centre Travel Group have shed 13.5 per cent in two trading sessions, in the wake of an earnings downgrade. The stock closed five per cent lower at $A31.88 on 24 May 2016. Deutsche Bank has reduced its 12-month share price target by 25 per cent to $A36, while Bell Potter’s target price has been slashed by 12 per cent to $A35.70. Deutsche has also reduced its recommendation on the stock from "buy" to "hold".

CORPORATES
FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED, AUNT BETTY

Flight Centre flies the flag for bricks-and-mortar travel agents

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 11-Aug-15

The latest Roy Morgan Research State of the Nation report indicates that many Australians still show preference for traditional travel agents. In the 12 months to June 2015, 13 million Australians 14 years or older took at least one holiday. Flight Centre was used by 9.4 per cent of this group between July 2014 and June 2015, followed by dedicated online agent Booking.com, used by 5.8 per cent of Australians, and booking websites Wotif.com (5.2 per cent), Webjet.com.au (3.7 per cent) and Expedia.com.au (3.2 per cent). Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan Research, says that "Flight Centre’s long-standing position as Australia’s leading travel agent remains unchallenged". Australians appreciate specialist knowledge and personal service of bricks-and-mortar agents.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, BOOKING.COM BV, WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED, WEBJET LIMITED – ASX WEB, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, HELLOWORLD LIMITED – ASX HLO, HARVEY WORLD TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED, ESCAPE TRAVEL, STA TRAVEL PTY LTD

Share price slumps after profit warning

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Original article by Matt O’Sullivan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 24-Jun-15

Australian-listed Flight Centre Travel Group has advised that its 2014-15 underlying profit before tax will be within the range of $A355m to $A365m. Its previous guidance was for earnings of $A360m to $A390m, with the downgrade attributed to factors such as competition from online travel groups and slowing growth in Australia’s domestic travel market. Flight Centre shares closed nearly 14 per cent lower at $A37.51 on 23 June 2015.

CORPORATES
FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, AIRBNB AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BOOKING.COM BV, PRICELINE.COM, GAINSDALE PTY LTD, MACQUARIE EQUITIES LIMITED