Eliana Willis

Vail Resorts has announced an incremental annual $157 million investment in its employees.
The company, which owns and operates 37 ski resorts across North America, said the cash would be used to improve wages, HR services, career development and benefits.
The employee investment is in addition to the $320 million capital investment announced earlier in the season which will result in 21 new lifts across 14 North American resorts.
The $157 million investment includes a new $20 per hour minimum wage across all 37 of Vail Resorts North American properties, plus raises for hourly employees to address compression.
The company said the figure represents an incremental annual investment of $175 million into team members next year. ADVERTISEMENTEffective immediately, the company is also investing $4 million to significantly improve HR operations, including adding 66 more team members to the HR services team.
Vail Resorts chief executive, Kirsten Lynch, commented: “Our employees’ passion is what makes our resorts so special and our guests’ experience memorable.
“In my first 100 days as chief executive, I have had the opportunity to reflect on what is important, and what our company must focus on as we move forward.
“Our top priority must be to support and invest in our employees – their wages, benefits, HR support, housing and career development.”
Vail Resorts also said its corporate office is moving to flexible remote work, which means team members can spend their days working from a location that works best for them in any of the states where we operate—including in the mountains.

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Travel businesses that are due to renew their ATOL this month and have not yet applied are being urged to submit their renewal application to avoid a delay to licence terms being offered.
Just over a third of the travel companies due for renewal are yet to apply to renew their ATOL.
Any travel companies concerned about their upcoming renewal should submit their application and supporting information “as soon as possible” so that the Civil Aviation Authority can discuss their terms of renewal and support them through the process.
In assessing an application, the body considers the financial resources and arrangements available to all travel companies, and therefore needs to closely assess those businesses applying that need to find additional support to continue to trade.
This can only be done if those ATOL holders discuss their position openly and in a timely manner.ADVERTISEMENTThe Civil Aviation Authority said it understands the challenges the industry faces, and will continue to work closely with the industry, however, the ATOL scheme exists to provide consumers’ protection and “so it must make sure that it has complete and accurate financial information before considering a renewal”.
Any renewal conditions placed on licences are reflective of the current licensing framework and the financial information provided.
The future changes discussed in the ATOL Reform consultation have no bearing on current licensing decisions.
Commenting, Michael Budge, head of ATOL at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “While the industry is on the road to recovery, we understand the challenges that travel companies continue to face and are working closely with them to support their licence renewals.
“Applications must be thoroughly assessed and where licence conditions are required, these must be met before the new licence can be granted.
“Businesses concerned about their renewal should submit their applications as soon as possible for us to work with them through any issues and avoid delays to their ability to sell package holidays.”

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Tui Group terminates branding deal with Tui Russia

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Tui Group has terminated the brand use agreement with Tui Russia.
However, the Germany-based company was quick to clarify Tui Russia is not a company of the wider group.
The last shares in Tui Russia were sold by the Hanover-based company in 2021.
The existing brand license agreement allows Tui Russia to use the brand in various countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
This agreement has now been terminated.ADVERTISEMENTFritz Joussen, chief executive of TUI Group, said: “Tui condemns Russia’s attack and war against Ukraine.
“Our position is clear.
“The Tui brand must no longer be used by Tui Russia for its business and the company’s presence.”
Alexey Mordashov and Vladimir Lukin, both of whom have been sanctioned in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have both stepped down from the Tui supervisory board in recent days.

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American Express Global Business Travel has appointed Yael Klein as vice president and general manager for Germany.
In her new role, Klein will lead the business travel recovery in the country.
She will be responsible for driving growth and value across all products and services, and strengthening relationships with customers in all segments.
She will report to EMEA senior vice president and general manager, Jason Geall.
Geall said: “Yael joins Amex GBT at a pivotal time for our organisation and the wider travel sector – globally, in Europe and in Germany.ADVERTISEMENT“There is exciting work to be done as we support our customers through the recovery, while continuing to grow and move towards a new chapter for Amex GBT as a public company.
“We are very much looking forward to working with Yael.”
American Express Global Business Travel earlier this week reported a net loss of $474 million for 2021.
The figure was a slight improvement on the loss of $619 million loss reported for 2020, as transaction volume began to recover.
Including full-year numbers for Egencia, which GBT acquired last year, the 2021 results beat its forecasts issued a few months ago in terms of adjusted earnings, total transaction value and revenue.
Klein added: “Amex GBT is a fantastic company with many opportunities in Germany and around the world.”
Klein joins Amex GBT from AirPlus, where she has had a 22-year career leading teams in several departments and regions across the world, most recently in the roles of chief marketing officer and chief product officer.
She will start her role at Amex GBT in July.

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The Travel Corporation (TTC) has confirmed the global reorganisation of its tour brands.
Under the plans, brands including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Costsaver and Contiki will fall under a new division, TTC Tour Brands.
The entity will serve as a single source for sales, marketing and operations of the individual brands, whose identities and points of differentiation will be further elevated.
TTC Tour Brands will be led by Gavin Tollman, who becomes chief executive of the newly created division along with veteran TTC executives Ulla Hefel Böhler, who steps into the role of chief operating officer.
Dee Marrocco becomes chief marketing officer, while Duncan Robertson has been appointed chief digital officer.  ADVERTISEMENTAdam Armstrong remains chief executive of Contiki.
Laddering up to these executives will be heads of five aligned global sales and marketing regions in UK & Europe, Oceania, North America, Asia and South Africa.
According to Tollman, TTC Tour Brands was designed expressly to make it easier for travel agency partners to do business with the individual tour brands of TTC at a moment when touring and expert holiday guidance have become increasingly important to travellers.
“The expertise, comfort and confidence of a touring holiday has never been more relevant, and we saw a unique opportunity to leverage this moment to bring together our diverse and award-winning tour brands under a singular marketing, sales and operational structure,” said Tollman.
Currently sales and marketing director for Contiki, Costsaver and Trafalgar, Donna Jeavons will additionally take responsibility for Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold, leading the TTC Tour Brands across UK, Ireland and continental Europe.
Chris Townson will continue in his role as managing director for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises with the expanded remit of European markets, focusing on building on the strong growth that the brand is experiencing as it enters its fully operational 2022 European season on March 20th.
“I’m thrilled to lead the newly formed combined TTC Tour Brands team and am pleased we will be able to further support travel agents to match the right tour brand to the right client.
“I look forward to announcing our strengthened-on road sales team in the near future, which will ensure even greater coverage across the wide diversity of this brand portfolio.
“We’re creating a seamless selling experience for the travel agent community and while this structure may be new, it is designed with one constant: the benefit to our partners,” said Jeavons.

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Women in Travel has released its first ever Social Impact Report, a deep dive into the impact of the life-changing initiatives and programmes it has delivered since its inception in 2018.
The release also marks the fifth anniversary or the organisation and International Women’s Day.
Women in Travel is a UK-based, award-winning social enterprise dedicated to empowering all women using travel, tourism and hospitality as a ‘force for good,’ with the founding principle that empowered women thrive and in turn foster thriving communities.
It partners with employers and charities to provide women – especially those who are marginalised, vulnerable and under-represented – with visibility, confidence, access to training and mentoring, and eventually employment and enterprise.
Conceived in support of a number of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, Women in Travel’s three core programmes are: Employability Programme (often referred to as the Women Returners programme); Entrepreneurship and Mentoring (including one-to-one, group, mentoring circles and a Male Allyship Programme), all operated under the values of integrity, honesty and respect.ADVERTISEMENTMany of its beneficiaries, particularly those on its Employability Programme, are referred from domestic abuse, refugee or modern slavery charities such as Refuge, the Refugee Council and the Sophia Hayes Foundation amongst others.
In the last five years, and in particular in the last two years since the start of the pandemic, Women in Travel has supported over 1,207 women across all programmes.
At the same time, the body has helped 154 women with over 1,200 hours of guided support through its Employability (Women Returners) Programme.
Woman in Travel founder, Alessandra Alonso, said: “We knew we had been busy, and we knew we had made a significant impact in providing life-changing training, mentoring and opportunity.
“With the fallout of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, our mission has become increasingly important, and more and more companies are seeing the benefits of having access to the often hidden and invisible talent that Women in Travel affords – it’s a win-win for both business and individual.
“We have exciting plans to further develop and deliver our vital work, but as with every social enterprise, we need investors to understand the value and support us.”
Woman in Travel has also successfully supported 80 women – who had lost their income as a result of the collapse of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry during the Covid-19 pandemic – into training or employment, following a four-fold increase in referrals.
The body also trained the first three women micro-entrepreneurs as tour guides in its Entrepreneurship Programme.
With the release of the report, Women in Travel is urging more partners and investors to recognise and support its important work.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics reported nationwide job vacancies hit 1.3 million in January – with travel firms highlighting recruitment as one of the most pressing issues facing the sector – and there are currently 400,000 vacancies in hospitality alone, according to UKHospitality.
Women in Travel seeks to bridge this employment gap to the benefit of both individual and industry, encouraging businesses to look at potential versus qualification as they seek to fill vacancies and rebuild post pandemic, and highlighting they can offer access to an incredible pool of untapped talent.
More Information
A full copy of the report can be downloaded here.

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As the financial fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Tui Group has been informed that the ownership of its shareholder Unifirm has changed.
Consequently, the shareholder structure of the group has changed.
The holiday giant said it was made aware of the moves through regulatory notifications.
Unifirm has sold a 4.13 per cent stake in Tui AG to Severgroup.
However, the shares would still be attributed to Alexey Mordashov – who stepped down from the Tui board last week after being sanctioned by the European Union.
Filings in the UK last week showed that Mordashov also shifted control of an estimated $1.1 billion stake in mining company Nordgold to his wife, Marina Mordashova.
Unifirm has now seen its shareholding in Tui AG decrease to 29.87 per cent.ADVERTISEMENTIn this context, Mordashov has notified that his subsidiaries KN-Holding and Rayglow have sold their shares held in Unifirm to Ondero.
Tui has meanwhile also received a voting rights notification from Ondero regarding a corresponding acquisition.
Supervisory Board
Also over the weekend, Vladimir Lukin has resigned from his mandate on the supervisory board of Tui.
He informed the company that he had previously terminated his contractual relationship with Severgroup.
Lukin had been a member of the supervisory board of Tui since June 2019.

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