Earlier today Travel Republic and MD Kane Pirie were found not guilty of 19 charges each of operating without an ATOL. The judge found that they were selling components separately but at the same time, which does not constitute a package.

This adds another layer of confusion to what the Court of Appeal meant 3 years ago in the ABTA v CAA court case. It is probably not safe to rely on this ruling until it is known whether or not the CAA is going to appeal.

The defeat for the CAA is the third such time it has failed in a legal battle to force companies that dynamically package to get an Atol. Previously, Abta won a High Court case and an appeal.

Kane Pirie said: “We welcome the clear judgement from the court and the dismissal of all charges against Travel Republic and myself. Our position has been vindicated.

“This confirms that it is perfectly legal to sell more than one travel product at the same time.

“Travel Republic has always, and will always, act within the law, including the Atol regulations, in their current, and any future form.

“The whole process has been an expensive, unpleasant and gruelling diversion for the whole company and for me personally. I am now looking forward to being able to focus once again on driving the ongoing growth of the business.”

 

The VillaWarehouse.com admin team

Each week the team at VillaWarehouse.com choose a selection of travel news that has caught there eye.

Approaching the 20 year anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down, expect the travel news to focus on Berlin, the changes and  East Germany

The Times – Berlin

The coolest sight in Berlin is also the most chilling. It looks as if it has been left there by mistake but, this being Germany, it is there entirely on purpose. It is a listed building on Erna-Berger-Strasse that doesn’t appear on many maps, although is not too hard to find.

First go to Potsdamer Platz — in the Wall years a flattened expanse of no man’s land and now a shrine to swanky capitalism (Ritz-Carlton on one side, Mercedes-Benz sales headquarters on the other).

The Telegraph – Ski-ing in Spain

Excellent images, go and take a look at the Telegraph

Bullish outlook: the family-friendly resort of Formigal is attracting more British skiers to Spain Photo: JAMES BEDDING

Three vultures wheeled high over the plain stretching away from the runway as we walked down the steps of our charter plane into the balmy evening air. As the transfer bus crunched over the gravel of the unfinished drive leading away from the airport, and along a country lane past cypresses, fincas with whitewashed walls and chapels with terracotta roofs, I wondered whether Spain was a wise choice for a ski trip.

The Independent – Guide to visiting Lapland

A must for those with young families!

Christmas is coming and I want to see Santa

To meet the genial man in red, complete with the full works of reindeer, jingling sleigh, enticing parcels and much snow, head to northern Scandinavia. St Nicholas, the protector of children, morphed into roly-poly Santa Claus in the 19th century. He actually hailed from Myra in south-western Turkey. Yet over the last two decades or so, Lapland has become regarded as the traditional homeland of Santa. That is partly because of the magical look of the snow-white winter world there. Yet it is now also because of the quantity and quality of Christmas-related trips to the region. Accessibility from the UK is a key element, too, with packages offered from a host of departure points around the country Glasgow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff among them.

Thats the weekends eye catching travel news

VillaWarehouse.com admin team

Just 5 simple steps to apply for the Business Opportunity Grant.

Does your business regularly travel abroad? Do you have less than 250 employees? then it may be worth checking out the BA business opportunity grant - from the page

1. Create Account
2. Tell Us About You
3. Tell Us About Your Company
4. Answer Questions
5. Submit Your Entry

Before you start, please make sure you are an authorised employee with the ability to enter the competition on behalf of your company, or have been authorised by a company director to do so.

This competition is only open to registered UK companies with 250 employees or less, who are not a subsidiary of a larger company, and who do not have an existing corporate deal with British Airways. A valid UK Companies House number will be required.

100 prizes are available for up to 12 flights a year.

More info – http://uk.grants.ba.com/grants

The VillaWarehouse.com admin team

Here at VillaWarehouse.com we have started our research into twitter and it’s uses for travel industry related people.

We were amazed at how many travel people who are on their making use of the medium already! This is extremely valuable to twitter users who are looking for immediate deals rather than a villa, as the live search aspect of twitter means the most recent, freshest deals are at the top. Travel is already in the top 5 of twitter searches, so if you have a travel related industry you need to be tweeting.

We thought we would compile a list of interesting travel tweeters.

Traditional travel publishers  @LATimestravel, @nytimestravel and @TravelMagazine

Purely sales – @Expedia and @SpiritAirlines.

@jetblue @JetBlueCheeps @roaminggnome @TheNegotiator @USAirways.  @TravelGov

Airlines don’t have the monopoly though Hotels and travel associations are getting in on the act too @QueenMary @OhioTravel, @HiltonSTL,  @RaddisonTuscon,  @AlcatrazCruises,  @AirShipVentures

@TSABlogteam, @AmtrakNews

Fans of airlines appear too@klmfan. Along with the detractors @IHateEasyJet . Many follow blogging flight attendant @Heather_Poole

For travel news and information, we have compiled an alphabetical list

• American Automobile Association News – @AAAnews
• Travel Trends and trips- @BrilliantTips
• Self explanatory  – @DisneyParks
• Fodors– @fodorstravel
• Forbes traveler – @Forbes_Traveler
• Frommers – @FrommersTravel
• Seat Guru airline seating information - @SeatGuru
• US State Dept travel Adviseries – @TravelGov
• Queensland tourism profile for Queensland Australia – @queensland
• RandMcnally Maps – @randmcnally
• USA airline news – @TodayInTheSky
• Restaurant info – @zagatbuzz

There’s even a Twitchhiker – @Twitchhiker

If you want to be found in Travel industry, it looks like a twitter account is an essential tool.

VillaWarehouse.com Admin Team

After reading the following article on Travelmole.com the Villawarehouse.com admin team started looking at travel and twitter. Over the next few day we will be compiling a report on our thoughts and views.

Image by Tim Patterson via Flickr

In the mean time – Enjoy

The use of micro blogging site Twitter is gaining rapid penetration within the travel industry, according to a new study.

It revealed that more than half of users (52%) tweeted between four and 10 times a day, with over a quarter sending more than 10 Twitter updates daily.

Managing directors, commercial directors, hotel owners and government officials are actively using the social media tool to forge connections with their customers and stakeholders.

 

The survey of 90 Twitter users who tweet on travel matters was conducted by Andy Jarosz, writer and owner of travel blog 501 Places.

It found that the majority of users surveyed had started using Twitter within the last six months.

“This is no surprise given the exponential growth of the site in 2009, and it does indicate that it is not too late for those who are still considering whether they should get to grips with using Twitter as a way of communicating with the online travel community,” Jarosz said.

 

by Phil Davies @travelmole.com, full article can be read there.

What do you think? We’ll be back with our findings in a few days.

VillaWarehouse.com Admin team

Our weekly post about whats gone on in the travel world via the newspapers.

Flight attendants spill the beans in the Times…

Tell us your stories from 39,000 feet using the comment form below…

Rock’n'roll star

“A few months ago, during the festival season, I saw two very famous pop stars getting completely hammered at the bar. He’s married with kids, and she’s in and out of relationships. They got more and more drunk, then all of a sudden they started snogging. I was really shocked, but didn’t say anything because it wasn’t really my place….

One of the funniest articles the VillaWarehouse team has read all weekend

Mountain biking in the Rockies, from the Guardian

It’s six in the evening and I’ve already ridden 80 miles off-road, over rocks and through streams. I’ve just been drenched by a cloudburst and terrified by the proximity of the lightning overhead. Right now, instead of riding, I’m hauling my bike, laden for four weeks of riding, up a cliff made of loose shale and even looser tree roots. One wrong move, it seems, and I or my bike – or both – could well disappear into the river below.

The Mirror has a topical Halloween feel…

Celebrate Halloween where it all began in Ireland’s beautiful County Meath

Halloween festivities can have a particularly haunting quality to them in the place where it all began.

Now the second biggest festival in the Western world, after Christmas, Halloween originated at the Hill of Ward in County Meath, Ireland.

The earliest origins of the Gaelic samhain or ‘summer’s end’ festival can be traced to Tlachtga, outside Athboy.

The Independent concentrates on where to spend your hard earned dosh when you are on holiday…

Marrakech

The most accessibly exotic destination from the UK is a bargain-hunter’s delight. The souks of the ancient medina are stuffed with a bewildering assortment of goods…

And thats the best of the weekends travel news

The VillaWarehouse.com admin team

Holidays are a great for conversation but did you know many holiday makers tell fibs about their villa holiday rentals?

A common reason for this  we think is everyone likes their holiday to be that bit more special, that bit more exciting.

Image by StreetFly JZ via Flickr

1. We got a great deal

Some holiday makers don’t like to admit they paid the going rate for their villa rental because they liked the villa or the locale, so they pretend they got a great deal.

2. The flights were dirt cheap

The fact that Ryanair and EasyJet are often in the news with flights starting at just £1 means a lot of people like to say things like “We flew Ryanair as the flights were dirt cheap, BA is so expensive these days…” They are hoping you won’t ask about tax, and other extra fees.

3. We were upgraded

Nothing makes a holiday more special than pretending you were upgraded to first class, free of charge. How that works with lie number two we have yet to work out…

4. The villa is owned by a friend

This one is often used by people who have lots of friends who have package holidays and they feel the need to justify having a villa holiday. They should be extolling the virtues of a villa holiday compared to a package holiday instead…

5. The villa was a palace…

This one is trotted out in response to fib number 4, if the holiday maker is pushing to make a comparison to a hotel.  Some villas are luxury villas, some are more basic, you choose what suits your family and your budget….

… and if in doubt you can always tell a fib

VillaWarehouse.com admin team

Have you ever found when you are enjoying your holidays a great local delicacy that you would love to bring back? A delicious cheese? a dried fish? local spices? a tidbit that you know a family member would love?

The chances are you are not allowed. If you are based in

Image via Wikipedia

the UK  you are not allowed to bring back dairy and a variety of other products that are not from EU countries. So that means you are not allowed to bring in treats from Australia, New Zealand or the US, China, India and a lot of other places.

It makes things tough for the local economies there, especially if you are trying to support local people in third world countries.

There is a handy checking tool here that you can add the item and the country and it will tell you if you are allowed to bring it into the UK.

Why the restrictions?

Meat and dairy products  can carry pests and diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease and Bird Flu. The entry restrictions are therefore in place to protect the publics health, the UK  farming industry, livestock and crops and the environment from exotic pests and diseases.

The penalties

It’s no laughing matter if you are caught trying to smuggle illegal or restricted foods into the UK.

What happens next is a whole heap of hassle for you, delays, fines and risks of prosecution. The goods will be taken and destroyed and you will have a bad ending to your holiday.

The alternative is to declare illegal items to Customs in the red channel. The goods will be seized and destroyed, but you will not face a penalty.

So next time you are looking to bring in an exotic treat, think twice before you do.

Villawarehouse.com admin team

If you are looking to arrange your own flights for your holiday villa rental then it will be worth looking at EasyJets’ new routes.

Image via Wikipedia

The new routes are focusing on the popular winter sun destinations and the new services start Thursday 29th of October, with Manchester to Marrakech.

A raft of new routes start operating on November 2 including Gatwick to Porto, Liverpool-Fuerteventura and Luton-Tel Aviv.

A Liverpool-Lanzarote service starts on November 3 together with Luton to Sharm el Sheikh.

November 4 sees the introduction of Stansted-Fuerteventura, Luton-Paphos and Gatwick-Agadir.

Manchester flights to Copenhagen and Munich start on November 6, Edinburgh-Lyon on December 17 and Gatwick-Hamburg on February 2.

So if you are looking for some winter sun, take a look and see what EasyJet have to offer.

VillaWarehouse.com admin team

Each week, on a Monday we post up the gems of the weeks travel news. This weekend was a bit light on big travel news, but some interesting articles were to be found.

Art Deco in New Zealand?

Grandad was on the loo when the earthquake struck,” says Gill, a chirpy New Zealander who grew up in Napier. In 1931 this genteel port on Hawke’s Bay, on the east coast of North Island, was struck by a tremor measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. It flattened the city just as its children were starting the first day of a new school year. A total of 256 people lost their lives in what remains the country’s worst natural disaster – although there were some lucky escapes.

Fascinating article about the Earthquake they had.

Also interesting was the Spain Lost in translation article

The Laguna de Las Verdes, Torre de Babia, in Spain’s León province

You may not be aware of it, but you probably spend a lot of time in Babia. Most people do, even though they may not know it really exists. You see Babia is a remote corner of the province of León in northern Spain. But in Spain to be “in Babia” means to be lost in thought, not quite all there, or even not where you’re supposed to be. Leading Spanish writer Julio Llamazares, who was born in the province, puts it thus: “Being in Babia means having your mind in one place and your body in another.”

Sources: The Guardian

Most haunted and haunted Scottish castle feature in the Times this weekend. Great for no internet, no mobile signal and maybe Ghosts!

It doesn’t go well. There’s a section of The Sunday Times called Travel, and a sceptical writer (me) agrees to check in to one of the most haunted hotel rooms in Britain, alone, and write about it. It goes… well, let’s see.

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Rising from the mist high on the side of a glen near Gorebridge, in Scotland, is Borthwick Castle Hotel, the ideal Hallowe’en weekend-break destination.

A castle first and hotel second, it has only 10 bedrooms, ranging from the inevitable one where Mary, Queen of Scots stayed to mine, where a ghost lives. Built in 1430, the castle served as protection for various earls until 1650, when Oliver Cromwell turned up in a mood.

Source: The Times

Interesting reading this weekend, With the Sun mentioning  the drinks they are organising for the troops (although that may have just been a very large ad).

Villawarehouse.com Admin team