Press office website goes live
After several months of intense work from the E-Business and IT departments, Virgin Holidays are excited to announce the launch of their first on-line press room.
The website contains valuable information for journalists including forms for press trips, image requests and sponsorship & promotional opportunities, company information and details, press releases and last but not least contact details for the press team.
Designed to allow media instant access to all of their information needs, the Virgin Holidays on-line press room will help to ensure the press office delivers clean and consistent communication.
To browse the new Virgin Holidays online press room visit: http://www.virginholidays.co.uk/info/press
Manchester to St. Lucia Inaugural Flight
Passengers travelling from Manchester will soon have even more holiday options with a new direct flight to St Lucia.
The inaugural Virgin Atlantic flight departs from Manchester International Airport Thursday the 16th of November. The new service joins existing flights departing from Manchester to Orlando and Barbados. Departing weekly each Thursday the scheduled route flies direct to St. Lucia at 1330.
21st birthday celebrations
Friday November 3rd Virgin Holidays 21st birthday was celebrated in style with a retro party that featured champagne, cake, a celebrity and prizes galore!
To look back at the past 21 years, staff were asked to provide an old picture of themselves and to dress up as an icon from Virgin Holidays lifetime. As ever staff threw themselves into it and there were some fantastic pictures and costumes on display.
To judge the competitions Dannii Minogue was invited in and after handing out prize hampers to the winners, she joined Heather Crowe of Intercontinental Hotels, Virgin Holidays Managing Director Amanda Wills and Marketing Director Andrew Shelton in cutting the enormous cake kindly provided by Intercontinental hotels.
The celebrations didn’t end there though as Dannii did a walk around the building posing for photos and signing autographs for staff before one final round of champagne and cake later in the afternoon.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Green Week:
October 30 to November 2, Virgin Holidays hosted the first ever company Green Week. Designed to raise awareness about positive environmental strategies, the four day celebration featured guest speakers and prize giveaways.
Each day covered a unique theme from water, paper, energy, and waste consumption to ethical shopping.
By providing staff with knowledge about the implications their daily routine has for the environment, Virgin Holidays aim to help improve the energy efficiency of the business and support Richard Branson’s commitment to helping the environment. Organised by CSR Manager Georgina Stevens, she commented, “The week was a fun and educational success.”
Grenada Cricket Classics:
In April 2007 Grenada will be hosting 6 of the Cricket World Cup matches at the new Queen’s Park National Stadium, which was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. This outstanding recovery will be witnessed by the cricketing world.
As a preview for the amazing events Virgin Holidays have once again sponsored the Grenada Cricket Classics. This year’s trip took place from the 5th to 10th of October and was a great success! With 11 former England cricketers, 11 former West Indies cricketers, 11 journalists from various publications across the UK, representatives from the Grenada Board of Tourism, and of course a great crew of Virgin Holidays staff all in attendance.
The Classics took place on Sunday October 8th and was attended by over 3, 000 locals, the Prime Minister of Grenada and various other ministers and officials from around the island.
Beyond the cricket match Virgin Holidays are committed to helping the island develop long term sustainability. Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, Georgina Stevens, organised various charity initiatives over the week, including the twinning of a Grenadian school with a local school near the Virgin Holidays head offices in the UK, the fundraising and donation of 1,500 books to three local schools on the island, and last but not least a donation of £3000 worth of sports equipment for the schools. After a visit to the twin school for the books presentation Georgina became a local celebrity and may have given out more autographs to the kids than the three cricketers, Storming Norman, Chris Lewis, and Mark Butcher, who also attended the presentation…
Some of the cricket legends who participated in the classics included: Joel Garner, Allan Lamb, Robin Smith, Gordon Greenidge, Curtley Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Jimmy Adams, Phil deFreitas, and Kenneth Benjamin.
Brochure Launches
Indian Ocean:
Hot on the heels of the recent New York and Australia brochures, Virgin Holidays have launched their first ever dedicated Indian Ocean brochure.
Featuring luxurious getaways to the tropical paradises of Mauritius, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and the Seychelles, the new Indian Ocean brochure is an exciting addition to the Virgin Holidays product range. With excellent couples and family holiday options, passengers can now book the ultimate wedding or honeymoon get-away to the Indian Ocean or bring the whole family to Mauritius and relax on the beach while the kids participate in one of numerous kids and teen clubs.
Launched the 19th of October, the 72-page brochure features holidays starting from £649 for 7 nights in Sri Lanka. Starting in November 2007 Virgin Atlantic are launching weekly scheduled direct flights to Mauritius from London.
For more information please visit:www.virginholidays.co.uk.
Cruise Brochure:
Virgin Holidays are excited to announce the launch of a dedicated Cruise brochure offering customers a fantastic range of choices with eight featured cruise lines, ultimate flexibility with stay and cruise options, 30 unique itineraries, and 66 easy to book, ready made stay and cruise choices. The new dedicated brochure features cruise holidays from the USA, Caribbean, Hawaii, Singapore, Cairns and Vancouver.
Over the last 21 years Virgin Holidays has become one of the largest and most successful transatlantic tour operators, holding the position of market leader to Florida, USA and the Caribbean offering a wide range of Cruises within their programmes to the USA and the Caribbean.
Virgin Holidays continues to offer more flexibility and choice than any other operator when it comes to cruise with a dedicated telephone line for cruise and experienced, cruise specialist call centre agents that have been specifically trained on cruise to provide the service and expertise required when booking a stay and cruise holiday.
Virgin Holidays offer tailor-made stay and cruise packages to customers along with the ability to combine a stylish hotel with an amazing cruise, regional flights and even car hire and excursion tickets, creating complete flexibility so why go anywhere else.
New York City:
The dedicated New York brochure showcases the largest Virgin Holidays product offering to the Big Apple to date. Filled with insider tips allowing holidaymakers to create unique experiences in the city that never sleeps, prices start from £469.
Southern Africa:
The new Southern Africa brochure offers trips to South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius and the Seychelles launched. With a fantastic selection of single and multi-centre holidays there is truly something for everyone. Prices start from £699 for seven nights in Johannesburg.
Australia and New Zealand:
Virgin Holidays new Australia & New Zealand brochure offers the most extensive ever product range down under in the 2007-2008 Australia & New Zealand brochure. Flying to a host of new areas, customers can book holidays to all Australia’s states and territories as well as New Zealand and a number of South Pacific islands including Fiji and Bora Bora. Offering unique customization to guests the brochure encourages passengers to build their own package and create the perfect holiday.
Small Hotels of the Caribbean:
Passengers looking for their own small sliver of paradise need look no further than Virgin Holidays Small Hotels of the Caribbean brochure. The new brochure features 28-pages of beautiful hotels containing no more than 40 rooms designed to provide guests the perfect escape.
For details on all these brochures, please see www.virginholidays.co.uk
New Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy
Virgin Atlantic has launched their brand new Premium Economy seat and are rolling out across the fleet.
Featuring leather seats, an improved menu and amenity kit, dedicated cabin crew and the biggest seat in it’s class the new Premium Economy is set to improve on the service offered to both business and leisure passengers looking for greater flexibility, space and comfort.
Contact:
Virgin Holidays Press Office
Email: press.office@virginholidays.co.uk
Phone: 01293 744 228