DESTINATION AND TOURISM
prnewswire | April 06, 2023
Travelex Insurance Services Inc., a leading travel insurance provider in North America, announced it is launching a program to support the company's partners in their marketing efforts: integrated marketing campaign materials delivered quarterly, starting today.
Travelex President and CEO Shannon Lofdahl said the company's partners of all sizes have expressed the need for cohesive marketing materials they can use to effectively market travel insurance. "Often, we hear that time and budget resources are challenges for our partners," Lofdahl said. "And the expense associated with developing creative assets can be costly, particularly for small businesses.
"We see this as an opportunity to leverage our team of talented, nimble marketers and provide our partners added value while saving them money," Lofdahl said.
The amount is significant. At current ad agency rates for concepting, copywriting, design work, and photo licenses, the value of the integrated campaign materials Travelex is several thousand dollars each quarter. Partners will receive digital display ads in multiple sizes; print ads, color and black-and-white; a social media content calendar and graphics for regular posts; and an article and coordinating photo that partners can distribute to their client lists.
"Businesses know they need to advertise, but it's costly," Lofdahl said, "and the expense of an ad agency or freelancer to develop the creative assets increases the cost.
"Travelex has a team of highly skilled marketers right here, and they can help our partners," Lofdahl continued. "These integrated campaigns differentiate Travelex among our competitors, but most importantly, they are one more way we can deliver the outstanding customer service our partners know us for."
About Travelex Insurance Services
Travelex Insurance Services has been a leading U.S. provider of travel insurance. As a premier partner to the travel industry, Travelex offers an array of products designed to help travelers create and protect the moments that matter most while they explore the world. We are part of the Zurich family of global brands and a woman-led organization that appreciates diversity. Guided by our values, we are optimistic, caring and reliable. With forward thinking, determination and a sense of togetherness, we help travelers dream, explore, and travel on.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
prnewswire | April 26, 2023
The latest study by Upgraded Points sets gas cars against electric vehicles to see which vehicle is truly the most economical on five American road trips. Examining the time and fuel costs along iconic trails like Route 66 and California 1, the study offered a variety of insights while investigating the central question: Is saving money on gas really worth the tradeoff in travel time?
The study determined that for every 100 miles driven along these popular routes, an EV owner will save $11 but will add 25 minutes, on average. An EV trip increased travel time by over 13 hours on one route, but less than 2 hours on another.
Road Trip Study: Methodology
The study focused on five recognizable U.S. road trips of varying lengths. The routes were mapped out using Google Maps to provide exact mileage counts and travel times. To avoid traffic issues, road closures, and last-minute delays, the travel date was set for a specific weekend in April.
The costs of fuel for both gas and EVs were based on average gas/electric prices from states along each route. Estimates of fueling and charging times were sourced from the Department of Transportation and the American Petroleum Institute. Finally, the study evaluated the best states for EV charging access, using data sourced from the U.S. Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data and Electrek.
Five U.S. Road Trip Routes Traveled In an EV vs Gas Car:
Pacific Coast Highway: Following the California coastline starting from Dana Point and ending in San Francisco, this 523-mile journey takes 11 hours and 37 minutes in a gas car. In an EV, you would save about $65.79 but the trip would take you 2 hours and 8 minutes longer.
The Longest American Road Trip: Beginning in Boston and ending in Newport, Oregon, Route 20 spans over 3,000 miles and multiple states. EV trips will save travelers over $350 in gas, but that is easily surpassed by the time lost—an EV trip would take a whopping 13 hours and 28 minutes longer. On this trip, fuel/charging times were also substantial, with EVs taking nearly 14 hours to charge, compared to less than 20 minutes filling up gas.
Route 66, The Mother Road: Following Highway 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, the Route 66 trip would take just over 51 hours by EV, but saves drivers over $250. Gas vehicles need 7 pitstops for this journey, while EVs are looking at more than 10. Driving an electric vehicle would save about $258, but the trip would take you 10 hours longer.
The Blue Ridge Parkway: From Cherokee, North Carolina to Afton, Virginia, this journey is 470 miles of scenic beauty. Driving an EV down this route would save you about $50, but would add nearly 2 additional hours to your journey.
The Florida Coast: Following the Florida coast from Jacksonville to Key West, Route 1 visits all the major beach towns including Daytona, West Palm Beach, Miami, and more. The EV trip saves drivers over $50 in gas but adds over 2 hours to the drive.
EV Usage and Charging Density, State by State
Access to charging stations is the key to a smooth and successful EV road trip. Located at grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, and other convenient locations, EVSE Ports provide power and charge with several ports per EV charging station. Access to these charging stations varies by state, with Washington D.C. coming out on top with 4 road miles per EV charging port. California offers 1 EVSE port per 10 road miles, followed by Hawaii and Massachusetts.
To view the findings in detail, including exact percentages, charging station densities, money saved on trips, along with rankings by each U.S. state and other specifics, please visit the full study HERE.
About Upgraded Points LLC
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Upgraded Points is a travel company that helps to demystify the complex world of travel and credit cards, and to unlock truly unforgettable experiences. Launched in 2016 by Alex Miller, Upgraded Points uses targeted research efforts and in-depth studies to give travelers, as well as those looking to travel, a real understanding of how to maximize their travel, points, and miles.
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COMMERCIAL TRAVEL
PRnewswire | May 10, 2023
Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has announced its partnership with flyadeal, the true low-cost airline in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a subsidiary of Saudi Airlines Group, to offer its users the chance to directly book flights on flyadeal through its platform. MENA is a key market for Wego, and always tops the searches from this region. flyadeal, one of the youngest and fastest growing low-cost airlines in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Middle East, continues its expansion to the region.
flyadeal currently operates scheduled flights to 17 domestic destinations across Saudi Arabia and six in Europe, Middle East and Africa. From June, the airline will triple its international footprint with 12 additional destinations in Europe and Middle East. These are Rhodes and Heraklion in Greece; Sarajevo (Bosnia); Larnaca (Cyprus), Tivat (Montenegro); Izmir, Antalya, Bodrum and Trabzon in Turkey; Baku (Azerbaijan); Tbilisi, (Georgia); and Sharm el Sheikh (Egypt).The new partnership includes all flyadeal flights to Wego's marketplace where users can book directly with the airline. Wego is looking to provide its users with a wider choice of airlines to book from, by adding such a renowned airline to its portfolio.Con Korfiatis, flyadeal Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted to partner with Wego, the biggest and renowned online travel marketplace in the MENA region. This collaboration will allow our customers to directly book flyadeal's wide choice and growing number of flights through Wego's platform, giving us the opportunity to distribute our products to a bigger audience, and showcase our competitive everyday fares. This partnership will further enhance our customers' travel experience and help us to better serve them."
Additionally, Wego's users will benefit from flyadeal fares which will be promoted across all Wego's marketing channels and will be able to search and book the most competitive deals online.Ross Veitch, CEO and Co-founder of Wego, said: "As the largest online travel marketplace in MENA we are delighted to announce our partnership with flyadeal, the fastest growing airline in KSA. We look forward to offering flyadeal's attractively priced fares to Wego's audience both in The Kingdom and also across our regional points of sale as flyadeal opens new international routes."Around 10,000 monthly bookings for flyadeal have been conducted.The top destinations searching for flights to Saudi were Egypt, India, Kuwait, UAE, Sudan, Oman, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco, and Qatar.Wego data also shows that 79% of travelers are staying up to 3 days with the remaining percentage staying 12 days or more. This collaboration ensures Wego users are always getting the most comprehensive selection of flight options possible across all its platforms.
About Wego
Wego provides award-winning travel search websites and top-ranked mobile apps for travelers living in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airlines, hotels, and online travel agency websites.Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether it is from an airline or hotel directly or with a third-party aggregator website.
About flyadeal
On 23 September 2017, national day of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, flyadeal made its historic maiden flight from Jeddah to Riyadh marking a regional first for a low-cost airline to be launched only across digital and social media channels. Being the sister airline of full-service national carrier Saudia — both under the umbrella ownership of Saudi Arabian Airlines Corporation — flyadeal was created for the price conscious and tech savvy consumer in mind in a market where 80 per cent of the Saudi population is less than 40 and has at least two mobile phones.
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