In its June 28 issue, Travel Weekly has published their annual Power List of the world’s largest travel sellers. Expedia jumped from third place in 2008 to become the No.1 seller of travel in the world in 2009.

Travel Weekly 2010 Power List

Ever since Travel Weekly started publishing its survey results in 1992, American Express has held the top slot. Expedia beat them this year with 2009 sales of $21.8 billion.

American Express came in second with $21.5 billion, followed closely by Carlson Wagonlist Travel who dropped from second to third place, with $21.4 billion in sales.

93.6% of Expedia’s sales came from leisure travel (includes unmanaged business travel), so the business travel slump last year didn’t affect Expedia as much as American Express or CWT.

Will Expedia be able to hold on to it’s top spot as the business travel sector picks up in 2010 and beyond? Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tells Travel Weekly that they’d like to think so, and have plans to build a $40 billion global travel empire.

Listed below are the top 10 agencies in the 2010 Power List.

1.   Expedia Inc. – $21.8 billion
2.   American Express – $21.5 billion
3.   Carlson Wagonlit Travel – $21.4 billion 
4.   Hogg Robinson Group – $16 billion     
5.   BCD Travel – $14.6 billion
6.   Orbitz Worldwide – $10.1 billion
7.   Priceline.com – $9.3 billion
8.   AAA Travel – $3.23 billion
9.   Flight Centre USA – $1.88 billion
10. Travel Leaders Group – $1.68 billion

Note:- Travelocity doesn’t figure in the top 10 because they did not provide sales figures. Travel Weekly estimates Travelocity’s 2009 sales to be around $9.86 billion, which puts them at no.7 on the Power List, between Orbitz and Priceline. 

See the full survey results – TravelWeekly 2010 Power List

CTIA-The Wireless Association has decided not to hold its annual fall convention in San Francisco, to protest a new wireless ordinance which requires retailers to add labels to cell phones disclosing radiation emission levels for each instrument.

CTIA

San Francisco stands to lose $80 million worth of economic activity generated by the 3-day CTIA Enterprise and Applications show, which has brought in 68,000 attendees to the Bay Area five times in the last seven years. 

John Walls, CTIA VP Public Affairs, issued a statement which says “We are disappointed to announce that the 2010 CTIA Enterprise and Applications show in October will be the last one we have in San Francisco for the foreseeable future.  We have already been contacted by several other cities that are eager to work with us and understand the tremendous benefits that wireless technology and our show can provide their area.”

CTIA has also contacted major players in their industry including Apple, Cisco and Oracle, and asked them to join CTIA in boycotting San Francisco.

Before the legislation was approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, CTIA contacted hotel operators who stand to lose the most from the boycott, and urged them to lobby San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to withdraw the legislation.

So what’s the fuss all about? It’s an ordinance (File no. 100104; approved June 15, 2010) which amends the San Francisco Environment Code to require retailers to disclose Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) values for cell phones. SAR is the relative amount of radiofrequency (RF) energy absorbed by the head or body of a wireless handset user.

The FCC has set a maximum allowed SAR value (1.6 watts per kilogram), and requires manufacturers to disclose SAR values. The list is available in the FCC SAR database. But the value differs widely for each phone and company, so the customer is unable to make an informed decision at retail outlets where SAR values are not listed.

The new SF ordinance would force retailers to add the SAR value to stickers or decals that list the price and features of the phone, and to display material next to sample phones on retail windows or counters. 

The ordinance does not require cell phone maufacturers to list the SAR value. Mayor Newsom made it clear, though, that the intent is to put pressure on manufacturers.

In a press statement, he said “In addition to protecting the consumers’ right to know, this legislation will encourage telephone manufacturers to redesign their devices to function at lower radiation levels. This is similar to Prop 65, which dramatically reduced public exposure to toxic materials because chemical companies removed toxic ingredients from their products in order to avoid product warnings.”

But as of now, the legislation affects only retail outlets in San Francisco, where sales might drop when customers start seeing radiation stickers on each phone.

Regardless of the impact on cell phone sales or the economic impact of the CTIA boycott on San Francisco, the ordinance is here to stay, and has next to no chance of being revoked. Meaning that the wireless industry and San Francisco’s travel industry will be forced to foot the bill for the city’s environmental values.

Photo – DC9T

On February 10, 2010, the Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) was forced to postpone its Travelport IPO on the London Stock Exchange.  Blackstone is now considering ditching London in favor of a US public offering.

Travelport

With  Travelport off the table, Blackstone also scrapped tentative plans for a Merlin Entertainments IPO announcement. Instead of an IPO, Blackstone has now offered a 30% stake in Merlin to rival private equity firm CVC Capital Partners.

Taken together, the conclusion is that Blackstone doesn’t think the Europe IPO market will stabilize by the last quarter. They have no choice with the UK-based Merlin whose main assets are in Europe, but with Travelport being based in New York, it makes sense to move the IPO to the US.

Back in the February offer, Blackstone had planned to raise $1.9b and cut Travelport’s debt in half from $4.1b to $2.3b.

That equation will now have to change to bring Travelport’s debt down another $500 million or so, since one of the main factors that lead to the IPO being postponed was concern that Travelport had taken on too much debt for the sake of Blackstone investors.

As for Europe, the major blame for losing out on Travelport goes straight to the Greek meltdown, which doesn’t show any signs of settling down quickly enough to leave enough time for an IPO this year. 

Blackstone will also have taken into account the escalating BA labor dispute and another possible volcanic eruption in Iceland, both of which directly affect Europe’s airline industry. The other big GDS IPO this year – Amadeus SA’s listing in Madrid, barely escaped blowback from the ash cloud. European airspace reopened after the ash cloud shutdown on April 21-22 and Amadeus started trading April 29. 

End game – If Blackstone moves the Travelport IPO to New York, it should be in the Oct-Nov period this year and it should go off smoothly. Merlin’s IPO won’t be coming this year.

On June 24, 2010, NYC & Company – the City’s official tourism and marketing organization – announced the launch of the Get More NYC campaign and a new tagline to pitch New York City to visitors.

Get More NYC

The new tagline now says “See More. Be More. This is New York City.” The campaign includes special offers from corporate partners. There’s also a facebook game which tells visitors what kind of a New Yorker they are.

The intent, as per Willy Wong, NYC & Company’s chief creative officer, is to tap the feeling of personal transformation that lingers long after a trip to NYC ends. Speaking of the art, Wong says it “reflects the energy, diversity and passion of the city and will hopefully inspire a sense optimism for future visits.”  

They might as well have used the tagline “This is New York City. Not Las Vegas.” In fact, Jane Reiss, NYC & Company’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, does say that the Get More NYC message is a counter-point to Sin City’s “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas” message.  They’d rather you take home the experience and cherish the memories until your next visit.

Also to be noted that instead of spending taxpayer funds on tourism promotion, NYC & Company has worked out partnerships with private companies - American Express, American Airlines, AT&T, Travelocity and Nickelodeon Channel.

The Get More NYC campaign is valued at $30 million, most of which NYC is getting without spending, in return for access and preferential treatment to the aforementioned companies.

NYC & Company forecasts that New York City will get 47.1 million visitors in 2010, and aims to reach Mayor Bloomberg’s target of welcoming 50 million visitors by 2012.

More info: www.nycgo.com/getmorenyc

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