Rose–Ski Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Northstar California, Heavenly and Kirkwood-as well as the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, Nevada Commission on Tourism and gaming interests, Kulpin says. In July, an outline of the deal was brought before a consortium of regional travel and tourism entities, most notably Ski Lake Tahoe-the marketing group consisting of the resorts Squaw Valley, Mt. The 15-year-old Manchester, England-based airline already flies to Orlando, Las Vegas, Miami and New York. At an airline conference-where some of America’s 400 commercial airports attempt to woo airlines to their cities-talks began with Thomas Cook’s representatives, Kulpin says. The idea of a direct flight to London really took off this summer, says Brian Kulpin, RNO’s vice president of marketing and public affairs. Airport officials are targeting other domestic destinations to increase direct flight offerings, he adds. I look at Utah, Colorado and Wyoming-their resorts were down 4 percent in destination skier visits over the same time period.”Īdding the London direct flight is the first step toward bringing that number back up, Wirth says. “It has to do with a lack of accessibility. “The reason for the decline really has very little to do with snow,” Wirth says. Wirth links the decline in flights-there are currently no direct commercial flights to RNO from destinations further east than Chicago-directly to Tahoe’s 42 percent decline in destination skier visits over the same time period. Service to RNO dropped from 178 daily flights in 2007 to 104 daily flights this year (for more on the story, check out the Valley View section in the 2014 Ski & Ride edition of Tahoe Quarterly). The news comes at a time when the airport’s issues have been widely publicized: RNO lost some 40 percent of its inbound seats since 2005 as the Great Recession tightened travelers’ purse strings and touched off a massive round of mergers amongst the airlines. “We’re just getting started on this effort to reposition Lake Tahoe on the destination traveler’s map.” “This is actually just the beginning,” says Andy Wirth, who serves on the airport’s board of directors in addition to his position as CEO of Squaw Valley. It marks RNO’s first-ever direct flight to Europe at a time when the airport is desperately seeking to expand its offerings. The flight will run from December through April to coincide with the ski season. Thomas Cook Airlines-a luxury service carrier providing Brits service to vacation destinations worldwide-will host the Wednesday and Saturday service from RNO to London’s Gatwick International Airport, south of the iconic British capital. Then London called.Īirport officials announced in November that RNO would host a twice-weekly direct flight to London beginning December 2015. Reno-Tahoe International Airport (RNO) was hurting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |