{"id":2960,"date":"2016-10-18T10:10:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-18T10:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.thomson.co.uk\/?p=2960"},"modified":"2018-05-31T07:49:51","modified_gmt":"2018-05-31T07:49:51","slug":"thomson-and-first-choice-launch-vietnamese-island-as-long-haul-continues-to-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tui.co.uk\/press\/thomson-and-first-choice-launch-vietnamese-island-as-long-haul-continues-to-grow\/","title":{"rendered":"THOMSON AND FIRST CHOICE LAUNCH VIETNAMESE ISLAND"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Selection of other long haul destinations added to the winter 2017 programme<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><em>The island of Phu Quoc off Vietnam is exciting addition to long-haul portfolio<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>St Lucia and Cayo St Maria extended for winter season<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Travel industry first \u2013 multi-centre holidays launch with leading technology<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Three Thomson Cruises ships to be based in the Caribbean for the first time<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>18 October 2016 &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong>The UK\u2019s leading holiday brands, Thomson and First Choice, are announcing the introduction of Vietnam to its winter 2017 programme. The Caribbean islands of St Lucia and Cayo Santa Maria in Cuba, which were new additions to its summer 2017 programme, will also be extended into the winter season. The move is part of continued interest in long haul destinations and builds on the 350% increase in long haul holidays over a 10 year period that the brands revealed last year.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>NEW DESTINATION FOR WINTER 2017 \u2013 VIETNAM <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The stunning beach island of Phu Quoc, off the coast of Vietnam, is the latest long-haul destination to be added to Thomson and First Choice\u2019s long-haul line up. Phu Quoc is Vietnam\u2019s largest island and is fringed with white-sand beaches ideal for relaxing, and features dense, tropical jungle and stunning reefs, perfect for intrepid explorers.<\/p>\n<p>A choice of tour and stay options, such as teaming up a stay in Phu Quoc with time exploring highlights such as Hanoi, Ha Long Bay and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as a trip along the Mekong River to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, will open up even more of Vietnam for its customers.<\/p>\n<p>The first direct flights to Phu Quoc International Airport from the UK will operate on Thomson Airways\u2019 787 Dreamliners and will depart from London Gatwick every Wednesday, taking just 12 hours to reach this far off favourite.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>MORE CHOICE AND FLEXIBILITY \u2013 MULTI-CENTRE HOLIDAYS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a UK first for the travel industry Thomson is launching multi-centre holidays via its website using market leading technology, enabling customers to design and book their multi-trip break online without having to wait for their itinerary details to be confirmed. Six long-haul destinations will have dynamic multi-centre options for the first phase of Thomson\u2019s commitment to offering customers more flexibility and choice in a technologically innovative, user-friendly, and efficient format.<\/p>\n<p>Costa Rica, Cuba, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Goa are the first destinations to be bookable on a dedicated tab on Thomson\u2019s website which goes live mid-late November.\u00a0 In the future holidaymakers will be able to book over 40 different multi centre types and more than 1500 options ranging from Tour &amp; Stay Combinations to mixing different hotels in different parts of a country using Thomson\u2019s expertise and tailoring.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of the month Thomson city breaks also go on sale and customers will have even more choice thanks to the leading holiday brand\u2019s partnership with scheduled airline providers to hot-spots like New York, Las Vegas and Singapore. The city break hotels have been handpicked by its team of experts. A dedicated representative will then meet customers at the airport, to provide information and arrange transfers and there is also support available through Thomson\u2019s 24\/7 Holidayline.<\/p>\n<p>In recent research, nine out of 10 holidaymakers revealed that they enjoy experiencing new and exciting excursions, such as a variety of tours available through Thomson including the Hoover Dam Deluxe in Las Vegas, Singapore by Nights and the Floating market in Bangkok. However, seven in 10 people polled said they feel overwhelmed by the amount of activities available during city breaks. With this in mind, Thomson has created a new web-based tool to offer suggestions to customers of things to see and do, using left and right swipe functionality to seamlessly build an itinerary for a city break.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>CRUISE GROWTH <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Caribbean has long been a popular spot for cruise customers as demand for cruise holidays continues to increase year on year. In winter 2017 Thomson Cruises will have three ships based in the Caribbean. Thomson Celebration will move to a new homeport La Romana in the Dominican Republic, TUI Discovery will be based in Bridgetown, Barbados and TUI Discovery 2 will sail from Montego Bay, Jamaica.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Hall, Director of Product for Thomson and First Choice, says, \u201cOur focus for winter 2017 remains on the growth of our long-haul programme using our fantastic 787 Dreamliner and Vietnam\u2019s Phu Quoc island is a fantastic addition. We are also thrilled to announce the extension of St Lucia and Cayo Santa Maria, Cuba into our winter programme, along with an array of new city breaks and long haul destinations. Our multi-centre holiday offering is an exciting venture and another important part of our continued commitment to offering customers more choice and flexibility seizing the opportunity to deliver what customers are demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The programme for winter 2017 will be on sale from mid-late November.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Selection of other long haul destinations added to the winter 2017 programme \u00a0The island of Phu Quoc off Vietnam is exciting addition to long-haul portfolio St Lucia and Cayo St Maria extended for winter season Travel industry first \u2013 multi-centre holidays launch with leading technology Three Thomson Cruises ships to be based in the Caribbean [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":3520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>THOMSON AND FIRST CHOICE LAUNCH VIETNAMESE ISLAND | TUI UK Media Centre<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tui.co.uk\/press\/thomson-and-first-choice-launch-vietnamese-island-as-long-haul-continues-to-grow\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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