Air Travel in Italy
The price of flying within Italy is often comparable to the cost of train travel, although be sure to factor in the expense of getting to and from the airport. When flying out of Italian airports, always check with the airport or tourist agency about upcoming strikes, which are frequent in Italy and often affect air travel.
Booking Your Flight
When you book, look for nonstop flights and remember that “direct” flights stop at least once. Try to avoid connecting flights, which require a change of plane. Two airlines may operate a connecting flight jointly, so ask whether your airline operates every segment of the trip; you may find that the carrier you prefer flies you only part of the way.
Carriers to Choose from
When flying internationally, you must usually choose between a domestic carrier, the national flag carrier of the country you are visiting (Alitalia for Italy), and a foreign carrier from a third country. National flag carriers have the greatest number of non stops. Domestic carriers may have better connections to your hometown and serve a greater number of gateway cities. Third-party carriers may have a price advantage. On international flights, Alitalia serves Rome, Milan, and Venice. The major international hubs in Italy are Milan and Rome, served by Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines. American Airlines flies into just Milan. US Airways serves only Rome.
Alitalia and British Airways have direct flights from London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports to Milan and Rome. From Manchester, British Airways has daily flights to Milan and Rome. Smaller, no-frills airlines also provide service between Great Britain and Italy. EasyJet connects Gatwick with Bologna. British Midland connects Heathrow and Milan. Ryanair, departing from London’s Stansted Airport, has daily flights to Milan, Rome, Pisa, and Venice. Meridiana has two or three direct flights each week between Gatwick and Olbia on Sardinia in summer, and daily flights to Rome and Florence throughout the year. From its hub in Brussels, Virgin Express files to Milan, Catania, and Rome.
Alitalia connects Canada and Italy. Air Canada flies to Munich for connections to Rome, Florence, and Milan via Lufthansa. Qantas flies from various cities in Australia via Bangkok, arriving in Rome. Alitalia and New Zealand Air fly from Auckland to Rome with a stop in London. Another option if you’re coming from Australia or New Zealand is Thai Airlines, landing in Rome via Bangkok.
Tickets for flights within Italy, on Alitalia and small carriers such as Meridiana and Air One, cost less when purchased from agents within Italy. Tickets are frequently sold at discounted prices, so check the cost of flights, even one-way, as an alternative to train travel.
If you are looking for cheap holidays and cheap flights, contact Escape Travel.
Sphere: Related ContentShould you outsource sales management – the key considerations
No matter how great your product or service is, if you don’t have people using and buying what you produce, you go out of business. So how do you set up an efficient sales and marketing machine, on a limited budget? Do you have experience in sales management? Would you know how to maximize the potential of a good sales person?
So why is it important to have someone with sales management experience in a company? Those of you with sales experience will know the answers, however, if you do not have experience in sales, let me ask you the following questions; Low risk – low cost – high return!
Would you know the characteristics of a good sales person?
Can you easily spot when someone is telling you a lie?
If a sale was dragging on, would you know what questions to ask to find out why?
Have you ever been paid commission, do you think sales people are overpaid?
If a sales person was not performing, would you fire them and get a new sales person?
How would you define not performing, in the previous question?
Have you ever used and do you understand the value of a sales process?
The answers to questions like these come as second nature to an experienced Sales Director or Manager. Over 90% of the most successful companies in the world have experienced sales directors on their management board.
But what if you don’t have global ambitions, or just can’t afford to hire a full time sales manager? And even if you did want to hire one, how could you be sure that the person you hired would be worth the money?
How do you make the case for sales management outsourcing?
Like any purchasing decision, you need to ensure that you get value for money. If you bear in mind that the reason you would even consider investing in sales or marketing in the first place, is to increase revenue and profit, then do these calculations first.
How much additional revenue do you wish to generate, and by when. What is your margin on that? How much profit does that put in your pocket?
Now how much of that are you willing to spend? One of the issues apart from the loss of time and cash flow in making a mistake in hiring is the actual cost of hiring fees and monthly base salary. This is a cost even before a single additional sales is generated.
If you could get the sales execution focus of a sales director for a fraction of the monthly cost of a full time hire, paid them on performance and have the ability to part company on a month’s notice, without any employer liability – would that not be attractive.
If you said yes – than that is the beauty of outsourcing your sales management function.
Low risk – low cost – high return!
What do you get when you outsource sales management?
On a weekly basis, the sales manager will speak with the sales team, to determine the status of your sales opportunities. Everything in that meeting will be focused on closing sales, or ensuring opportunities are moving along the pipeline. The key advantages of this are as follows:
Identification of strengths and weaknesses amongst your sales team, whatever the size, ensuring you are maximising return for your spend
Shorten sales cycles, thus increasing revenue and cash flow
Optimise the time your sales team spend on given opportunities, so that they can spend more time closing profitable opportunities
Accurate information, based on sales both won and lost, which can be used by product planning and service teams.
Ongoing coaching and training based on your real opportunities, which makes your team the envy of the industry, and thus enables you to attract the best.
Identification of a team member who can take over the role of sales manager, so that you promote from within, which is fantastic for morale and motivation.
Several companies are already outsourcing their sales management function to 3R Sales and Marketing, for further information, take a look at sales management outsourcing.
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This article was written by Peter Lawless, founder of 3R Sales and Marketing. For previous articles like this, visit 3R’s Articles. Alternatively, subscribe to Success our free monthly Information Bulletin with sales and marketing articles.
Source: http://www.articletrader.com
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