June 2006

World Cup fever for official travelling fans

As soon as the referee blows his whistle to end England's final group match - against Sweden - and if the team has secured passage through to the last 16, then TMG will start taking bookings trips to Germany. The firm is one of only two travel companies appointed by the Football Association as travel agents for members of the official England fans' group.

George Dick, TMG's managing director, said: "The rush will be unleashed the moment fans know for sure that their team is through.
"Between the end of the Sweden game and the start of the knock-out stage, we will have just five days to make all the arrangements to transport thousands of supporters to Germany.
"We have been able to take options to charter the aircraft we need at very short notice, but it is still going to be extremely busy, and for three hectic weeks the World Cup will effectively double the size of our business."

The travel arrangements for World Cup 2006 will be much smoother than those for World Cup 1998, in France.
Mike Scholefield, director of TMG Sport, added: "We didn't have the technology then that we have today.
"The ability to book tickets on line, 24 hours a day, has transformed the way the operation runs. Back then, we had to take on loads of extra people just to answer the phones."

TMG has been taking bookings for this competition since the end of last year, but many fans were disappointed at failing to obtain match tickets in the ballot carried out by the FA.

Mr Scholefield added: "There are still some flights available for the opening matches against Paraguay and Trinidad, but people should be aware that they need match tickets obtained through official sources before they will be allowed to travel."

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