:00:10. > :00:13.First Minister, Alex Salmond, what Good evening. A travel company which
:00:14. > :00:16.has been bringing visitors to the Channel Islands for nearly 50 years
:00:17. > :00:20.has gone out of business with many of its customers here at the moment.
:00:21. > :00:23.Preston Travel Ltd, also known as Preston Holidays, brought in tens of
:00:24. > :00:32.thousands of customers a year. Louise Walter has more.
:00:33. > :00:36.It was one of the biggest players in the Channel Islands travel. Preston
:00:37. > :00:42.offered trips to Guernsey, Sa amongst other places. Thousands of
:00:43. > :00:47.holiday`makers are affected and potentially hundreds of hotels,
:00:48. > :00:51.amongst them this one which lost hundreds of summer bookings as
:00:52. > :00:57.Preston lost its business. It varies each year. This year we are looking
:00:58. > :01:03.strong so it made it more surprising from our perspective that it went
:01:04. > :01:10.bust. Currently we have in excess of 400 bookings this year. We shall be
:01:11. > :01:17.sad to lose them as a conduit to the UK market. This hotel is not alone.
:01:18. > :01:21.The Channel Islands government spent thousands of pounds advertising each
:01:22. > :01:27.year and customers saw the appeal. The message is that the island is
:01:28. > :01:31.still open for business. We are trying hard to make sure we still
:01:32. > :01:35.offer holidays to people who were going to come to Jersey and within a
:01:36. > :01:39.short space of time we will have other tour operators' products and
:01:40. > :01:45.other travel agencies selling opportunities.
:01:46. > :01:49.It is thought around 150 tourists were already on holiday, many in the
:01:50. > :01:53.Channel Islands when the news came that the company ceased to trade.
:01:54. > :01:58.They will have the rest of their stay and travel covered, but the's
:01:59. > :02:05.news will heat stress on an already struggling industry, just ahead of
:02:06. > :02:08.the vital to the season. `` keep stress.
:02:09. > :02:10.For more on the impact of Preston's collapse on holiday`makers and the
:02:11. > :02:13.Channel Islands tourism industries, I spoke to Sean Tipton from the
:02:14. > :02:18.Association of British Travel Agents earlier today.
:02:19. > :02:25.Preston Travel was a Channel Islands specialist. The majority of those
:02:26. > :02:29.people travelling affected will be attending the Channel Islands. Four
:02:30. > :02:36.and a half thousand people will be affected. The majority of them will
:02:37. > :02:42.be going to the Channel Islands How big a player was Preston Travel in
:02:43. > :02:47.this holiday market? They have been going for almost 50 years, almost a
:02:48. > :02:50.household name in terms of travel companies to the travel Evans. They
:02:51. > :02:54.were very important but they have since gone out of business and
:02:55. > :02:59.before that there were issues about their trading position. Our main
:03:00. > :03:02.point at the moment is to assure those affected that they will get a
:03:03. > :03:09.full refund. What will actually happen? What happens to the people
:03:10. > :03:13.stuck in the Channel Islands? For those on holiday at the moment who
:03:14. > :03:18.travelled with Preston Travel, if they flew out with the company,
:03:19. > :03:24.their hotel 's will be paid for If they travel by any other method
:03:25. > :03:29.that is apt that was Mach responsibility. They will contact
:03:30. > :03:34.them and make sure that they can continue with their holidays. We are
:03:35. > :03:39.doing that for people who did not book flights in terms of travel
:03:40. > :03:43.After that, unfortunately, everything will be cancelled and it
:03:44. > :03:47.is a question of people getting refunds. In the majority of cases,
:03:48. > :03:52.it may well be that hotel 's will be contacted by other companies
:03:53. > :03:55.offering to overtake the business. Thousands of people are employed in
:03:56. > :04:01.the hospitality industry, they will be worried this evening. Are there
:04:02. > :04:06.any signs of other operators in the Channel Islands having similar
:04:07. > :04:09.problems? Euro I would like to reassure everyone in the hospitality
:04:10. > :04:13.industry that they should not worry about this rotten spreading. Of
:04:14. > :04:17.course, it was a high`profile company with a long history but we
:04:18. > :04:21.will find out what happened and why they went out of business. Generally
:04:22. > :04:25.speaking, if you look at the business and how people are feeling
:04:26. > :04:30.about booking their holidays, things are getting better rather than
:04:31. > :04:32.worse. I would like to reassure people if you work in the
:04:33. > :04:35.hospitality industry, this does not mean that you will see a drop in
:04:36. > :04:38.business over the summer. Condor Ferries has warned union
:04:39. > :04:42.leaders that it won't be a simple matter to reregister its vessel the
:04:43. > :04:45.Rapide to France. That's one demand of the company's French crew who've
:04:46. > :04:48.been on strike for a week. They also want better social security and
:04:49. > :04:55.pension rights. Condor bosses are discussing the move with the French
:04:56. > :05:00.maritime authorities. It is not easy legally, it is not easy financially
:05:01. > :05:05.and it is certain not easy operationally. There are a lot of
:05:06. > :05:08.hurdles to overcome before we move down that road. In the meantime we
:05:09. > :05:13.have a counter offer on the table and be put an offer on the table
:05:14. > :05:16.Singh will work with them to get people moving again and we will do
:05:17. > :05:19.everything within a time frame to see what the options to move
:05:20. > :05:23.forward. It's now 500 days until the Island
:05:24. > :05:26.Games come to Jersey and organisers think it could be as big as the
:05:27. > :05:30.Sochi Winter Olympics. Almost 3 000 competitors are expected ` that s
:05:31. > :05:33.about the same number as in Russia. 24 islands will take part in 14
:05:34. > :05:39.different sports. Now organisers are looking for hundreds of volunteer
:05:40. > :05:45.Games Makers, as Jen Smith explains. Jersey 2015, the biggest Island
:05:46. > :05:55.Games in the events's yesterday according to organisers, even as big
:05:56. > :06:01.as this. Some figures are the same at least, Jersey is expecting around
:06:02. > :06:05.2900 competitors, the same as though competing in the Winter Olympics and
:06:06. > :06:09.so cheering now and it is estimated after coaches and support staff are
:06:10. > :06:15.added to the mix, it could be around 4000, roughly the same as this
:06:16. > :06:21.parish. You'd be certainly have the capacity for these people. We have
:06:22. > :06:28.12,000 beds on the island, around about 9000 hotel beds. We have 000
:06:29. > :06:35.guest houses. We also have campsites. From the 27th of June to
:06:36. > :06:44.the 3rd of July, the island will be full.
:06:45. > :06:48.The organisers of these games are taking inspiration from London 012,
:06:49. > :06:53.they have big plans. They want 00 volunteers to be Games Makers to
:06:54. > :06:55.help out throughout the event. We will have opportunities for students
:06:56. > :07:03.and we will target them in particular. There will be pupil who
:07:04. > :07:08.no longer work or retired, even people like myself who beat off of
:07:09. > :07:13.work to attend. There are still some big issues with plans to move
:07:14. > :07:17.thousands of African around the island still getting made.
:07:18. > :07:25.One thing is certain, applications for Jersey's Games Makers open next
:07:26. > :07:29.month. `` thousands of athletes That's it from me. David Braine has
:07:30. > :07:30.the Channel Islands weather next and the national forecast follows him.
:07:31. > :07:46.Goodnight. There is more wet weather on the
:07:47. > :07:50.way. For a time to make the winds will drop but pick up again to words
:07:51. > :07:55.tomorrow morning. It is a South easterly wind which will reach gale
:07:56. > :08:01.force at times. There is some pretty heavy rain saw the rainfall could
:08:02. > :08:05.cause problems, it is intense and lasting for much of the day. There
:08:06. > :08:11.will be gusts of wind between 6 and 70 mph. The showers will fade away
:08:12. > :08:14.tonight and we will have clearer skies overnight for a time,
:08:15. > :08:22.temperatures are around three or four Celsius. The rain is back and
:08:23. > :08:25.play for tomorrow morning. Windy conditions and that dream will come
:08:26. > :08:30.and go throughout the morning. It will perhaps turn a bit showery rain
:08:31. > :08:33.after lunch, but still plenty of showers continuing through the end
:08:34. > :08:39.of the day with the winds increasing. By the end of the
:08:40. > :08:44.evening we could have gusts up to 60 or 70 mph. Slightly less cold. The
:08:45. > :08:48.outlook for Saturday and Sunday Saturday is another windy day with
:08:49. > :08:53.showers. Colder air coming in behind that main area of rain. Break and
:08:54. > :08:56.dry on Sunday, more wet weather but generally quieter on Monday. Good
:08:57. > :09:04.night. `` break and dry on Sunday. few days and now we go to the
:09:05. > :09:10.weather centre for the national forecast from Nick Miller.
:09:11. > :09:15.Hello, in this winter of perpetual autumn, it seems we're never more
:09:16. > :09:19.than a day away from a storm so we must be due another one and as
:09:20. > :09:24.you've just heard, here it comes, deepening in the Atlantic Trio
:09:25. > :09:29.heading for us. Overall for the UK, we're not expecting this to be as
:09:30. > :09:33.severe as the storm yesterday that there will be some significant
:09:34. > :09:34.impact, particularly where the Met Office has weather warnings