SHOW REPORT ASSOCIATION OF CRUISE EXPERTS
Every day's a winner for cruising The theme of this year’s Cruise
More than 600 delegates, including 300 travel agents, gathered in Southampton for the three-day 2011 ACE UK Cruise Convention (May 3-5). Jo Austin and Laura Gelder were on board for the debates
Convention was ‘365’ and its aim was to stress the fact that there is now a cruise for every day of the year, as well as for every type of consumer. The proposition was backed by figures
from the Passenger Shipping Association’s (PSA) 2010 Cruise Review which revealed that cruising accounted for 4.5 per cent of all foreign holidays taken in 2010 and 11.5 per cent of the total package holiday market. In port for the convention were
Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas, Fred Olsen’s Balmoral, P&O’s Aurora and Cunard’s newest ship, Queen Elizabeth. Day one was designated as Columbus
Day and specially-invited ACE agents enjoyed presentations from Jan Swartz, executive vp customer service, sales & marketing for Princess Cruises, on the success of independent agents in the USA; and from Andy Stuart, executive vp, global sales and passenger services for Norwegian Cruise Line, on ways to maximise profits through social media. Delegates also learnt about the latest consumer buying trends in a
presentation by Mail Newspapers. On day two Mark Palmer, travel editor
of the Daily Mail, chaired a discussion on the variety of cruising available with representatives from a cross-section of cruise lines on hand to highlight family- focused cruising, expeditions, European itineraries, the luxury market and up-and-coming river cruising (See the
ACE debate report on page 71). The final day rounded off with agents
boarding either the Queen Elizabeth or Aurora for sessions which included the onboard experience, European, trans- atlantic, Australasia and pole-to-pole cruising and how to increase cruise sales – all conducted by experts from the cruise lines, media and ACE trainers.
All aboard to celebrate ACE's award winners
ACE River Cruise Expo
in November Over 100 travel agents have
registered to attend the first ever ACE River Cruise Expo, in Amsterdam, on November 20-21 and more places are now being made available. The Expo will give agents the opportunity to visit ships operated by AMA Waterways, APT, Titan HiTours Elegant River Cruises and Shearings. Delegates will stay onboard overnight on the Sunday and will be provided with specialist river cruise and destination training together with a boat trip of Amsterdam’s famous canals. Latest figures show that river cruising
is emerging as the fastest growing sector of the market with nearly 134,000 UK passengers taking to the world's rivers in 2010, up 8 per cent on the previous year.
www.cruiseexperts.org
the call of duty to ensure he gains magnificent results year on year". The ACE Award for Excellence in
Cruise Innovation was presented to Blue Water Holidays for its work in generating awareness by focusing on new opportunities. "The award is reward for the
'innovative work undertaken by the company to use its data feeds, database technologies, in-house programmers and developers to host digital activities that assist its sales efforts in the cruising sector," said ACE. The award for ACE Ambassador of
Travel agents demonstrating exceptional levels of inspiration, leadership, expertise and commitment were recognised with awards presented at the ACE UK Cruise Convention. The four ACE awards were presented during the Cruise Rocks! Party at the Oceana Club on May 4. The ACE Cruise Agency of the Year
award went to Planet Cruise for the company's "high levels of expertise, innovation and commitment".
ACE said Planet Cruise has developed
and maintained unique niche markets which grow increasingly popular by the year under the maxim 'See More, Save More'. The ACE Cruise Agent of the Year
was John William Fulton from Knock Travel Belfast. William was recognised for his "expertise and knowledge of cruise holidays and as an outstanding sales consultant who goes above and beyond
the Year went to Peter Ruck, general manager of Baldwins Travel who was congratulated for being the most active ACE agent member in promoting and supporting ACE in 2010/11 in the press and media (including his use of social media such as Twitter and blogs). He also completed ACE's training and gave feedback to the ACE team.
L-R: Flo Powell (ACE). John William Fulton (Knock Travel, Belfast) and Debbee Dale (DD Development)
www.sellinglonghaul.com • June 2011 69
©STEVE DUNLOP
©STEVE DUNLOP
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