talkingshop THE SECTION FOR AGENTS ABOUT AGENTS theround-up
Conplete Cruise Solution has launched a new training programme for agents. By
the close of 2011 The Academy will offer 75 modules on P&O Cruises, Cunard and Princess Cruises, with required and optional modules on each cruise line and specialist topics like world cruises. Agents can rise from 'First Offi cer' up to 'Commodore' status as they train. Rewards include the Graduation Cruise.
www.completecruisesolution.com
Travelodge has 'exchanged' on 22 new Rome Italy revealed as short break star
You're still selling short haul breaks, with Italy proving popular this year and late bookings and shorter holidays among other trends, writes Laura Gelder. Travel Counsellor May Swan-Easton identifi ed Italy as a big seller: "Short haul city weekend breaks are selling – Venice and Rome to be exact, plus Seville and Barcelona. I've had more enquiries for Turkey this year, with clients asking for somewhere that doesn’t use the Euro. "Ten nights seems to be the new 14 nights and clients are asking for half-
Train up on Holiday Extras online
Travel add-ons company Holiday Extras has set up an online training facility for agents to learn more about its products, with prizes for completion. The course will be available to 42,000
agents and there will be new subjects and prizes every three months. The fi rst set of modules will be on
airport parking, hotels and lounges – the company's three core products. Holiday Extras' Andrea Clayton
commented: "It gives agents the freedom to test their own knowledge and work at their own pace."
www.holidayextras.co.uk/training
board and all-inclusive over B&B." May's colleague, Karen Goldman, agreed: "I've recently sold holidays to the Italian lakes, Tuscany and Sardinia. Turkey is very popular, especially all inclusives in Antalya." Peter Foster from Those Travel Guys
has also noticed a pattern: "The old favourites, like Barcelona, Rome and Florence, remain popular but there are more enquiries for a bit further afi eld, like Istanbul and St Petersburg, helped by budget airlines fl ying further."
Late bookings are still the trend.
"Last-minute bookings are even more last minute than in the previous two years", said Travel Counsellor Graham Finch-Parsons. Travel Counsellor Michael Eaves also
identifi ed Italy as "most popular for couples", but his killer booking was for somewhere closer to home! "A couple who were fed up with airports booked the Royal Scotsman around the UK for 10 days at a cost of just over £18,000!"
Jet2holidays launches Greek Odyssey with Aldemar
Jet2holidays has launched two new Greek properties – and chose its popular Manchester agents event (pictured) this summer to introduce retailers to Aldemar Hotels.
Five-star family-friendly Knossos Royal is located in the resort of Anissaras just outside Hersonissos in Crete, whilst fi ve- star all-inclusive Paradise Mare is situated in the resort of Kalithea, Rhodes. Aldemar Hotels is a leading Greek
hotel group, offering eight four- and fi ve-star properties, four in Crete, two in Rhodes and two on the Greek mainland in the West Peloponnese, as well as the rustic but homely Epohes Guesthouse in Ambeliona.
hotels across the UK, with an investment of £165 million. Locations include Walthamstow, Enfi eld, Bethnal Green, Sutton and Southgate in London, as well as: Edinburgh Queen Street, Eastleigh, Loughborough, Sittingbourne, Bedford, Gatwick Airport, Darlington, Altrincham, Malvern, Aylesbury, Newquay, Woking, Glasgow Airport, Hemel Hempstead, Kings Lynn and Barcelona. Travelodge is also partnering with Arcadia Group Ltd, who will forward fund the construction of a 96-room hotel above its Topshop store in Princes Street, scheduled to open summer 2012.
www.travelodge.co.uk
Norwegian Cruise Line has launched its Freestyle Cruising 2012/13 brochure with its
biggest ever European deployment. The cruise line will have four ships in Europe – two sailing year-round. The brochure also showcases new ports and itineraries, interactive brochure content and a second embarkation port option for Norwegian Epic’s Mediterranean sailings, in Rome as well as Barcelona.
www.ncl.co.uk/agents
Attraction World is now offering Bulgaria, with four fully-commissionable tours
The Aldemar Royal Mare has a tennis
academy and the chain is offering golfi ng packages to tie-in with the Crete Golf Club, an 18-hole championship golf course just fi ve kilometres from the Aldemar hotel.
www.jet2holidays.com www.alaldemarhotels.com
perfect for agents booking a city break to Sofi a. The Plodiv and Bachkovo Monastery Tour covers Bulgaria's second largest city, known for its fi ne architecture. Koprivshtitsa is a small traditional town known for its museums. Rila Monastery is a World Heritage site situated at a height of 1.150 metres in the heart of the Rila Mountains. And the Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanassi tour takes visitors back in time through the cobbled streets of this former capital of the second Bulgarian Kingdom (12th- 14th century). Tours cost £50-£70.
www.attractionworld.com
12 July/August 2011 •
www.shortbreaksholidays.com
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