TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS
WIMBLETON JOINSCRUISINGEXCURSIONS AS PURCHASE DEPARTS THE COMPANY
Lucy Huxley
Cruising Excursions announced a major management shake-up by appointing John Wimbleton, former managing director of Tui’s specialist and activity sector, as chairman. The trade supplier’s former managing
director, Simon Purchase, has relinquished his 100% shareholding to a group of industry stalwarts including White Hart Associates partner Chris Photi and Richard Knight, former director of Ola Holidays, which ceased trading last November. Cruising Excursions has been widely
credited for revolutionising the way cruise excursions are sold in the UK, offering agents the chance to earn commission in an area that is dominated by cruise operators. The firm has promoted general manager Simonne Fairbanks, who has been with the business since start-up in 2011, to chief operating officer and appointed her to the board of directors, which also includes Wimbleton and Knight. It is understood the board is looking for a chief executive from outside the industry. Wimbleton was at First Choice and then
Tui for 22 years and holds various industry positions including chairman of Scott Dunn, non-executive director of European Travel Ventures and travel industry adviser for Catalyst Corporate Finance. He said: “I’ve been impressed by Cruising Excursions’ rapid growth over the years. I
GOLD MEDAL CITES RISE IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Trade supplier Gold Medal has recorded improved customer satisfaction levels during the year to May, during which it was acquired by dnata from Thomas Cook. The independent operator has focused on
improving customer satisfaction levels and these are reflected by its latest Institute of Customer Service (ICS) rating. The company initially put itself forward
for scrutiny by the ICS in December 2012 to see how 200 independent agent partners
FINNAIR ISSUES PROFIT WARNING FOLLOWING €24M HALF-YEAR LOSS
Finnair became the latest European carrier to issue a profit warning on Friday as the airline reported a half-year loss. Helsinki-based Finnair said European sanctions
John Wimbleton, new chairman
“I’ve been impressed by Cruising Excursions’ rapid growth over the years”
believe it will continue to go from strength to strength. It has exceeded its targets virtually every month. “The trade has embraced the concept of
pre-selling excursions, but there is a huge untapped consumer market out there and I look forward to directing investment in this area in the next stage of growth.” Cruising Excursions is on sale with 99% of
the trade, including Tui, Global Travel Group, Thomas Cook and Advantage. The trade accounts for 50% of the company’s sales. Cruising Excursions said Purchase had left the company to “pursue other commercial directions”.
rated its service and what it could improve. Its first result, in May 2013, was a 76.7% customer-satisfaction rating. The latest result, taken from a survey last
May, was a 87.2% rating. Robin Parry, Gold Medal marketing
product and commercial director, said: “We chose the ICS to assist us with this insight as they have a strong track record in providing relevant, reliable and authoritative information, benchmarking and knowledge. “It was a brave decision to put ourselves up for scrutiny but the improvement in satisfaction
among agents proves it has been worth it.” Parry said the survey had helped the company to communicate better with agents and improved its general reputation. “One area that was highlighted as needing improvement was the speed of quotes, so we are working on training and developing our staff in this regard,” he said. ICS recently released its customer satisfaction results for direct-to-consumer brands, which showed tourism ranked third of all sectors, with six individual
travel organisations named in the top 50.
21 August 2014 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 63
against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine had hit business as it recorded a loss of almost €24 million for the six months to June against a profit of €18 million last year. Revenue was down 7.2% to €566 million and the airline warned full-year revenue would be “significantly lower” than last year. The profit warning followed similar news from Lufthansa and Air France-KLM in early July. Finnair reported it is in negotiations with pilots
on proposed wage cuts and announced it has agreed a deal to partially outsource cabin crew. Chief executive Pekka Vauramo said: “Achieving the cost reductions we are pursuing and reaching market-level costs in all categories is absolutely essential in this financial situation.”
Finnair
revenues fell 7.2%
“It was a brave
decision, but the improvement in satisfaction was worth it”
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