EDITOR’S COMMENTS
NEWS Hot Stories
04 – Carnival admits commission mistake; Global to head to Dubai in 2016; dnata takes stake in Imagine Cruising; reaction to new Atol rules; Abta signs TW as media partner
News Digest
08 – Virgin nears two-ship cruise order; Staysure seeks 50 staff for new agency; Fosun takes 5% stake in Cook; Connecting Travel launched
Big Interview 10 – Iain Andrew and Robin Deller
Special Reports
13 – Hall of Fame 2015 inductees 14 – P&O Cruises launches new flagship Britannia in Southampton
Conference Report 16 – Global Travel Group, Chester
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Product News 19 – Kenya Airways eyes better year
Operator News 21 – Contiki targets UK trade sales
Cruise News 24 – Newcastle base for Balmoral
Hotel News 26 – Marriott plans 150 Moxy hotels
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43 – Your guide to top tours for families with kids from tots to teens 53 – Group tours v private tours 59 – Agent report on Insight tour
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70 – Vacancies and business services TRAVELWEEKLY BUSINESS
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76 – ITB 2015, Berlin: Ryanair eyes 100m carryings; TripAdvisor ‘is OTA’ 78 – Virgin Atlantic £14m profit
ALL ABOUT YOU
Letters 28 – Greece, P&O, Ryanair, Egypt
Comment 30 – Noel Josephides: Atol rules fail
All For You 32 – Win Turkey fam with Neilson
Readers’ Lives 34 – Helen Whittaker, Thomson
Mystery Shopper 40 – Redhill/Reigate agents tested
LUCY Editor-in-chief HUXLEY
Britannia is another string to sector’s bow
I
t’s fair to say that I’ve been to a few ship namings and launches in my time covering the sector.
But I still get a buzz out of being present as these incredible
feats of engineering get their official seal of approval and welcome the first of many passengers. This week I was fortunate enough to be in Southampton as the Queen named P&O Cruises’ latest ship, Britannia, and I have to say I was very impressed with what the line describes as the ‘most vibrant’ member of its fleet. But that’s certainly not the end of the cruise festivities, with
Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas, Cruise & Maritime Voyages’ Magellan, Viking Cruises’ Viking Star and Norwegian’s Escape among those set to take a bow in the coming months. Royal’s decision to select a travel agent to act as godmother
for Anthem is inspired, showing not only the line’s support for the trade but also creating a very different type of excitement than that generated by having the British monarch perform naming duties – something that can’t really be topped! As P&O bosses were keen to stress this week, Britannia and
Anthem are two very different ships that will appeal to very different audiences. And it is this differentiation that is such good news for agents. Despite growing differences in ship sizes, facilities and pricing structures, cruise lines have still had to fight to increase the sector’s popularity outside its traditional demographic. Now there really is a wealth of options for agents to target different customers and earn well in the process.
lucy.huxley@
travelweekly.co.uk WHAT LUCY DID THISWEEK 1 Cover photo: Steve Dunlop
2 3
Heard a great speech by Times columnist Caitlin Moran at Google’s International Women’s Day event
Got up super-early (still in my pyjamas) for a conference call with Iain Andrew and Robin Deller just after dnata and Imagine Cruising agreed a deal
Had a great first meeting with Carnival Corporation’s Arnold Donald in Southampton ahead of his speaking at a Travel Weekly Executive Dinner
12 March 2015 —
travelweekly.co.uk • 3
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