Deakin to leave role as head of UK’s air traffic control The chief executive of the UK’s air traffic control services, Richard Deakin, will stand down next month after five years in the role. His departure follows a computer glitch at the company’s control command centre on December 12 that led to hundreds of flights being cancelled or delayed.
Edie Rodriguez
Star Cruises’ parent finalises $550m purchase of Crystal Crystal Cruises has finalised its sale to Genting Hong Kong, owner of Star Cruises, for $550 million, and is set to gain a new ship by 2018. Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, executive chairman of the Genting Group and former
“Not enough travel firms are looking at diversity in the workplace”
Celebrity Cruises’ Jo Rzymowska, urges the sector to do more to support women’s pay and status
MORE IN TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS: BACK PAGE
chairman of Norwegian Cruise Line, assumes the role of chairman of Crystal. The line’s president and chief operating officer, Edie Rodriguez, is promoted to president and chief executive.
Axing of APD for under-12s fuels Caribbean bookings The abolition of Air Passenger Duty for under-12s is prompting families to book more long-haul trips, according to Barrhead Travel. The exemption came into effect on May 1 and the agent has since enjoyed a significant rise in bookings to the Caribbean. The Caribbean Tourism Organization said it expected an increase in the number of visitors this summer.
Abta’s Travel Convention secures NatWest as sponsor NatWest has been announced as a sponsor of this year’s Travel Convention in the Peloponnese. Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The travel industry has increasingly complex financial needs and it will be valuable to have a leading financial services provider as a partner.”
Independent Travel
Experts redesigns brand The Independent Travel Experts homeworking group has unveiled a brand redesign featuring a green bird logo that will appear on marketing material, in magazines and at events. The group has also promoted Natalie Holder from brand manager to brand and direct response manager.
Aito Agents posts record £53m All Stars supplier sales Aito Specialist Travel Agents has reported sales worth £53.6 million of operators in its Aito All Stars scheme in the year to March 31 – the highest in the scheme’s five- year history. Chairman Gemma Antrobus said this equated to about £43,000 in commission per agency.
HMRC ‘will target Flight-Plus agent Atol-holders next’ The founder of failed bed bank and retailer On Holiday Group has warned that agents operating under a Flight-Plus Atol may be next to fall victim to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Steve Endacott, now chairman of Teletext Holidays, previously blamed the failure of his business last March on HMRC withholding £4.5 million of disputed VAT, which left the business unable to pay hoteliers. He said: “HMRC will be looking for its next target, and sitting right there in its eyeline are travel agents – and that’s because agents all signed up to Flight-Plus, which makes you the principal. How are agents different from the tour operators? “If there is any doubt about that,
Gemma Antrobus 8 •
travelweekly.co.uk — 21 May 2015
wait until 2017 when the European travel regulations [revised Package Travel Directive] come in and make agents the principal.
“The VAT problem will force people out of the country because companies will either go to the best ‘Atol’ regime in Majorca or somewhere outside of the EU. “We will lose jobs and it will
“We will lose jobs
and it will
damage the industry.” Speaking at the latest ITT Odyssey Dinner in London, Endacott said On Holiday Group’s error was focusing on supplying the trade with beds.
damage the industry”
He said: “We were
fundamentally, totally and utterly
wrong because we didn’t understand the Google algorithm on search.
“If we’d have gone into Google as B2C, which was always our plan, we would have been successful. “We got wrapped into doing B2B and beds because it was working and we were making money. We got it wrong and we should have gambled.”
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Travel 2 funks up the volume at
Advantage 2015 Trade supplier Travel 2 hosted a dine- around at last weekend’s Advantage Travel Partnership conference, held at Mark Warner’s Sea Gardens Resort in Bodrum, Turkey.
The long-haul specialist had earlier
premiered a promotional trade video featuring staff dancing to the Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars hit Uptown Funk led by Gordon McCreadie, director of sales and marketing. At another event, SuperBreak national sales manager Graham Balmforth paid tribute to his former colleague and dine-around double act, Ian Mounser, who died last month. ❯ Advantage conference, page 14
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