NEWS ROUND-UP
CLIA RIVER CRUISE CONVENTION: “Agents like the fact that river cruises tend to have a high average selling price” Andy Harmer, page 16
IN THE PICTURE: MSC sets record
MSC Cruises has set a world record of 14 minutes, 26 seconds for the fastest mile by a marching band, on board one of its ships, MSC Splendida, in Southampton. Musicians from the British Imperial Military Band
completed multiple laps of a specially measured circuit of the ship’s pool deck to complete their record-breaking bid, watched by hundreds of guests. The band of 21 serving and former military musicians had to march at a pace of 150 beats per minute, and the attempt was overseen by a Guinness World Records adjudicator. The feat comes as MSC launches its Get the Best
campaign, its biggest-ever promotion of free balcony upgrades, valid on most sailings until winter 2016-17. ›Watch a video of the record:
bit.ly/MSCFastestMile
Barrhead praises range of Amadeus productivity aids
Jennifer Morris
jennifer.morris@
travelweekly.co.uk
Barrhead Travel has reported a 75% reduction in time spent checking airline schedule changes after trialling a new suite of “productivity improving” products from Amadeus.
The agency chain was the
pilot customer for the Amadeus Automation Suite, which includes a schedule manager, ticketing manager and queue cleaner. Barrhead associate director
Mark Brock said use of the full range of products had boosted productivity, with time spent on schedule checks down by three-quarters. “It means agents are freer to focus on selling, rather than admin,” he said. Brock said the schedule manager system overcame the “clunky” process of having to check whether customers needed to be alerted each season when airline schedules changed. “Schedule manager means
TIME-SAVER: Amadeus tools ‘leave agents freer to focus on selling’ 75% 10
travelweekly.co.uk 10 September 2015
Drop in time Barrhead spends having to check flight changes
instead of having to look at every PNR (passenger name record), it automatically updates the booking and notifies travellers.” Ticketing manager automates
the issue of tickets and quality checks, as well as sending traveller documentation if required, while queue cleaner automatically updates bookings held on queues. Brock said ticketing manager enabled Barrhead to issue tickets 24 hours a day. Rose Fernandez, marketing
director at Amadeus UK & Ireland, said: “In today’s highly competitive environment, technology innovation is essential for driving business success.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
Peter Traynor to leave Collette this month
Peter Traynor is to leave escorted tours operator Collette at the end of this month, after seven years as UK general manager. Traynor intends to remain in the travel industry but was yet to confirm a new role. He previously worked for Cosmos Tourama as sales director and Distant Dreams as managing director.
Jordan unveils £65 ticket for entry to multiple sites
Jordan’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has launched a ticket giving visitors access to several sites and attractions. The Jordan Pass costs £65 and is intended to encourage visits to lesser-known sites and activities. For more details, go to
jordanpass.jo.
Travel Counsellors reports 15% increase in bookings
Travel Counsellors has reported a 15% rise in sales for the June to August period compared with last year. Late bookings during the period for travel before the end of September were reportedly up 22% year on year. The retailer said forward bookings for next year are 20% ahead of this time in 2014.
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