NEWS 4
YOU NEED TO KNOW
5 STORIES HOT
Giles Hawke to take up helm at Cosmos Tours
Hollie-Rae Merrick
hollie@travelweekly.co.uk
Cosmos Tours has appointed MSC Cruises’ Giles Hawke to take on the new role of chief executive.
He replaces Alan MacLean, who
was managing director of Cosmos Tours until he stepped down in January after five years in the role. Speculation about Hawke’s next
career move had been mounting since he resigned as executive director from MSC last week, but Travel Weekly can reveal he will take up his new position on May 1.
Hawke will head up Cosmos
Tours & Cruises, river cruise line Avalon Waterways and direct-sell operator Archers Holidays. Hawke was recruited by Cosmos
executive chairman Hugh Morgan, who came out of retirement to take up his position in November. Hawke said he was excited about the “unlimited opportunities” at Cosmos Tours and that he wouldn’t rule out expanding the operator’s product offering. “Joining Cosmos is a great opportunity and I’m extremely excited about my new role,” he said. “As a business, Cosmos Tours has
a very clear focus with three very distinct brands, two of which are trade-facing, plus Archers Holidays.” Hawke said his initial challenge
would be to “fully understand the breadth of product and the opportunities”, but his overall aim was to increase the company’s market share.
“It’s important that we have an open dialogue with the trade,” he said. “I will be meeting with key partners to see how we can work together to grow the business.”
Morgan said: “I am delighted that Giles is joining us to head up the team in Bromley, Kent, as we look to significantly grow our market share in the touring and cruise business. “Giles brings with him vital commercial cruise expertise and experience.” Hawke insisted he would remain
focused on MSC Cruises until April when he hands over the reins to Antonio Paradiso. “I won’t take my eye off the ball until my time with MSC is over,” he said.
Giles Hawke joins Cosmos Tours in May
5 Fastpayhotels ‘gives trade upper hand’
Lee Hayhurst
lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk
A new trade accommodation supplier launched this week promising to help agents be more competitive by giving them the best prices and availability in the market.
Fastpayhotels has been set up by
Alex Gisbert, former chief operating officer at Lowcost Travel Group. He claims dispensing with
the fixed-rate contracts that traditional suppliers distribute
means it can offer prices and availability to match, or even beat, the big global OTAs. The Majorca-based supplier,
which has “multimillion-euro” backing from Spanish investors, will pass money to hotels and pay agent commission within 24 hours. Prices are non-
refundable, pre-paid rates that Gisbert said consumers used to buying budget flights and OTA room nights were
6
travelweekly.co.uk 4 February 2016
increasingly comfortable with. “Our formula is what low-cost carriers did to traditional airlines where you pay upfront and can’t cancel or modify,” said Gisbert. “It’s online, super simple and a hell of a lot cheaper. “The challenge is how to
Alex Gisbert, Fastpayhotels
move the model to give travel agents the upper hand.” Fastpayhotels has launched with 2,000 beach and city hotels and says this will rise to 6,000 in Europe,
the Caribbean and Latin America by the summer. Gisbert said hoteliers offer
aggressive early prices for upfront payment and won’t put agents on stop-sell when demand pushes prices above contracted rates. “The better you treat the
hotel, the better your pricing and availability is going to be,” he said. No cancellations or amendments
will enable Fastpayhotels to run a slick operation, he added. Gisbert has recruited seven staff and expects this to increase to about 20.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95