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Carnival Corp gets personal with ‘medallion’
Lucy Huxley
lucy.huxley@
travelweekly.co.uk
Carnival Corporation is to introduce wearable ‘medallions’ for its guests in a move that will “take personalisation for cruise customers to another level”.
The man behind Disney’s MagicBands, said to be a game changer for the theme park sector, has developed the technology, which will automatically trigger personalised information to be sent to guests. Princess Cruises will be the first brand to offer the new technology.
5 Monarch chief calls for ‘hard’ EU exit
Ian Taylor
ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk
The UK should make a clean break with the EU and avoid a ‘soft’ Brexit, according to Andrew Swaffield, Monarch Group chief executive.
Swaffield said the UK “must
leave properly” and not seek to stay in the single market or prioritise the rights of UK airlines to fly between EU member states. The Monarch chief told a Travel Weekly Business Breakfast:
“I wanted us to stay in, which was my vote, or get out – not end up under the rule of the EU without any influence. “Now that we’ve voted to leave,
we must leave properly – get out, forge our own way, and create new partnerships with Europe. “If we decide we must stay in the
single market and have everything we had before, we’re going to end up in the middle ground. We won’t be members, but we’ll have to apply all the rules. I don’t think that is a good place. “We’re a big enough economy
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travelweekly.co.uk 5 January 2017
“We can negotiate the right to fly without being part of the single market”
not to be a Norway, and we don’t have to be a Switzerland.” Swaffield told the industry audience: “We can negotiate the right to fly without being part of the single market.” He added: “The fundamental need of the UK travel industry is to get
people to and from the UK. We should not be overly informed by the need for airlines to be able to fly around Europe – that is not a fundamental need.” The Monarch chief added: “I
want the avoidance of friction. I don’t want people to need visas, to have unnecessary administration or to be queuing at airports. I want a replacement for the European health card [EHIC] system.” But Swaffield warned: “There are going to be years of uncertainty
and unexpected consequences.” › Business Breakfast, back page
John Padgett, who joined
Carnival as chief experience and innovation officer in 2014, said the medallions were “the next step beyond Disney’s MagicBands as they do not require humans to do a thing”.
“Guests don’t need to swipe or
tap the medallion,” he added. “They just have to wear it as a pendant, bracelet or keyfob, and every single one will have a digital concierge looking out for them. “It won’t stereotype or segment passengers; it will track what they engage in, in real time, from the minute they book their holiday, and send them only information relevant
to their interests and preferences.” Padgett said the medallions
would change the cruise industry’s focus from maximising onboard revenue to enhancing a customer’s personalised holiday experience. He believes this more-targeted
and streamlined approach will lead to guests spending more money in the long term. Speaking exclusively to Travel
Weekly ahead of the technology being unveiled by Carnival Corporation chief executive Arnold Donald at the CES tech show in
Padgett shows off an Ocean Medallion
Las Vegas this week, Padgett said: “It’s a huge deal that Carnival is featuring at this tech show. This isn’t Carnival with Royal Caribbean and Norwegian. This is Carnival alongside the likes of Microsoft and Apple. So this isn’t about market share, it’s about us being in the vanguard to show how truly great the entire cruise industry is.” Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess
will adopt the ‘Ocean Medallions’ in November 2017, with Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess following next year.
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