INSIDE THIS
WEEK Contents
NEWS Hot Stories
Agents’ shock at Mark Warner’s ski holiday surcharge; court victory spurs Harlequin expansion; Freedom agents targeted; Tui chief promises new stores; cruises offer ‘value for money’
Round-up WIN!
Kuoni, Savvi Travel, AWTE, Uniworld Face to Face
A place on a mega-fam to Thailand or your own holiday to Phuket page 46
Jeannette Linfoot, Saga Group Conference Report
Freedom Travel Group and CPTA Talk Back
Cook/Co-op, Carnival, term-time breaks
NEWS YOU CAN USE Product Taber, Universal, Macao
08 12 15 21 04 25
Luxury ILTM 2016: Belmond, Six Senses 27 Hotel Sunhotels, W Las Vegas, Amari
29 Cruise Uniworld to boost trade relations 30
FRONTLINE Comment Nikki White: voluntourism
Readers’ Lives Olive Lounge Travel
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Ride the wave of optimism T
what they hope will be a bumper sales period. The decision, therefore, by independent sun and ski
operator Mark Warner to levy a surcharge on holidays for this winter season won’t have been taken lightly (page 4). It does highlight the sort of challenges all travel firms are
facing from global economic and political forces they can’t control, but can only take steps to mitigate. In recent years surcharges all but disappeared because
of stricter rules to regulate their use and historically low fuel prices. However, they remain a perfectly legal way for travel
firms to cope with an unexpected rise in costs, such as that caused by the pound’s slump against the euro following the June Brexit referendum. Given the understandable outcry caused by asking
customers who have already paid to cough up more, I don’t expect surcharges to make a widespread comeback. Prices are likely rise but, as the Travel Weekly Insight annual industry report predicted, 25 million adults will take at least one overseas holiday next year. Clearly, the economic and political difficulties we’ve seen
emerge in 2016 aren’t simply going to go away just because we enter a new 12-month period in just under a month’s time. But a slew of inspirational, turn-of-year
advertising campaigns, many of which we are starting to get sneak previews of (page 8), will infuse the industry with a fresh sense of purpose. Let’s hope we can ride that wave of optimism for as long as possible.
34 37
Mystery Shopper Hereford: clear winner 50
DESTINATIONS The US
COVER Nikki Brogden, Plane Sailing; Karin Roberts, City Travel & Tours; Richard Fenton, CPTA: Trevor McDonald; Colette Byrne, CPTA; Suzanne Brunt, Freedom Travel Group and CPTA
Chicago: city with heart, attitude, looks 52 Kentucky: horses, bourbon and bluegrass 56
Scandinavia Beyond the northern lights: cool draws 62 in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland
BUSINESS NEWS
Expedia partner conference: Las Vegas event marks the OTA’s 20th year
70 WHAT
LUCY DID THISWEEK
Dec 15 1
2 3
Lucy Huxley Editor-in-chief @Lucy_Huxley
Attended AWTE’s annual Christmas lunch at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel and met the lovely Aled Jones, who led a festive sing along
Moderated Clia’s annual cruise forum in Windsor with the country’s top agent sellers and enjoyed an evening of celebrations
Decorated the Christmas tree with the children to the soundtrack of Michael Buble’s Christmas album
15 December 2016
travelweekly.co.uk 3
he 2017 peaks are almost upon us and all travel firms will have pretty much completed their preparations for
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