52 TRADE NEWS
Aaron Fletcher Appointed NCL Business Development Manager for Ireland
NORWEIGAN Cruise Line (NCL) has announced the appointment of Aaron Fletcher as its first dedicated Business Development Manager for Ireland. Fletcher will work with Gary Anslow, Senior Director
of Sales UK&I, to drive NCL’s growth strategy in both Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland. This comes as the cruise line sets sights on increasing its market share in the region, aiming to introduce more agents and guests to its award-winning product offering. Fletcher will work on strengthening NCL’s awareness among Irish customers and deepening the excellent relationships already in place with agent and tour operator partners in the market.
An industry expert, Fletcher has 16 years’ experience in travel, including extensive management position in organisations including Thomas Cook and Travel Solutions. Fletcher joins NCL from Travel Solutions of Belfast where he has held the position of Cruise Manager since 2016. During that time, he led the cruise department and helped drive growth of the tour operator’s cruise product. The company won “best sales support team” at the NI Travel Awards in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Prior to Travel Solutions, Fletcher spent five years honing his industry experience at Oasis Travel preceded by nearly five years at Thomas Cook.
“We are delighted to welcome Aaron to NCL,” said
Gary Anslow, Senior Director of Sales UK&I at NCL. “He joins us with a wealth of industry experience, and he is a passionate advocate for our brand. From discussions with our partners, it’s clear the Irish market represents a significant growth opportunity for NCL and we firmly believe Aaron’s appointment will enable more Irish agents and operators to grow with us as we increase our
April/May 2022 Travel News
Formula 1 and MSC Cruises Team Up as Global Partners Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula
FORMULA 1 has welcomed MSC Cruises as a Global Partner for the upcoming 2022 season. The multi-year deal, which began at the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2022, will see Swiss-based MSC Cruises become the Official Cruise Partner of Formula 1. MSC Cruises and Formula 1 are collaborating to bring some of MSC’s most technologically advanced and glamorous ships port-side during select Grand Prix weekends, enabling MSC Cruises’ impressive fleet to complement the high-end experience of Formula 1 and drive global visibility for its brand. Through this unique partnership MSC Cruises will
be able to leverage Formula 1’s growing global fanbase to showcase its extensive offering of quality holidays at sea and bring the thrill of Formula 1 to MSC Cruises global audience as its ships sail to more than 100 countries around the world and host guests from over 185 nationalities. As global leaders in their respective fields, MSC Cruises will also unite with Formula 1 to continue to drive towards sustainable change. Both companies have committed to becoming Net-Zero Carbon and are pioneering state-of-the-art environmental technologies and solutions.
NCL’s Aaron Fletcher fleet to 23 ships by 2027.”
Aaron Fletcher said, “It’s an exciting time to be appointed Business Development Manager for Ireland at NCL as we approach the August launch of Norwegian Prima, our 18th ship and the first of the six ground-breaking Prima class vessels. Alongside my new team, I look forward to supporting NCL’s market growth in Ireland, building on the very strong relationships already in place.”
New Business Development Manager Announced as Advantage Looks to Recruit More Members
EMILY Shannon, who joins Advantage having previously held roles at Thomas Cook and G Adventures, has 15 years of travel industry experience. In her role as Business Development Manager,
she will report to David Moon, Head of Business Development, and will be responsible for Advantage members across the Central Region, as well as looking to recruit new members to the Partnership.
David Moon, Head of Business Development at
The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “We are delighted to welcome Emily to the team. She has a great deal of front-line experience, both in selling travel and managing retail travel agencies. This experience will be a valuable resource for our existing Members, as
they look to rebuild their businesses.” Training Hub for Travel Agents Launched by Malta Tourism
MALTA Tourism Authority (MTA) has launched a brand-new training programme focusing on Malta’s wellbeing offering, which is a key pillar for the tourism board this year. With six new lessons for travel agents to engage with, the new training hub sits on the MTA training website (
www.malta-training.com) easily accessible for travel agents to use and expand their knowledge on Malta’s wellness hot spots and activities. Post-pandemic, health and wellbeing is now a sector that has ignited customers sentiment, and now remains at the forefront of holidaymaker’s minds when booking an international holiday. Aligned with this key travel trend for 2022, MTA want to ensure that this is a primary focus, and by implementing this new wellbeing training course for travel agents it showcases the wide variety of experiences and activities on offer for the perfect wellness getaway. The brand-new training programme will educate
travel agents on different aspects surrounding physical, mental, spiritual, social, emotional and environmental wellness that can be experienced on a visit to the Maltese Islands. Malta is home to endless serene and idyllic locations by the shore with wellbeing experiences that include scuba diving, stand-up paddle boarding, sunrise views, spas, ancient culture, and Chinese gardens, to name a few – there is something on offer for everyone.
Excitement As Spirit Aerosystems Sign Deal With Airbus
EAST Belfast plant, Spirit Aerosystems have signed a deal to supply the wings for the Airbus’ CityAirbus Next Gen.
The American-based, Spirit Aerosystems described this deal as evidence of their commitment to the United Kingdom.
According to Airbus, this multicopter is designed for city travel, with the CityAirbus Nextgen being an all-electric, four-seat vertical take-off and landing multicopter.
Airbus further commented that the multicopter’s 80-km range and cruise speed of 120 km/h, made it “perfectly suited to zero-emission flight operations for a variety of applications in major cities.”
The ambition of the partnership between Airbus and
Spirit Aerosystems is to maintain the highest level of safety, while also achieving a minimum weight solution. With the two companies stating that, “The structural
concept of the eVTOL’s fixed wings will be able to transmit the related aerodynamic loads while being optimized for the right balance between hover and cruise efficiency,”
Adding that, “CityAirbus NextGen’s distributed propulsion system will contribute to reducing the influence of air turbulence.”
Head of urban air mibility at Airbus, Jörg Müller highlighted that “The partnership with Spirit AeroSystems is an important step for the development of CityAirbus NextGen and its wings are key structural components for flight efficiency.” “To build an optimized vehicle for cleaner and safer air transport, we are proud to onboard Spirit as a strategic partner who benefits from a proven track record in this field, and extensive experience in component quality and airworthiness.”
IT was with great sadness that NI travel News heard of the passing of Paul McKenna . Over the years at the Travel Awards he was the DJ at the after party in the bar, and anyone who has been there will tell of the great memories made by Paul and the late nights. He was a great man and battled bravely over the last few years. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
On St Patrick’s day we raised a glass for Pauls
memory, he certainly gave us great memories from those great nights in the Slieve Donard Hotel.
Peter Green, Trade Trainer, UK & Ireland said: “The pandemic raised the importance of health and wellbeing, not just in day-to-day life, but also through holidays and international travel. Malta is the ideal destination to create a sense of wellbeing through physical, mental and spiritual activities and experiences, and we are excited for travel agents to expand their knowledge through our brand-new programme.” The training platform is also home to another 11 courses. Travel agents can gain further inside knowledge and top tips to share with their customers, whether that be city breakers, families, under 30’s, scuba divers and the LGBT+ community – plus with more chances to win more prizes.
Travel agents can keep up to date on Malta’s trade information via the Visit Malta UK Trade Facebook group, which can be joined here: https://www.
facebook.com/VisitMaltaUKTrade The Malta Training Programme can be found here
www.malta-training.com
Sad Passing of Northern Ireland Travel and Tourism Awards DJ
1, said:
“We are thrilled to announce MSC Cruises as a new Global Partner of Formula 1, bringing together two truly global brands. It is a perfect partnership with both of us focussed on delivering the best experience for our fans and customers globally and combining entertainment, luxury, and service. We are both committed to sustainable solutions, and MSC’s insight and expertise perfectly complement our global offering and will continue to enhance our brand.” Pierfrancesco Vago, MSC Cruises’ Executive Chairman commented:
“There is a strong shared ambition between us and F1 as we are both committed to investing in research to accelerate the development and adoption of next generation technologies – both maritime and environmental in our case – to build the future of our industries in a sustainable way. We are both working to continuously improve environmental performance with a clear vision to build a lasting legacy for future generations. We are looking forward to developing our relationship together as this exciting season unfolds.”
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