NEWS ROUND-UP


ROYAL APPROVAL: Royal Caribbean International recognised its top-performing agents at an awards event in Leicestershire to celebrate five years of its Club Rewards incentive scheme. Agents honoured included Tui’s Michael Blackburn, who was named Club Rewards ambassador, and Travel Counsellors’ Sally Landers, who won the best homeworker gong. Agency winners included World Travel Holdings, Cruise1st, Iglu Cruise, Holiday Direction and Cruise.co.uk, while Nasser Gerab, recently retired from Travelbrands, was also honoured.


CruiseAppy claims to be the ‘Netflix for cruise’


Harry Kemble


Agents can tailor a new app – dubbed the “Netflix for cruise” – to share content, engage with customers and help sell cruises. CruiseAppy allows agents


to upload video content from cruise lines and ports, send push notifications and chat with customers. Push notifications can be sent


through the app to alert customers to changes in fare prices or cabin availability before the cruise. CruiseAppy, created by former


Traveltek global sales director Peter Whitle and launched this week, also allows passengers to chat with their agent during the cruise, access discounts at land atractions and book tables at restaurants. Lonely Planet has supplied


CruiseAppy with arrival guides for ports around the world. So far, Whitle has signed up five


agencies, including Vision Cruise in Merseyside, which has helped generate a test customer base of


12 3 OCTOBER 2019


CruiseAppy co-founders Peter Whittle (left) and Peter Aland in Liverpool


10,000 users. “It really is like Netflix for cruise,”


he said. “Like Netflix, you have different genres of programme, such as cruise and stay. What this will do is generate more sales.” According to Whitle, the app’s


chief executive and co-founder, 55% of holiday bookings originate from mobile search. He said: “I saw an opportunity to


Like Netflix, you


have different genres of programme, such as cruise and stay. This will generate more sales


set up a walled garden within an app and thought I could make it available to cruise sellers. “Our pilot industry partners


have found the app very powerful for booking and enquiry generation, especially when used in conjunction with push notifications. Tere will be a time when 100,000 people are engaging with this app.” During testing, on average


5.5% of users responded to push notifications. Te figure compares with about 2% for all mobile apps. Apps created by CruiseAppy,


under participating agencies’ brands, are available on iOS and Android devices and can be accessed via the App Store and Google Play.


A-Rosa recruits Joyner as first UK head of sales


River line A-Rosa has appointed its first UK head of sales as it targets growth through the trade. Stephen Joyner will join from BSP Auto, where he is sales director, on October 7. He has previously worked for Affordable Car Hire and The Travel Network Group.


G Adventures signs Bell as sales director


G Adventures has appointed Tom Bell as sales director for the UK and Ireland. He will join from Hotelbeds Group, where he was regional manager for UK and Ireland for Bedsonline, on October 21. Bedsonline has promoted Rebecca Brett, who joined in 2017, to fill his role.


Barrhead profits drop to £1m despite sales rise


Barrhead Travel’s 2018 profits fell to £1 million despite 6.6% growth in revenue to £320 million on 2017. The decline came as the agency opened three branches, upgraded its website and accelerated training for 800 employees. Barrhead said profits, which fell from £2.9 million, were also hit by EU changes in credit card regulations.


travelweekly.co.uk


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