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Midcounties to open five stores
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
The Midcounties Co-operative is to revive the Co-op brand in Ilkeston as it reveals plans to open five travel agencies by the end of this year.
It will be the first time in five
years that Ilkeston, in Derbyshire, has had a Co-op travel agency, and the shops will be the first openings by Midcounties for three years. Midcounties chief operating
officer Rad Sofronijevic said the society was looking to fill gaps in its high street portfolio and is prioritising former
Co-op strongholds for its retail expansion. The Ilkeston branch will open
in premises formerly occupied by Nationwide Building Society in late August. Previously, Ilkeston Co-op
Travel was based in a department store in the town run by Ilkeston Co-op, which merged with Midlands Co-operative Society in 2006. Midlands Co-op became part of the Thomas Cook joint venture in 2011 and the department store was closed in 2013. The new store will be followed
by branch openings in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, in September and Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. In Burton upon Trent, Midcounties will open in a store recently closed by Thomas Cook as part of its decision to phase out the Co-op brand. Midcounties plans to open two
further branches before the end of the year, with locations still under consideration. The planned new stores would increase the agency consortium’s shop portfolio to 60. Sofronijevic said: “Our strategy
is about filling gaps where we trade and looking at opportunities presented through Thomas Cook’s rationalisation and depending on leases. It’s important to find the right locations where Co-op Travel has been a strong brand. “Ilkeston has the potential to be
one of our most successful stores. “In years gone by, Ilkeston has
Midcounties’ Rad Sofronijevic
always been a very strong Co-op town. There is now only a Thomas Cook and Tui in Ilkeston – we can bring a greater choice of suppliers to the town.” Former Ilkeston Co-op Travel
staff are likely to be among the six staff at the store, she added.
Artist’s impression of Victoria Mekong; left: Wendy Wu
Wendy Wu plans $10m river ship
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
Wendy Wu Tours is to build its first river cruise ship.
The $10 million Victoria Mekong
will be billed as four-star and offer three, four and seven-night cruises on the Mekong from 2020. The 35-cabin ship will be sold
through third-party operators as well as Wendy Wu Tours. The operator, traditionally
known for touring and tailor-made holidays in China, is joining forces with a Vietnamese company, which is part-funding the new ship for an undisclosed sum. Cruises will go on sale either
late this year or in 2019. Founder Wendy Wu said: “The
ship will be good-value, very comfortable, but not necessarily luxury. There is still demand that needs to be filled [on the Mekong river] and it means we can control our own destiny.” The operator, which is 20 years
old this year and enjoying “record sales”, is making its first foray into ownership in the river cruise sector after difficulties in pairing
up third-party cruises with its ownland itineraries for clients. UK managing director Mark
Bloxham admitted: “We have always been frustrated trying to get the perfect cruise to fit the perfect tour.” The ship will take an alternative
route to many of the popular Mekong cruises, starting and finishing cruises at Can Tho in southern Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, rather than Ho Chi Minh City, and Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Shore excursions will focus on
offering an experience of local life, while onboard entertainment will include cultural performances and a gala dinner. Facilities will include a restaurant with an open kitchen, a lounge bar, swimming pool with pool bar and sundeck, a spa with a massage service, library and games room. There will be 33 ‘deluxe’ 25sq m cabins and two 45sq m ‘VIP suites’. The operator launched in the UK
in 2005 offering holidays to China, and now also offers trips across southeast Asia, Japan and India. This year it started tours to South America for the first time.
5 July 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 5 3 STORIES HOT
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