NEWS ROUND-UP
League of Gentlemen and Tesco film scenes at Reuben’s Retreat
Reuben’s Retreat will feature in two forthcoming TV episodes of The League of Gentlemen and a Tesco Christmas TV ad. The charity’s day room was
used by Tesco to film its advert and for two scenes in the BBC TV show The League of Gentlemen, which airs on BBC Two on December 18, 19 and 20. The filming has raised £10,000 for the charity, which is heavily supported by the travel industry and based in a former hospital in Glossop, Derbyshire. Founder Nicola Graham, who
worked at Red Sea Holidays before devoting her life to the charity dedicated to her son Reuben, said: “We are now registered as a film location. “I am a huge fan of The League
of Gentlemen – my hen night was themed on the show – so I was beside myself when they called me, I was just so excited.”
Hebridean hails the trade with trio of agent awards
Ben Ireland
ben.ireland@
travelweekly.co.uk
Hebridean Island Cruises handed out its first travel agent awards in nine years on a fam trip hosted to show its commitment to the trade.
Known as the Queen’s favourite
cruise line, Hebridean – which didn’t deal with agents until 1995 – was sold by All Leisure Group just before the latter’s collapse in January this year. Managing director Ken
Charleson said the 2008 sale of the line’s ship Hebridean Spirit, a result of the financial crash, hit the cruise line “hard”, to the extent that agents assumed it had stopped dealing with the trade. “We are very keen to work with
agents and want to take your clients on our holidays,” he said. Although only 14% of guests book through agents, he said sales through the trade still amounted to £1 million of turnover, so was “an important part of our business”. The line has vowed to support
the trade by directing potential customers to their local agent. It also produces mini-brochures
ON LOCATION: Reuben’s Retreat’s Nicola Graham with The League of Gentlemen star Mark Gatiss
Man, 91, buys cruise for woman, 90, just minutes after meeting
A 91-year-old man bought a £3,500 cruise holiday for himself and a stranger within minutes of meeting her in a pub. John Mason, from Hampshire, met Vera Burrell, 90, from
on which agents’ contact details can be added. Hebridean, which turns 30 in
Sudbury, Suffolk, when she stopped for lunch while on a coach trip to Bournemouth. He said he needed a companion
for his cruise because he was unable to read the ship’s cabin door numbers and menus. Mason said he made the offer
of a trip to the Mediterranean after sharing a table with Burrell at a crowded pub in Winchester. Within 45 minutes, Mason
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travelweekly.co.uk 7 December 2017
“We are very keen to work with agents and want to take your clients on our holidays”
2018 and mainly operates Scottish lochs and islands itineraries, is expanding its river cruising product, which includes itineraries on the Rhine and Danube. Charleson said: “The only way to
do that is to get the trade on side.” Hebridean, which offers price
parity, said staff were ready to visit agents “on request” for training and to host joint events to familiarise customers with the brand. Charleson gave out awards
took Burrell across the road to a Hays travel agent and booked an 11-night sailing on P&O Cruises’ Azura for the two of them. “My aim in life is to go on cruises,” he said. “She said ‘I’ve never done one’. I’m not forward but I grasped the opportunity. “She kept saying, ‘I can’t
believe I’m doing this’.” Mason only told his four
children when his bank phoned
in three categories on the two- day familiarisation cruise which departed Greenock for the Isle of Bute, Loch Long and Loch Goil with dozens of agents on board 50-passenger Hebridean Princess. Winner of the agent of the
year award was Cruise Select, whose owner Rachel Wright collected the award alongside her daughter Amy, who also works at the Bedford agency. Wright said: “Hebridean always support us, whether its ship visits or events. We’ve built a great relationship.” The newcomer of the year
award went to Blue Water Holidays, while the accolade for most improved sales went to the Luxury Cruise Company.
them to check the transaction. The next time Mason, who
insisted there was “no romance” involved, saw his travelling companion was when he opened the door of their shared cabin on Azura weeks later. Burrell recalled: “The lady
at the travel agency asked how long we had known each other and John said ‘well, about three-quarters of an hour’.”
HONOUR: Hebridean Island Cruises’ Ken Charleson presents the line’s agency of the year award to Cruise Select’s Rachel Wright and her daughter Amy
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