NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW 4


McAuley: No sense in merging GM and Travel 2


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


The new boss of Travel 2 and Gold Medal said it would be “commercial suicide” to merge the two brands.


Lisa McAuley, who started as managing director of B2B tour operations for dnata Travel Europe in January, said both of the dnata- owned operators had their own “loyal fan base” of agents with little crossover. Recent research carried out by


the business showed only a third of trade partners booked both Gold Medal and Travel 2, with the rest selling one or the other. “As an outsider I wondered why


you would keep the two going; why you would keep investing in two businesses,” McAuley said. “But each has its own loyal fan base of agents; each is trusted by different ones. So it wouldn’t make sense to lose one. “The relationships that our call centres have with agents are incredible – like I’ve never seen before. It’s personal.


McAuley: ‘To merge them would be commercial suicide’


“To merge them would be commercial suicide.” However, she admitted it is


not always made clear what each brand does and how they differ. McAuley said with more training and education, there could be more agents selling both brands but for different products. McAuley, who joined from


Silversea Cruises where she was UK managing director for three


years, has also set out plans to bolster Travel 2’s cruise offering by recruiting six more staff for its reservations team, launching two new brochures and is currently in talks with Clia about working more closely with the cruise body. She also revealed she is


recruiting a marketing director and plans for a new CRM system to


be installed later in the year. › Face to Face, page 12


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5


Ocean cruise growth slows to 0.5% 37%


Harry Kemble harry.kemble@travelweekly.co.uk


More Britons took an ocean cruise last year than ever before – but the rate of growth has slowed, Clia figures show.


The number of cruises taken by British and Irish holidaymakers rose to a record 1,959,000 in 2017 – up 0.5% but down markedly on the 5.6% growth recorded in 2016. Passenger numbers in the


Mediterranean, which accounted for 37% of all sailings last year, fell from 775,000 in 2016 to 728,000.


A lack of ex-UK capacity was


“an important factor” behind the drop in the region, according to Andy Harmer, Clia’s senior vice- president for membership and director for the UK and Ireland. However, he said there was a


growing appetite for more diverse itineraries and soft adventure cruises, with the figures showing a rise in passenger numbers on exploration and long-haul sailings. Cruises in Africa and the Middle


East were up almost 25%, while China was up 22%. South America and the Panama Canal also saw an increase of nearly 25%.


6 travelweekly.co.uk 8 March 2018


Mediterranean’s share of British cruise-goers


The biggest growth was recorded in Canada and New England where British and Irish cruise passenger numbers were up by a third. The Caribbean, including the Bahamas and Bermuda, saw a 3% rise. It is the third most-popular region, trailling northern Europe, which recorded an 8% rise on 2016.


Exploration-style cruises in Antarctica, the Arctic and Galapogos were up 3%. Harmer said: “The Med is still


the preferred destination for Brits but we’re seeing the British cruiser looking farther afield at long-haul and soft adventure. “Diversity is becoming the most important trend for us.” Clia expects UK ocean passenger numbers to comfortably top two million by 2020. New-to-cruise figures will be published in May and river cruise numbers will be available in the coming weeks.


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