NEWS ROUND-UP NEWS IN BRIEF
TV star Jerry Springer to be Advantage keynote speaker
American TV presenter Jerry Springer will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Advantage Travel Partnership Conference in Miami. The host and former politician and mayor will speak about how his career has helped him learn to communicate effectively, which is the overarching theme of the consortium’s conference. The Next Chapter: Miami Advice-themed event takes place on May 10-13.
Joel quits Caribtours to join Scenic and Emerald
Scenic and Emerald Waterways has appointed Danny Joel as sales manager south. Joel joins from Caribtours where he was trade sales manager. He has previously worked for Cadogan Holidays, Sandals and Beaches, and Club Med. › News You Can Use, page 24
Regent recruits Lewis to increase sales in the south
Georgia Lewis has joined Regent Seven Seas Cruises as regional sales executive, moving from sister brand Travelsphere and singles holiday specialist Just You. Lewis will work with the luxury line’s business development team to boost sales in Birmingham and the south.
Travel Weekly clarification
In a feature focusing on travel companies’ turn-of-year advertising campaigns, an out-of-date advertisement for Shearings Holidays was reviewed in error (Travel Weekly, January 4). Instead of the company’s 2018 advert – featuring its new ‘This is’ tagline – an advert from 2017 was reviewed, negatively impacting the score given by the independent reviewer. Travel Weekly apologises to Shearings for the error.
Abta calls on MoJ to close claims loophole before peak season
Abta is calling on the government to implement its plans to close a loophole that allows claims firms to cash in on holiday sickness claims, ahead of the peak 2018 season. Last July, a month after Travel
Weekly’s Fight Fake Claims and Abta’s Stop Sickness Scams
8
travelweekly.co.uk 11 January 2018
campaigns both launched, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it was addressing the issue. But with only one window left
this April to make changes to the loophole before the peak season, Abta is upping the pressure on the MoJ to bring personal injury claims made abroad in line with those made in the UK to limit the costs that claims management firms can charge. The results of a new YouGov survey commissioned by Abta
suggest 19% of Brits, which equates to about 9.5 million people, have been contacted by firms asking them to make claims. Chief executive Mark Tanzer
said: “False claims don’t just make UK holidaymakers vulnerable to serious penalties – they’re also costing travel companies and hotel owners tens of millions of pounds and tarnishing the reputation of the British abroad.”
COMMENT: “Cruise is setting the pace for the whole travel industry in terms of investment, creativity and growth potential” Andy Harmer, page 34
Azamara Pursuit’s maiden voyage switches to the UK
Harry Kemble
harry.kemble@
travelweekly.co.uk
Azamara Club Cruises’ new ship Pursuit will now sail from Southampton on its maiden voyage, rather than Barcelona.
The vessel, currently P&O Cruises’ Adonia, will undergo a refit at Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff this spring before sailing from Southampton to Norway on August 1. Last November, Azamara announced that Pursuit’s maiden voyage would depart Barcelona before sailing to Southampton. The upmarket line said guests
who had bought cabins on Pursuit’s two-night Barcelona to
Southampton voyage had been notified about the change. It said the number of guests affected was “not large”. Passengers have the option of
switching to the Norway-bound cruise for free or moving to a select number of other sailings at no cost. President and chief executive
Larry Pimentel decided to make Pursuit, Azamara’s third ship, a
“UK-orientated project” following “unprecedented support” from the
Adonia will be transformed into Azamara Pursuit
L
CRUISE
UK market and travel trade. Pimentel said: “We’ve seen
double the UK demand for Azamara Pursuit than we usually
see for its sister ships, so this is a really exciting time for us. “When I got Pursuit, I said I
wanted it to be christened in the UK. [Others at Azamara] said ‘No, we want it to be in New York’, but I said we are going to figure out how we can do it here.” Managing director Richard
Twynam said: “Last year was a record year in the UK market, with business growing by 30%.”
Pursuit’s first four voyages will
all call in the UK after its launch from Southampton in August. The ship will sail to eight Norwegian destinations on its maiden voyage, including Kristiansand, Flam and Haugesund with overnight stays in
Oslo and Bergen. Pursuit will depart Southampton
for an Iceland-intensive voyage on August 13, before a special christening voyage on August 28. On August 30 the ship will then
depart Southampton on a 13-night Wine & Romance voyage to Spain and Portugal.
S
N
P
O
E
C
T
I
D
A
E
I
I
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112