Upturn boosted by the ‘sod it factor’ A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Travel agents have become used to false dawns over the past two years, but conversations with business owners this week suggest they can finally see a route to recovery (page 5). Miles Morgan sums up the past 22 months neatly in his Travel Weekly column this week, comparing the pandemic to a rollercoaster ride that has never stopped to allow agents to catch their breath (page 14). But like others charged with plotting a path out of the crisis, Miles senses a combination of political will to find ways to live with Covid and customers’ desire to get away offers hope that the rollercoaster might finally be slowing. Reports of booking bonanzas in the national media at the weekend can be taken with a healthy pinch of salt, of course, with agents and
operators still seeking meaningful income that will take months or even years to materialise. Yet there seems to be a consensus that last week’s relaxation of emergency restrictions has loosened the handbrake on consumer confidence not only for summer bookings but also for those invaluable short-term departures that offer much-needed balance payments in the near future. Like most industries, travel is full of terminology, acronyms and buzzwords that would
make little sense to the uninitiated, but one phrase that came to the fore this week needs little explanation.While many customers remain cautious, there are plenty who are unwilling to keep putting off the bookings that brought them so much hope and joy in better times. It may not be the most academic description, but long live the ‘sod it factor’.
Lucy Huxley, editor-in-chief, Travel Weekly Group CONTENTS NEWS
Sixty not out Barrhead Travel’s Roddie
MacPhee looks back on six decades of working in the Scottish travel industry page 32
Agents switch-sell to maintain bookings 4 Leaders want ‘proper plan’ at review 4 Trade demands clarity from government 5 Abta trust accounts; Clia reassures lines 6 Goldtrail claims; Scarlet Lady; movers 8 The Interview: Phil Hullah makes customer contact a priority for Riviera Travel 12
Comment: Miles Morgan on test boost 14 In the Picture: TW Insight report launch 16
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Adriatic Holidays, If Only, Gold Medal 21 Royal, Saga, Azamara, Celestyal
Great Little Breaks, Santa’s Lapland 24 Classic Collection Holidays
FRONTLINE agent diary
THE QUEEN’S AWARDS FOR ENTERPRISE:
INTERNATIONAL TRADE 2020
COVER AND PAGE 3 PICTURES: Shutterstock/NadyaEugene, Marcin Kaczmarczyk, leoks, cybrain; Bahamas Ministry of Tourism/Andre Musgrove
travelweekly.co.uk
Kim Kent: Rollercoaster ride continues 28 Your Stories Roddie MacPhee clocks up 60 years 32
FOLLOW US: @travelweekly
22 27
WHAT LUCY DID THIS WEEK
OSpoke to Jet2holidays chief executive Steve Heapy after the announcement that testing requirements were being relaxed. He said it was a step in the right direction but wants more.
OInterviewed the new director general of Clia Europe, Marie- Caroline Laurent, about the outlook for cruising and the sector’s continued safe resumption.
OSaw my son off to school for two weeks of mock GCSEs. Stressful times!
competitions
Emirates, Travelopia, Jersey, Qatar 36 Get Social Net zero, Not Just Travel, test changes 39
DESTINATIONS caribbean
Bahamas: Virgin Atlantic’s new Heathrow service to Nassau increases access to all the islands of this
idyllic winter-sun destination 40
Barbados: Snapshot of new republic 47 Greece & cyprus
Paphos: Be a pillar of wisdom and point clients seeking short-haul sun and history to this port town 48
BUSINESS NEWS
Tui seals settlement with terror claimants 54 Background: inquest into 2015 attack 54 European air recovery ‘will continue’ 55 Passenger numbers ‘to lag capacity’ 55 Abta to review services and subs fees 56
travelweeklyuk @travelweeklyuk 13 JANUARY 2022 3
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