INSIDE THIS


WEEK Contents


NEWS Hot Stories


CRUISE L


News


Special Report


News You Can Use


Mystery Shopper


6 Round-up 10 16 24 Comment 34 60 Destinations 64


Bookings down in January’s first week; Lesley Rollo to become Travelbag MD; Pop-up travel agency pulls in trailer cash; Royal plans five islands in five years; Affordable rebrands for 15th birthday


Round-up Post Office money; Cassie memorial MSC island, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean


Special Reports Face to Face: Richard Downs, Iglu Royal Caribbean plans ‘perfect’ year


Talk Back Virgin/Flybe, Joon, China visa, fax back


NEWS YOU CAN USE Product Visit USA, Enable Holidays


08 10


14 16


19 04 23


Cruise Variety Cruises, wave period deals 24 Operator Inghams, Esprit Ski, Carrier


27


FRONTLINE Comment Alison Earnshaw, WTH


A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR


Brexit vote, due as this week’s edition goes to press. The timing is hardly ideal. Talk of a no-deal Brexit and the lack of consensus on a way forward have not created the ideal backdrop for the start of the peak-selling period. But while we hope for clarity on Britain’s future relations with the EU, GfK booking data for the first full week of the year appears to indicate the political situation is having a dampening rather than decimating effect on sales (page 4). Certainly, this week’s bumper edition of Travel Weekly suggests there is plenty of life in the sector going into 2019. This Cruise Special Edition showcases a wealth of travel companies and destinations that are investing and expanding, with agency partners the key to their success. On Thursday of this week we expect to welcome


Reasons for cheer A


record numbers yet again to the annual Travel Weekly Globe Travel Awards at the Grosvenor House hotel on Park Lane, amid every sign the industry is as ready as ever to let its hair down and to celebrate the relationships that will be fundamental to suppliers and agents in the months ahead. The Globes is always a fantastic night, and this


year will be no exception. I look forward to welcoming many of you there. Those of you who can’t make it can follow


34


A Day in the Life Dino Sagani, Princess 50 Competitions Disney, Abu Dhabi F1 Mystery Shopper Sunderland


53 60


DESTINATIONS Cruise


32-page special: 2019 calendar, MSC, reviews, Danube, Singapore and packages 64


WHAT


FRONT COVER Iain Baillie, Carnival; Lauren Glenn, USAirtours; Kerry Cansdale, Travel Counsellors; Claire Titcombe, Thomas Cook; and Craig Campbell, Travel 2 PHOTO: STEVE DUNLOP


Short Breaks Bauhaus Germany: A tale of three cities 102 Belgrade: Serbia capital transformed Shopping: Six of the best cities


107 111


BUSINESS


Aviation Germania, Air France, Jet Airways 118 Flybe Virgin part of takeover consortium 120


LUCY DID THIS WEEK


JAN 17 1


2 3


Lucy Huxley Editor-in-chief


@Lucy_Huxley


Had my first meeting with Abta about this year’s Travel Convention in Tokyo. Plans for the event already sounding amazing.


Was delighted to once again attend the Crystal Travel ‘Beat the January Blues’ lunch and hear about its impressive growth.


Had a blast with my daughter at the roller disco on her new Christmas skates – and taught her how to do forward crossovers!


17 January 2019travelweekly.co.uk3


events from Grosvenor House on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook Live, and check out travelweekly.co.uk for a full list of winners.


s I write this on Tuesday, televisions around the Travel Weekly office are showing the build-up to the


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