5 2


Richard Singer will start as managing director of Monarch Holidays in October


3 STORIES HOT


MSC claims trade offers ‘negate’ its direct-sell credit


Singer pledges to unite Monarch


Amie Keeley amie.keeley@travelweekly.co.uk


The new Monarch Holidays boss said uniting the group’s airline and operator businesses will be crucial to the operator’s success.


Richard Singer was appointed


as managing director on Monday, succeeding Richard Francis who is moving to the role of deputy chief financial officer at Monarch Group. Singer was previously president


for Europe at deals publisher Travelzoo, where he worked for five years. He will take up his new role on October 10. Speaking exclusively to Travel


Weekly, Singer said: “I’ll be looking at how the airline and holidays divisions can work in a way to benefit Monarch Group as a whole. That relationship between the two divisions is going to be important to its success.” He said he had been given


“big number targets”, one of which was to increase the number of Monarch Holidays customers on Monarch aircraft. “I have to understand which rates


are working and match the right product and look at the distribution


of those seats,” Singer added. “The trade will play a big part.” Singer said Monarch Group chief


executive Andrew Swaffield was “one of the most respected CEOs”. He added: “Over the last few


days I have noticed how supportive and how much affection partners, colleagues and employees have for the Monarch brand. It makes me feel quite privileged to work here. People want Monarch to be successful. If I can play a part, I would be very proud to do that.” Monarch has also appointed


Richard Jewsbury to the new role of chief corporate development officer of Monarch Group. The appointments came


after Monarch revealed it was “reviewing the current business model” in its latest accounts. Asked whether he thought


Monarch could eventually be put up for sale, Singer said: “That might be the case for the future. Anything could happen. It’s trading in a tough environment. “But challenging times create an


entrepreneurial mindset. It’s very risky, but it creates an exciting opportunity for whatever the


future might hold.” › Talk Back, page 17


17 August 2017 travelweekly.co.uk 5


Lucy Huxley lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk


MSC Cruises has defended a promotion that offers £100 onboard credit for direct bookings, insisting it has given added-value offers to agents to enable them to compete.


Agents criticised the offer, saying


it put the trade at a disadvantage. MSC confirmed the mailer had


been sent to consumers who had never booked through the trade. It insisted it had other offers for


agents that “negated” the onboard credit offer, including back-end overrides, free Wi-Fi, regional coach transfers and group discounts. Steve Williams, MSC’s sales


director for the UK and Ireland, said agencies had different deals in place depending on “what works best for their customers”. He said: “We are a trade-focused


organisation and make huge investments every year in the trade to ensure that agents continue to


MSC says agents’ commercial deals with the line vary


be the driving force behind our rapidly growing business. “We pride ourselves on a


personal approach. It allows us to be flexible with our groups policy, commercials and consumer offerings, and means our agents can have a tailored package to allow them to be competitive in the market in a way that suits their own business needs.” Williams added that some


agents may be members of a consortium that has a commercial deal with MSC negotiated centrally of which they may not be aware. And he promised that if agents


believed they really had no way of matching direct deals, they should contact him personally. “At MSC, our door is always


open, and I would welcome any agent to give me, or their account manager, a call to discuss their individual proposition,” he said. “Our local approach allows us


to make changes, be adaptable and treat each agent individually, something we pride ourselves on.”


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