INSIDE THIS
WEEK Contents
NEWS Hot Stories
Disabled travel market is ‘untapped’; Abta: PTR phone requirements ‘ridiculous’; AAAs honour travel industry’s finest; If Only reveals expansion plans; Agents warned of air ticketing scam
WIN!
Round-up Balcony risk, Titan Travel, Attraction World 08 Bspoke, Hays Travel North West
A luxury holiday at the One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius page 36
04 10
Special Reports Azamara’s boss endorses private islands 12 Agent Achievement Awards 2018 Atas conference date revealed
14 16
Talk Back P&O Cruises, carbon emissions, Ryanair 19
NEWS YOU CAN USE Product Intrepid, Sandals and Beaches 21
Operator InsideJapan, Cook, Jetset 24 Cruise Silversea, Celebrity, CroisiEurope 26
FRONTLINE Comment Debbie Marshall: Silver Travel 28
Readers’ Lives Rachael Quinton Mystery Shopper Middlesbrough
8
FRONT COVER From left: Miles Morgan, Miles Morgan Travel; Sandra Corkin, Oasis Travel; Nick Marks, Baldwins Travel; Phil Nuttall, The Cruise Village; and Julie Kendrick, Midcounties Co-operative Travel
DESTINATIONS Hotels
Bahamas: What’s new on Paradise Island? 43 Thailand: The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui
48
Latin America Buenos Aires: 48hrs in Argentine capital 52
BUSINESS
Round-up Air insolvency report; Ryanair 62 UKHospitality Conference highlights
63 Brexit Whitehall launches white paper 64 WHAT
LUCY DID THISWEEK
19 Jul 1
2 3
32 40
Lucy Huxley Editor-in-chief @Lucy_Huxley
Had a fantastic lunch with APT global sales boss Debra Fox and UK managing director Paul Melinis – which luckily fell on my birthday!
Was privileged to co-host an amazing night at the Agent Achievement Awards with London comedian Rob Beckett.
Attended my son’s end of year music concert to listen to an awesome (and very loud!) Year 7 ‘School of Rock’ medley.
19 July 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 3
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR It’s time for industry to act W
ith 19% of the UK population having a disability, it seems inconceivable that most of you won’t have
been asked to check the accessibility of hotels or assistance on flights or at airports at some point for a client. It’s a big market which, aside from a few companies that
are starting to take it seriously, and a handful of specialists, is largely being poorly served (page 4). I have first-hand experience of that having travelled with a friend in a wheelchair, who suffered from motor neurone disease, with really mixed experiences. Whether the driver is moral or increasingly commercial (and there’s nothing wrong with that), isn’t it time the industry as a whole sharpened up on how it deals with customers in the disabled holiday market?
Agent Achievement Awards Last week, I had the honour of co-presenting our annual Agent Achievement Awards (pages 5 and 14) with comedian Rob Beckett, supported by a host of stars including 90s pop legend Chesney Hawkes, 2018 Britain’s Got Talent finalist Maddox the magician and top UK party band Madhen. The AAAs, which have been running for more than 20
years, are the biggest event recognising agents across the UK and the most credible and coveted trade awards in the industry. Some agents retained their titles, some picked up trophies for the first time and some had multiple wins on the night. Many announcements prompted looks of total shock and tears of joy. One winner was crying as he took to the stage. He hugged me and told me the award had “made my entire life”. What a privilege to be part of such an occasion
and congratulations to all our hugely worthy winners and finalists.
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