NEWS THE TRAVEL CONVENTION 2017
Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation
Industry experts discuss travel’s ‘Hottest
Trends’ in a debate moderated by Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley (left)
Tucker: Norwegian Air on cusp of too rapid growth
The UK sales boss of Norwegian Air has admitted the airline is on the edge of growing too fast.
The low-cost airline has 220
aircraft on order and is poised to add several routes to Asia. Nineteen new planes were delivered this year. Dominic Tucker, head of sales
for the UK and Ireland, said Norwegian was reviewing its short-haul capacity and confirmed none of its new aircraft would be used on short-haul routes. Asked during an interview on
stage at Abta’s Travel Convention if he was concerned Norwegian was
“We are less Brexit- challenged than Ryanair. We’ve been in profit for 10 years and have strong cashflow”
growing too quickly, he responded: “We are on the cusp.” But he rejected suggestions the carrier’s aircraft weren’t full, claiming the airline’s load factors were 85% on short-haul flights and 96% on its long-haul network. Tucker said Brexit had had
little impact on Norwegian. Rebutting Ryanair boss Michael
O’Leary’s recent suggestion that Norwegian was “less financially secure and Brexit-challenged”, Tucker said: “We are less Brexit-challenged than Ryanair. We have been profitable for 10 years and have strong cashflow.” However, he said Norwegian
would always be open to having talks with rival Ryanair about partnering “where it will match its network”. Norwegian will focus less on
price and more on aspirational customers in its marketing as it strives to be a “big player”, Tucker added. Currently, Norwegian is 80%
Dominic Tucker, Norwegian Air
sold through direct channels but Tucker said the airline had received a lot of support from specialist agents. Around 100 agents have net fare agreements. Commenting on Monarch’s collapse, Tucker questioned why the government could not use cash raised from APD to pay for the repatriation of Monarch customers.
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travelweekly.co.uk 19 October 2017
Multigenerational bookings make up fifth of line’s sales
Multigenerational holidays are “big business” for Royal Caribbean International, making up 20% of the line’s bookings.
Ben Bouldin, associate
vice-president and managing director for the UK and Ireland, said most of the growth derived from existing customers taking more family members with them, but of that group, 32% were new to cruise. To reflect the growing “3G” [three-generational] market, Royal is introducing an Ultimate Family Suite – complete with a slide from the children’s bedroom to the living room below – on new ship Symphony of the Seas. Images of the new cabin were shown to Abta attendees during a panel debate on the ‘hottest trends’ in travel. Solo travel and touring and
adventure were also identified as key trends that agents should be capitalising on. G Adventures managing
director Brian Young said touring and adventure was growing fast and agents were “trying to catch up”.
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