INSIDE THIS
WEEK Contents
NEWS Hot Stories
On the Beach buys Classic Collection; P&O to axe service charges from May; Kent agency secures ‘£4m booking’; Clia boss defends cruise ship safety; Hays expands in Norfolk and the north
Round-up WIN!
Sinitta backs Idle; Eden Luxury eyes south 08 Swaffield joins Virgin; Devon indie opens 10
A music toolkit to host in-store events, courtesy of Brand USA page 40
Special Report
AWTE media tie-up and awards shortlist Talk Back
Agents ‘help in bad times’; On the Beach purchase; Corfu rubbish; TS funding
NEWS YOU CAN USE Product Simply Luxury, Great Rail
Operator Premier Holidays, Funway 12 17 04 21 23 Cruise Princess, Shearings, G Adventures 25
FRONTLINE Comment Steve Dunne: Brand tie-ups
A Day With... C The World, Bath A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On the Beach’s shrewd move W
hen the UK’s largest independent OTA, On the Beach, bought Classic Collection this week, more than a few
eyebrows were raised, as it had previously only ever bought another established OTA, Sunshine Holidays. So what does it want with a traditional, high-touch luxury operator? The move gives On the Beach access to the retail
network built up by Classic Collection, so it can offer them mainstream, short-haul product, as a package with an opaque price, and pay them commission to sell it (page 4). This should appeal to those agents who previously
wouldn’t have been happy selling On the Beach’s components without taking on the liabilities of a tour operator or travel organiser (Toms etc). So the new business, Classic Online, harnessing On the
Beach’s slick technology, will become the ‘safe’ package organiser for these loyal Classic Collection agents. Quite clever, really. Meanwhile, it was reported this week that travel agency
insolvencies had fallen in the past year. It’s a claim endorsed by a leading accountant, who said there were three reasons for fewer failures. First, regulations have toughened up dramatically, with the
CAA and Abta now monitoring agencies far more closely. Second, by extension, it has become so expensive to set up in travel, there are fewer entrants, and those that do try, do so through accredited bodies that vet and do more-stringent checks before taking people on. And third, by virtue of points one and two,
32 34
Spotlight Ken Garrity: 50 years in travel 38 Mystery Shopper Scarborough
42 DESTINATIONS
Canada Ottawa: Fireworks fly on Canada Day
44
Nova Scotia: History beyond Cabot Trail 51 Short Breaks
COVER STARS Enter our 2019 competition and you could be off to Miami for an NCL cruise to the Bahamas!
page 14 Belgium: Bruges, Ghent, Liège, Antwerp 54 BUSINESS
Interview: On the Beach’s Simon Cooper says Classic Collection is ‘perfect fit’
62
Abta 2018 Preview: Retail expert Sofia Natal sees future role for ‘human factor’ 64
WHAT
LUCY DID THISWEEK
Aug 23 1
2 3
Had a good chat with Classic Collection owner and MD Nick Munday about his sale to On the Beach. Congratulations, Nick and team.
Wrote my godmother’s speech ahead of next week’s christening of Azamara Pursuit in Southampton.
Watched my daughter and nieces in their stableyard’s summer horse show – all of them won rosettes!
23 August 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 3
Lucy Huxley Editor-in-chief @Lucy_Huxley
there are far fewer ‘Wild West cowboys’ operating in travel these days, which slowly but surely, means the number of collapses is dropping.
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