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Clia extols cruise safety after Brit falls from ship


Harry Kemble harry.kemble@travelweekly.co.uk


No one acting responsibly has ever fallen off a cruise ship, according to the boss of the cruise industry body.


Defending the safety of cruising


on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, after a woman fell off a ship into the Adriatic and was rescued 10 hours later, Clia UK & Ireland director Andy Harmer said the industry had an excellent safety record. He said incidences of people falling overboard were “incredibly rare”.


Pressed by presenters Jeremy


Kyle and Kate Garraway on whether it was safe to cruise, Harmer said: “One of the reasons why record numbers of Brits now cruise is because these ships are amazing. Safety and security are at the centre of everything we do. “There have been no known


cases of someone acting responsibly who has accidentally fallen over a cruise ship railing. “Two million Brits took a cruise


last year and had a very safe and enjoyable holiday.” Only one in seven million cruise passengers go overboard, according to Clia.


Andy Harmer (right) on Good Morning Britain


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Flight attendant Kay Longstaff


was sailing on Norwegian Star as it travelled from Vargarola, in Croatia, to Venice on Saturday when she went overboard from the aft of the ship. Details surrounding how she fell


were unclear. Harmer said: “If there is a


[person overboard] incident – and they are incredibly rare – we will want to find out what happened, to make any adjustments to safety.”


Longstaff said she was “lucky to


be alive” after being pulled from the water about 60 miles offshore. Cruise specialist agent Caroline


Jenkins of Travel Counsellors, who boarded Norwegian Star in Venice on Sunday, said: “I have taken my children and family on cruises and never have doubts about safety.” Clia posted a statement on its


website to help agents allay any fears customers might have about the safety of cruising.


5 Hays expands in Norfolk and north


Juliet Dennis juliet.dennis@travelweekly.co.uk


Hays Travel has bought a two-branch agency in Norfolk and is poised to add nine new shops in the north of England by Christmas.


Hays now has five branches


in Norfolk after snapping up former Hays Travel IG member Independence Travel’s two shops for an undisclosed sum. The two shops take Hays’ current nationwide branch total to 170.


The group’s first two new stores


in the north will open in Hull city centre in mid-September and in Leeds’ Merrion Centre at the start of October. The locations of seven further


sites in the north have not yet been revealed. Hays is also exploring a number


of further acquisitions and openings in Norfolk. The seven staff at the former Independence Travel stores in Downham Market and Fakenham, including the previous owner, are being kept on. A further eight


6 travelweekly.co.uk 23 August 2018


employees are being recruited. The shops will be rebranded


Hays Travel this month. Hays Travel retail and training


director Jane Schumm said: “The shops were understaffed for the Hays model, and we want to take on apprentices as well as dedicated foreign-exchange consultants.” Schumm said eight to 10


branches would be an “optimal number” for a region but would not give exact numbers in the pipeline for Norfolk, where it opened its first two shops last year.


She added: “If we can get to


double figures, that would be good.” Hays is recruiting for about 10


staff for the Hull and Leeds stores. Schumm said Hays would consider opportunities nationwide, including areas where it does not currently trade, but stressed its focus was to secure the right locations in its “key areas”. Meanwhile, the former 3D


Travel, which Hays bought in 2016, is moving to larger premises in Crewe and is recruiting for four additional staff.


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