NEWS ROUND-UP
COMMENT: “It’s down to travel agents to listen, understand and not only meet expectations, but exceed them” Gordon McCreadie, page 36
Not Just Travel aims to double sales this year
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@
travelweekly.co.uk
Homeworking travel agency Not Just Travel is targeting closer ties with suppliers amid plans to double in size this year.
The company, one of the
largest members of Hays Travel Independence Group, held its first Partners Day at the Radisson Blu hotel in Heathrow last week. It was attended by about 80 companies, including operators, hoteliers and tourist boards. The event outlined ways suppliers could work better with its 400-plus homeworkers. Co-founder and managing
director Steve Witt said the company aimed to double sales revenue this year and recruit a further 200 homeworkers. His long-term goal is to reach
1,000 agents by 2020. Part of this will be achieved by
forging a better understanding with suppliers and encouraging them to partner with the agency through an incentive scheme, live streaming of industry updates and sales training for agents, webinars, trips and training events.
Azamara boss wants to buy R-class ship Pacific Princess
The boss of Azamara Club Cruises has openly expressed his desire to buy Pacific Princess. Larry Pimentel said Princess Cruises was aware of his interest in the R-class ship even though he had not spoken directly to the line. Princess said the ship is scheduled to carry its
passengers until September 2020. Pimentel said: “It’s not a secret to anybody that has an R-class ship that I am quite happy to take it.” There are seven other R-class ships currently in service.
8travelweekly.co.uk24 January 2019
NEWS IN BRIEF
Royal ups commission by 3% as ‘thank you’ to agents
Royal Caribbean International has increased commission by 3% until February 5 for agents in the UK and Ireland. The bonus is “a thank you” for trade support for winning Best Trade-Friendly Brand at the Globe Travel Awards last week. It will apply on all 2019 sailings booked from January 24.
Docherty joins Travelsphere and Just You sales team
Sister brands Travelsphere and Just You have announced that Princess Cruises’ John Docherty will be joining as key account manager for Scotland and Northern Ireland on February 11.
NOT JUST TRAVEL: Its Partners Day last week followed its conference in November, attended by brand ambassador Daley Thompson
Witt said: “Two years ago we
were banging on the doors of these suppliers and they didn’t know us from Adam; now it’s the other way round and we want to thank them for supporting us. “About 95% of our homeworkers
have never worked in travel before. Suppliers are used to working with agents with travel experience and make assumptions our agents know how to sell their product. We have given them pointers. We don’t want their standard presentation; we have created templates on the
best way to educate our agents.” Suppliers have been invited to
some of the agency’s 10 training events this year and to get involved in live streaming events. The impact of supplier incentives will be carefully measured as part of targeted campaigns, said Witt. “Every event will have a campaign linked to it so we can track and demonstrate to suppliers our results,” he added. Not Just Travel has also launched
a revamped website with improved content, including videos.
Azamara owns three of the vessels and Oceania Cruises operates the other four. “The world is a big place and I would be happy to have the fourth [R-class] ship very quickly,” he said. In August, Azamara launched
its third vessel, Azamara Pursuit, after buying it from P&O Cruises. At a media briefing last
week, Pimentel also said he was concerned about the “dangerous” number of luxury ships currently on order.
Manchester airport opens private terminal PremiAir
Manchester airport is to open a private terminal offering speedy boarding, dedicated passport control, a lounge and private transfers direct to their flights by mid-2019. PremiAir will be the first private terminal in the UK and cost £50 to passengers in any class of travel and to any destination.
Tui customers fined £7,500 for fake sickness claim
A couple who posted a rave review on TripAdvisor and then claimed to be ill on the same Tui holiday 10 months later have been fined £7,500. Tanya and Kieran Tuson, both 36, of Andover, Hampshire, stayed all-inclusive at Jaz Mirabel Park Hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in August 2015.
Tauck to make Douro debut with new ship Andorinha
Tour operator and river cruise line Tauck is to sail a new ship on Portugal’s Douro river from spring 2020. The line will offer three itineraries on 84-passenger Andorinha – the first ship Tauck will have operated on the Douro.
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