NEWS ROUND-UP
Agency owner lodges complaint over ARG grant
The owner of Best Destinations has issued a formal complaint to his local council in Lancashire after he was offered a “laughable” £390 Additional Restrictions Grant (Travel Weekly, November 4). Jon Haworth has also submitted
a Freedom of Information request to Hyndburn Borough Council to understand why the Accrington agency received so little. He says he was not allowed to
appeal the sum. His letter, seen by Travel Weekly,
says Best Destinations has lost £150,000 in commission and refunded customers more than £1 million since March 2020. The agency expects to earn £10,000 in commission in the next four months, but Haworth pointed out: “We do not get paid until the customer travels and we’ve not got a massive number of customers booked [this winter].” Abta has been urging travel
agencies to apply for ARGs and flagged last month that there was £300 million of unclaimed support for local businesses in council coffers. Public data shows Hyndburn Borough Council has £413,323 available to give to local businesses.
Jon Haworth
Cruise agents seal sales worth £220k and £160k
Harry Kemble
Two cruise agency specialists have made the biggest bookings of their careers – worth a combined £380,000. The Cruise Room director
Jonathan Howitt and homeworker Jason Peters, part of The Travel Village Group, are the first UK agents to book upcoming round-the- world cruises with Royal Caribbean International and Azamara. Howitt booked a new-to-cruise
family-of-four on Royal’s 274-night 2023-24 Ultimate World Cruise last week for about £220,000. It is the biggest single booking Howitt has made in his 40-year travel career. The Cruise Room, which opened
in Wirral in June, was contacted by one of its Facebook followers who knew a family keen to take their first cruise. The agency’s director, Robbie
O’Grady, said the family had done “a bit of research” but he initially believed “it was never going to happen” because “it’s such a huge commitment and such a huge amount of money if you’ve not cruised before”. He expects to put in “a lot of
work” before the family departs on the Serenade of the Seas sailing from Miami on December 10, 2023,
CAA urges holidaymakers to
redeem £132m worth of RCNs The CAA is advising holidaymakers issued with refund credit notes (RCNs) during Covid to redeem their credit by September 30, 2022. Unspent Atol-protected RCNs totalled £132 million as at November 17. From midnight on December 19, Atol-holders will no longer be able to issue Atol- protected RCNs for holidays cancelled due to Covid. RCNs were issued from March 10, 2020.
8 25 NOVEMBER 2021
Jonathan Howitt
Jason Peters
adding: “We’re not just going to send them the tickets.” Reflecting on the decision to
launch The Cruise Room during the pandemic, O’Grady said: “We’ve seen enough interest, bookings and support to justify [the decision]. A booking like this makes it all feel worthwhile.” Peters, who has sailed on
167 cruises, made two £80,000 bookings for Azamara’s 2024 World Cruise last Friday. He joined The Travel Village
Group in January 2020 amid fears his own 15-year-old agency business would not survive the pandemic. Of his Azamara booking, Peters
Government supports London flights to Dundee and Newquay
The government is to provide up to £4.3 million to fund direct flights from London to Dundee and Newquay. Up to £2.5 million will help fund Loganair services between London City and Dundee until 2023, while Cornwall Council will receive up to £1.8 million over two years to run flights between Gatwick to Newquay.
said he and The Travel Village were set to earn a “very nice” amount of commission. His previous highest-value booking was worth about £50,000. “I’m obviously delighted,” said
the Brighton-based agent. “We’re all happy chappies.” Owner Phil Nuttall said Peters
was “engaged” with Azamara and knew how to promote “niche products” to customers. Referring to the attraction
of world cruises, Nuttall said: “Customers realise how precious time is and they want to see the world. Lockdowns have brought that forward.”
Dobson honoured as Scotland’s Inspirational Woman of the Year
Barrhead Travel president Jacqueline Dobson has been named Scotland’s Inspirational Woman of the Year. Dobson was commended for her advocacy work representing the Scottish travel industry, her commitment to her colleagues and her leadership within the Glasgow business community in the annual Business Women Scotland award.
travelweekly.co.uk
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