Agents urged to sign up to be stem cell donors
Samantha Mayling
A Travel Counsellors homeworker has urged fellow agents to register as stem cell donors following his life-saving cell transplant from his younger brother. Dean Wilson was diagnosed
with acute myeloid leukaemia in August 2020 and had the transplant on July 15, 2021. He said he was “incredibly lucky”
to be a close match with his brother Danny and is now campaigning to get more people registered to offer more chances for others to find a match. “The more people on the lists, the
better the chance not just of finding a match, but of finding a good match – and the better the match, the better the outcome for the patient,” he said. Since his transplant, he has
supported two blood cancer charities – Anthony Nolan and DKMS. He competed for Team Anthony Nolan at the British Transplant Games – in badminton alongside Danny, and archery. He also won table tennis medals in 2023 and 2025. Wilson said he and his brother
will return to the transplant games in Sheffield in August, hoping for another medal. In April 2025, he ran the London Marathon for Anthony Nolan, raising
more than £5,000 and marking a return to full health. “That felt like a huge personal milestone,” he said. “Now, my focus is on encouraging
as many people as possible to join stem cell donor registers.” He said Travel Counsellors had
been “incredibly supportive” of his drive to get people to take swabs in their cheeks and sign up. DKMS, the world’s largest stem
cell donor register, was at the Travel Counsellors conference in Liverpool in November to swab agents, their partners, head office staff and suppliers. This was followed by an event at the agency’s head office in Manchester. In total, the two events added nearly
New Dertour UK boss stresses commitment to travel agents
The new joint chief executive of Dertour UK has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to working with travel agents. Ben Boesch, who started his role in January, said: “We love the trade and we invest a lot [in] education, training and immersions.” Boesch also hailed the group’s diverse portfolio, which he said helped it to repatriate clients amid the Middle East conflict.
8 26 MARCH 2026
200 people to the DKMS register. “Knowing that those registrations
could go on to save lives is something I’m immensely proud of,” said Wilson. “I’d love to encourage as many
people as possible to request a home swab kit and consider joining the stem cell register – it can save lives.” Wilson hailed the support of his
wife, family and Travel Counsellors during his illness and recovery – helping him to a record year in 2025 in which he regained Gold status.
Join the stem cell register:
dkms.org.uk/travelcounsellors
Dean Wilson, who last year raised £5k running the London Marathon for the Anthony Nolan charity (inset)
NCL to pay agents commission on all parts of cruise fare
Norwegian Cruise Line has removed non-commissionable fares (NCFs) from its pricing for the UK market. NCFs typically include elements
such as port charges, government taxes and other optional fees. From April 1, agents will earn
the additional commission on new bookings for departures after May 1, which could equate to between 1.5% and 2% extra earnings for trade partners depending on the value of the booking. The move comes after the line
eliminated NCFs in other markets, including the US and Canada, for bookings made from December 26, 2025, for departures after May 1. Previously, NCL temporarily
paid UK agents commission on non-commissionable parts of fares in 2023 subject to marketing plans being submitted to the line’s sales support team and departures being further than 120 days out. During this year’s wave period,
NCL offered the UK trade 2% bonus commission, in addition to bringing back its ‘Freedom at Sea’ package for 2027-28 sailings. Gary Anslow, NCL vice-president
and head of UK and Ireland, said: “From April 1, to cement our ‘Partners First’ approach, we will remove NCFs for bookings departing [from] May 1. “This change signifies our commitment to agents.”
Celestyal hails trade for help with repatriating passengers
The chief commercial officer of Celestyal has said the Gulf crisis, which has stranded its two cruise ships in the region, shows the “strength” of booking through an agent. Lee Haslett also praised the industry for helping to repatriate passengers after the Iran war broke out, and said Celestyal would “build back stronger”.
Royal switches to larger ship for ex-Southampton cruises in 2027
Royal Caribbean is to replace Mariner of the Seas with larger ship Freedom of the Seas for
its summer 2027 season from Southampton. Freedom was last refurbished in 2020 and can
hold 3,926 passengers, compared with 3,344 on Mariner, which was set to make its Southampton debut. Full details of Freedom’s ex-UK schedule will be revealed at a later date.
travelweekly.co.uk
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