NEWS ROUND-UP
COMMENT: “Businesses need to be ready by July 1, so if you’ve not started looking at this, get cracking” Simon Bunce, page 30
IN THE PICTURE: Tat’s (not for) life!
Arnold Donald, Carnival Corporation’s president and chief executive, raised eyebrows at Clia’s Cruise360 conference – but not for what he said on stage. Donald, one of the keynote speakers at the three-day event
in Fort Lauderdale, US, was pictured with a ‘Travel Agents Rock’ tattoo on his chest. In a picture posted on Twitter, Donald can be seen smiling
with his shirt unbuttoned so the inking could clearly be seen. Adolfo Perez, Carnival Cruise Line’s vice-president of
sales and trade marketing, had the same three-inch logo tattooed permanently on his left arm in front of 150 agents at last year’s Agentpalooza event in New Orleans. However, Donald’s effort is unlikely to cause quite as
much of a stir after Carnival Cruise Line confirmed to Travel Weekly it was a temporary tattoo.
The Travel Network Group reports 87% ‘satisfaction’
Lee Hayhurst
lee.hayhurst@travelweekly.co.uk
Members of The Travel Network Group are increasingly satisfied with the consortium, according to independent research.
The parent of Worldchoice,
the Travel Trust Association and Independent Travel Experts has subjected itself to an annual survey by the Institute of Customer Service (ICS) since 2015. This year agent members gave
the group a customer satisfaction index (CSI) of 87.5, up from 83.9 last year and 76.1 in its 2015 audit. The survey quizzed 200 members. The average CSI for UK
organisations was 78.1 and in tourism it was 80.7. ICS considers scores above 80 as “world class”. Gary Lewis, chief executive of
the group, said the consortium had targeted a CSI of 85. “To smash that was fantastic,” he said. “We still have challenges, but this is an independently validated benchmark about how our members are feeling about us.
ON YOUR MARKS: Institute of Customer Service chief executive Jo Causon (fourth right) presents Gary Lewis (right) and colleagues with a ‘service mark’ accreditation at the group’s conference last year
“If we can do it for ourselves, we can help our members make that mindset change to obsess about putting their customers at the centre of everything they do. Our members are already doing a lot to look after and retain customers, but getting that extra 10% out of everyone can make a huge impact.” The CSI benchmarking will be used in member training sessions in
10
travelweekly.co.uk 26 April 2018
London on June 12 and Manchester on June 13 and to market the group to potential members. Lewis said: “The only differen-
tiator we have to our competitors is our people, our mindset and the breadth of services we offer.” He added the group was “now a
totally different organisation” to the one formed a decade ago when Worldchoice and TTA merged.
Vote for your top Cool Cruises and win a Sony camera
Travel Weekly is asking travel agents to vote for their 10 favourite cruise lines across a string of categories for its 2018 Cool Cruises supplement. The Cool Cruises survey
consists of 20 categories, ranging from best ocean cruise line to best river cruise line for excursions, as well as best for families, luxury and value. Agents who complete the
survey before May 28 will be entered into a draw to win one of three Sony Cyber-shot WX220 cameras. Last year, Royal Caribbean
International came top in three categories, with P&O Cruises and Cunard top in two categories each. › To vote, visit:
go.travel weekly.co.uk/coolcruises18
WIN!
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
