Travel’s Rising Stars are well on track A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR


Last week I had the honour of hosting and moderating the first in what I am sure will be a long-running series of events championing the future female leaders of the travel industry. Our first Travel Weekly Inspiring Women Rising Stars Lunch took place in London, with 30 senior female executives from various sectors invited to bring an aspiring young woman from within their organisation (page 4). We have been running Inspiring Women lunches for three years, but this was the first time we had opened them up to the industry’s rising stars – and it was fantastic to hear our guests introduce their chosen individuals with such pride. As always at our Inspiring Women events, we invited a speaker from outside the industry to join us, and our incredibly timely guest on this


occasion was double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, who was simply amazing. As those of you who saw her interviews with current 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson around her gold medal glory in Paris will know, Dame Kelly is passionate about nurturing future talent. And over the course of four compelling hours at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill,


we heard not only about her athletics career, but also about the incredible work being done by the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, which supports disadvantaged young people through mentoring programmes. The future of our industry will rely on strong leadership, regardless of gender. Looking around the room at the next generation engaging and networking, I was filled with pride and excitement at what they will go on to achieve.


Lucy Huxley, editor-in-chief, Travel Weekly Group CONTENTS NEWS COVER photo


From left: Sarah Bell-Sampson, Hays Travel; Louise Todd, Cruise118; Patricia Curtis,


Holiday Village; DJ Scott Mills; Jamie Doherty, Iglu.com; and


Criona Buggie, Travel Counsellors page 13


Photo: Princess Cruises/Ciaran McCrickard


Travel a ‘top target’ for cybercriminals 4 TW Inspiring Women Rising Stars Lunch 4 September sales buck confidence trend 5 Labour conditions ‘poor’; easyJet fam 6 Crystal recruits; Travel Counsellors’ £1bn 8 Love to Travel plan; CAA Atol reminder 10 Special Reports


Tourism in Greece starts ‘new chapter’ 14 Norwegian Aqua shipyard visit, Venice 16 comment


Steve Dunne: Trade is missing a trick 18


NEWS YOU CAN USE Leger, Cox & Kings, Tipto, Explore


Intrepid Travel, Regent Holidays


19 20


Azamara, HX, Windstar, Silversea 22


FRONTLINE close up Hays Travel, Kuoni, Holiday with Harte, Sandals


FRONT COVER AND THIS PAGE: Steve Dunlop; Shutterstock/Igor Link


travelweekly.co.uk FOLLOW US: @travelweekly


WHAT LUCY DID THIS WEEK


OSpent a day on Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess on its first call into Southampton and loved performances by Sam Ryder and Scott Mills.


OPrepared for T ravel


Weekly’s flagship conference, Future of Travel, being held once again in partnership with Google.


OBought the final bits for my son as he heads off to university this weekend. Tissues at the ready!


Your Stories


Laura Bennett, Personal Travel Agents 30 competitions Win luxury goods, cruise, Disney trips 33


DESTINATIONS Caribbean


Cayman Islands: Never mind high finance – swim with stingrays, sample food festivals and discover stylish new hotels and resorts 34


Saint Lucia: Explore island by water 39 Rum Experiences: Drink in the culture 45 Ski & Snow


Austria: Find out what leading trade figures made of Saalbach on Travel Weekly’s VIP ski trip


BUSINESS NEWS 25


Agent diary Clare Dudley: Trips must pay dividends 28


Travelife chief on eco self-certification 54 Report reveals ‘exploitation’ of workers 55 Booking.com loses price-parity case 55 Business travel revival still lags leisure 56


travelweeklyuk @travelweeklyuk 26 SEPTEMBER 2024 3 48


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