NEWS


ing fee was one of the issues discussed in Travel Weekly’s latest series of daily webcasts ABERCROMBIE & KENT


AWAZE


Aspire’s


Kerry Golds


Hollie-Rae Brader


A&K praises the trade for its collaborative approach


A


collaborative and supportive approach between agents and suppliers has made


dealing with the repercussion of the coronavirus crisis easier, according to Abercrombie & Kent’s UK boss. UK managing director Kerry


Golds said in many respects it was easier dealing with trade bookings than direct sales because of longstanding business relationships staff have forged with agents. Speaking on a webcast with Travel


Weekly’s sister title Aspire, Golds, who is also boss of sister brand Cox & Kings, said she believed how companies deal with the current crisis will be remembered in the future. She said: “With the trade, we’re


seeing a lot of collaboration and the sense that we’re all in this together. “You work together and there’s


a clear understanding that we’re all challenged at this time. “There’s nobody saying ‘what are


you going to do about it?’ Instead, there’s a real feeling of being as one in our industry.


travelweekly.co.uk “So from my perspective, it’s made


it easier working with the trade.” Golds said she was hopeful this


collaborative approach would remain after the sector emerges from the crisis. Golds said Abercrombie & Kent


would do more to highlight the 55 destination management companies it works with in its marketing, believing this will give clients “much- needed reassurance and confidence” following the coronavirus crisis. She said the pandemic had


reinforced the message that operators with “boots on the ground” were beneficial in times of crisis as local representatives could, for example, assist with quick repatriations as they received early warnings about borders being closed before UK Foreign Office advice was updated. On refunds, Golds said clients were


being refunded, but meeting the 14-day timeframe had been challenging. “It’s the client’s money; there is


no debate about that,” she said. “But when you’re dealing with multiple countries and multiple refunds and different suppliers, it takes time for reconciliation. That hasn’t been easy.”


Henrik Kjellberg


Watch these and upcoming T


ravel Weekly webcasts at: go.travelweekly.co.uk/webcasts


Travolution’s Lee Hayhurst


Domestic supplier: Sentiment of locals is biggest barrier


R


eassuring local communities it is safe for tourists to return is the biggest challenge


for holiday parks, cottages and villas operator Awaze, but one it is confident of meeting. Henrik Kjellberg, chief


executive of the parent company of Hoseasons, James Villa Holidays and Cottages.com, said he was optimistic about the likely restart of domestic travel this summer and that the company will work with park and property owners to bring in social distancing measures. Awaze operates parks in Denmark


and Holland under its Landal GreenParks brand which have been able to reopen while operating new health and safety protocols. But looking at the UK, he


quetioned: “Will people in the Lake District be happy to have people come? Will people in Cornwall feel good about it? So, much like with the teachers allowing schools to come back, I think, public sentiment is probably the biggest barrier.


By being clear about


our standards, the local community can see we are being responsible


“We hope to be able to show


that we can do it in a responsible way such that public sentiment will hopefully come back, because tourism is an incredibly important business for these regions. “By being clear about the


standards that we are implementing for our parks and cottages, the local community can see we’re doing it in a responsible way.” Kjellberg also confirmed Awaze


had begun to bring trade partners back on board to “put Britain back on sale” after switching them off as the Covid-19 crisis hit. He said it had been necessary to


stop sales as lockdown was imposed because its systems were not designed to cope with the volume of enquiries from customers looking to cancel and rebook.


28 MAY 2020


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