It’s time for agents to shine…once more A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
A few weeks ago, the trade was worried about unrest in the Gulf region and the bushfires raging in Australia. This week, the concern has been the spread of coronavirus and its impact on clients’ inclination to travel to China. We are a month into the busiest booking period of the year and, while concerns over Brexit, which were to the fore last year, seem to be on the back-burner – for now at least – other issues are topping the news agenda. Recently I quoted travel agent Chris Bailey in this column after he
said there was always an issue to make life difficult in travel and added “in two weeks it’ll be something else”. How right he was. There is never room for complacency, of course, but the views of many
medical experts do give grounds for hope that the impact of coronavirus on travel will be short-lived. The world learnt valuable lessons from previous, high-profile outbreaks such as Sars and swine flu. And as Travel Weekly went to press, measures were being put in place to contain the virus – including medical tests and travel restrictions which led the FCO to advise against all but essential travel to the Chinese mainland. The outbreak has come during the low season for travel from the UK to China and operators, airlines and cruise lines have reacted appropriately by cancelling trips or offering clients the option to cancel or rebook for free. We are not out of the woods yet, but the trade can prove its value by keeping customers informed and demonstrating, yet again, its expertise in dealing with this type of situation.
WHAT LUCY DID THIS WEEK
OHad a lovely tour of Surrey, visiting Ben Bouldin at Royal Caribbean and then Gary Lewis at The Travel Network Group.
OMet with two airlines looking to ramp up their engagement with agents in 2020 – watch this space!
Lucy Huxley, editor-in-chief, Travel Weekly Group CONTENTS NEWS
Royal reveals UK sales team shake-up 4 FCO heightens travel advice to China 4 PTAs call for homeworker protection 5 ‘5,000 ex-Cook staff still out of work’ 6
GLOBE Travel AWARDS 2020
Relive the glory of the Globes with our 34-page photo special pageS 37-70
Photo: Steve Dunlop
NEWS YOU CAN USE Product
Legoland, Collette, Cyplon Holidays 17 cruise
Emerald, Crystal River, Disney, HAL 18 operator AAT Kings, Exsus Travel, Rabbie’s
accommodation FOLLOW US:
travelweekly.co.uk 20
Haven, Club Med, James Villas, Azura 22 @travelweekly
Clia and Atas to host Manchester forum 8 Special report Silver Travel Industry Report 2020
the interview Comment 10
Gary Lewis,The Travel Network Group: ‘Our strategy is to keep helping our members grow’ 12
Jacqueline Dobson, Barrhead Travel 14
OGot my ski gear out of the loft ahead of the annual
Cruise.co.uk winter sales conference, which takes place in Austria this weekend.
FRONTLINE Get Social
Freedom agents, Cosmos, Balearics 27 agent diary
Colin Burns: Agents 1 v The web 0 28 Your stories
Ben Casey, Not Just Travel competitions
29
Crystal Cruises, If Only, St Kitts, Tipto 32 Mystery Shopper Leicester agents look to book Vegas 34
DESTINATIONS the us
Colorado: Music in the mountains 48 hours: Seattle Postcard: New York
72 79 82
Anaheim: Downtown draws the crowds 85 Weddings & honeymoons
Proposals: Where to pop the question 88 Seasons: Honeymoon destinations
95 BUSINESS NEWS
Travlaw Big Tent 2020: Cook fallout 102 ‘Brexit changes nothing – for now’ 104
travelweeklyuk @travelweeklyuk 30 JANUARY 2020 3
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