International Hub
MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP (TA150) Dominique Sidley, global trade strategy director
WHAT’S NEW FOR 2018? This year has seen many new attractions across the Merlin portfolio, including a Legoland resort in Japan – complete with a Lego-themed hotel, theme park and Sea Life aquarium – and Bear Grylls Adventure, the home of earth’s greatest adventure challenges, which is based in Birmingham, UK. And it doesn’t stop there – we’re well under way with the development of an eagerly awaited Legoland resort, set to open in New York in 2020.
WHAT TRENDS HAVE YOU SEEN THIS YEAR? We have seen huge growth in both domestic and outbound Chinese visitors travelling independently this year. In fact, there is significant growth
across the
IVENTURE CARD (TA260) Joost Timmer, managing director
HOW ARE DESTINATIONS PERFORMING? This year we’re thrilled to have launched Dubai, Athens, Stockholm, Los Angeles and Bangkok, taking our global footprint to more than 20 destinations. Expanding our global footprint continues to have a positive effect on our existing destinations too, opening up more cross-selling opportunities for trade partners and building greater awareness and loyalty.
WHAT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTS ARE IN THE PIPELINE? This past year we extended our digital pass, which comes with an app, to all of our
worldwide operating regions, giving all our
customers the ability to enjoy entry using their mobile device any time they want to.
WHAT’S YOUR STRATEGY FOR 2019? The year will see the launch of new destinations in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, details of which we’re excited about sharing with our trade partners at WTM London. We’ll also be rolling out new technology to make it easier for our trade partners to resell our products, and for our respective customers to get more from their visit.
whole of Asia, which is a trend we see continuing into 2019.
WHICH MARKETS ARE YOU TARGETING IN 2019? We are adapting our attractions to offer a warm welcome to visitors. This includes developing payment type capabilities such as Alipay or Union Pay, driving social campaigns and engagement through OTA partners and introducing WeChat mini- programmes. For China domestic tourists, we recently opened Shanghai Dungeon, among others.
AIR CHARTER SERVICE (TP205) Matt Purton, group commercial jets director
WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST NEWS OF 2018? We have done some fantastic product launches, hosted musicians and, best of all, had an amazing Fifa World Cup. We flew 25% of all the teams into Russia, as well as fans, sponsors, media and corporate guests amounting to more than 250 flights.
WHAT’S CHALLENGED AIR CHARTER THIS YEAR? Lack of capacity and lack of crew have certainly been issues and will
continue to be. We often use our global reach to source aircraft to operate flights to supplement regional capacity – a recent example being a Boeing 747 positioning from America to operate a flight between Asia and Europe.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING IN AIRLIFT? Obviously sport has been phenomenal this year, but we continue to see strong Mice demand to Croatia, Morocco and Iceland. We’re also seeing more Far Eastern business here in Europe, with groups from China, Australia and India leading the way for unique experiences, such as seeing the Northern Lights in Svalbard or making their own wine in France.
JUMBO TOURS GROUP (TP510) Gines Martinez Cerdan, chief executive
WHAT PRODUCTS HAVE YOU INTRODUCED THIS YEAR? We now offer online activities and excursion services in Spain, Italy, France and Morocco. Any travel agency interested in purchasing one of these services can do so by accessing either one of our websites at
jumbobeds.com or
jumbonline.com.
WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT OF 2018? We continue to maintain our expansion project, as an example our recent incorporation into the
Asian market. In addition, in the past two years we’ve experienced strong growth in China, mainly driven by our airline Neos, which operate weekly to several of the main cities. This is giving Jumbo Tours access to partner with some of the main players in the world of tour operators and online distribution.
WHAT’S TOP OF THE AGENDA FOR JUMBO TOURS IN 2019? We have a great team that aims to strengthen and promote the destinations of Jumbo Tours as traditional incoming offices. For example Portugal, where we have opened an office this year. We are in a great position to grow our group by enjoying the experience at
destination level.
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