Travel Extra April 2018

ROYAL SYMPHONY SETS SAIL BEIJING HAINAN 4W FROM DUBLIN CELEBRITY BACK IN DUBLIN IN 2019 Travel Industry Trade Show

Brexit border wedding crux

R U YO DE A R R T PE PA

Ryanair talks Turkey

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APRIL 2018

All Aboard What your client should know about cruising

VOLUME 23 NUMBER 4

APRIL 2018 PAGE 3

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I

NEWS

The ITB insights Recovery of North Africa headline story of 2018

TB Berlin was the usual pandemonium, with 109,000 visitors and 10,000 exhibitors scattered around 28 halls, some on three levels, racing around late for the next appointment.

Egypt reported arrivals more than doubled in 2017, Tunisia reported tourist arrivals up by a third last year, Palestinian territories are tipped as an up-and-coming destination, and Israel, despite a tense security situation, has seen a spike in bookings following a high-spend promotion campaign.

This year’s hottest destinations are also the coldest, with growing numbers of holidaymakers prepared to shiver to experience Lapland, Greenland or Antarctica, or the Northern Lights. Iceland owes its unprecedented tourism boom in part to “Game of Thrones” fans.

In 2017, the country with 340,000 residents received 2.5m visitors. Iceland residents complain that their nation’s pristine locations are being overrun Over the past twelve months, the crowding caused an even more dra-

4w from June 12 with Hainan, two Chinese routes within twelve days.

CARLISLE Daly Saad340

service from Loganair.

CYPRUS Year round access

from Cobalt to Larnaka and Ryanair commenced Paphos at Easter.

eign Affairs advised Irish citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in Sri Lanka, to avoid demonstrations and large crowds, to exercise caution, follow local news for any information on unrest, curfews or travel restrictions and carry photo ID at all times.

SOUTH AFRICA Tolene van der Merwe, South African Tourism hub head for Ireland and Britain said Day Zero, a day when it was expected to impose even stricter restrictions on water supplies due to drought, will not take place this year.

GERMANY Irish overnights to Germany were up 4.6pc to 498,692 in 2017.

SELFIES Another two tourists have died taking a selfie. A Czech traveller ignored warnings and fell to his death off a cliff edge at Bang Khun Si waterfall on Koh Samui in Thailand. And a young tourist fell almost 400ft to his death while trying to take a selfie in a steep canyon in Colombia.

Irish stand at ITB Berlin matic reaction in Barcelona, Amsterdam and Venice, the strain on infrastructure and city centre rents have led to protests. Measures to curb the influx are posing fresh challenges to the travel industry.

Thailand has embarked on a major push to boost its high-speed internet infrastructure, including its most re-

mote and picturesque islands to attract the “bleisure” traveller, mainly aged 18 to 34, who mix business and leisure as they work on holidays.

In drought-hit South Africa, hotels have taken action to reduce their laundry loads by switching to paper napkins and washing the linen less frequently.

SUMMER DESTINATIONS TO WATCH

BEIJING Finally confirmed

SRI LANKA The Department of For-

HONG KONG

Cathay Pacific 4w

New from

FRANKFURT Daily from Ryanair, joining Aer Lingus and Lufthansa

LUXEMBOURG

Ryanair’s second new route for 2018 in competition with Luxair.

MARRAKECH Ryanair

resuming at Easter after brief hiatus.

NAPLES Ryanair service continued through summer.

PHILADELPHIA Aer

LIngus service commenced March.

SEATTLE Direct route from Dublin to commence May.

DISCOVER MEXICO’S CARIBBEAN COAST Explore Ancient Mayan ruins, picture perfect beaches and the legendary nightlife of Cancun.

TUI is a trading name of TUI Ireland Limited and is fully licensed and bonded by CAR T.O.021.

MADAME TUSSAUDS and Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments, suffered a 17pc plunge in visitors to its London attractions, which include the London Eye and the London Dungeon.

BEST BEACH Grace Bay in Provi-

denciales, the main island of Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean was rated best beach in the world in the Tripadvisor reader’s choice award.

La Concha Beach in San Sebastian was rated best in Europe and Inch best in Ireland

COSTA RICA

had 4,321 Irish visits in 2017, up 8.6pc and 2,959,869 overall, up 1.2pc.

CAPE BRETON Mark Eyking

announced funding of $200,000 over the next two years in support of performing arts programme for the Celtic Colours International Festival from October 5 to 13 on Cape Breton Island.

AIRBNB

hired Greg Greeley to head its Homes Division. Greeley led Amazon Prime, and played a key role in its creation more than a decade ago.

Direct flights fr om

DUBLIN

APRIL 2018 PAGE 4

THE KNOWLEDGE

Travel Extra Clownings, Straffan, Co Kildare (+3531) 2913707 Fax (+3531) 2957417

CONTENTS

3 News Where to go,h ow much to pay 6 Hotels: Michael Lennon takes charge

Managing Editor: Gerry O’Hare Editor: Eoghan Corry eoghan.corry@ travelextra.ie Publisher: Edmund Hourican edmund@bizex.ie Sales Director: Maureen Ledwith maureen@bizex.ie Sales Manager Paulette Moran paulette@bizex.ie t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 Accounts and Advertising: Maria Sinnott maria@bizex.ie Sunday Supplement & Online: Mark Evans markevanspro@gmail.com Chief Features Writer: Anne Cadwallader anne@travelextra.ie Contributors : Damian Allen damianjamesallen@ gmail.com Marie Carberry marie@travelextra.ie Carmel Higgins carmel@travelextra.ie Cauvery Madhavan cauvery@travelextra.ie Sean Mannion sean@grafacai.ie Ciaran Molloy ciarancmolloy@ gmail.com Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Aileen O’Reilly aileencoreilly@gmail.com

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C

www.travelextra.ie 8 Postcards: News from the trade 10-16 Cruise: What’s new in 2018 18-19 Afloat: Irish Ferries ambitions 20-24 Flying: Beijing is confirmed

26 Global Village New ITAA Presdient 28 Window seat: Our columnists 29 Pictures: Out and about

Selling a cruise

that safety onboard is of the highest standard, you are surrounded by like minded people, it is ideal for teenagers.

ruise lines pay highest commissions and some offer agent loyalty programmes. It is definitely the place to be for a travel agent and customers are safest with an agent.

Consumer campaigns are confusing and change by the week, and what is on offer may not be the best deal. So how do you translate that into sales?

BUDGET It is all

about budget. This needs to be calculated at the very beginning of the conversation along with finding out their expectations of the trip. Spend time on expectations before you offer advice.

If in doubt, sell from the top down. Customers will soon tell you if that is not in their budget.

DETERMINE

the client’s requirements.

If the destination the most important criteria a larger ship may not be able to navigate the likes of the fjords in Norway, missing the best parts of the itinerary and destination. Some ocean going vessels are small enough to navigate rivers like the Fred Olsen Braemar.

EMPHASISE.

value and price. Show just how much prices of traditional cruises are dropping, the perday cost all inclusive works out at u50 on some Caribbean cruises.

Check the price of a land based all inclusive or full board week holiday and then price a cruise. Entertainment and activities offer great value versus a land based product: Grease the musical, skydiving, surfing.

TIPPING most cruise companies now allow you to pre book gratuities or include them in prices. Be sure to tell clients about these so no surprises if they have not pre paid.

Celebrity Silhouette in Dublin, there are more direct sailings than ever

CHANGE their

perceptions that cruising is for older travellers, that you spend all your time on the ship, that sea-sickness is an issue, and most of all that cruising is expensive.

When people say that cruising wouldn’t interest them as they don’t spend long in a port, a good selling tip is that it’s a great way to find out where you want to go back to,

LUXURY Sell

the dream. Point out all the luxury options for special occasions such as anniversaries. On all of the newer ships in the past 10-15 years, there is no such thing as steerage. All staterooms are well above water, and have all the mod cons of 4 and 5 star hotels. The proportion of rooms with balconies is rising.

DRINKS packages

are all the rage. The top end ships include drinks in their all inclusive prices but most lines do pre-paid packages.

Fred Olsen offer drinks package at €14 per day which includes beers, good house wines and spirits and 50pc discount on a la carte wines

and premium brands.

MSC’s Allegrissimo is cheapest of the big ship brands at €26pp per day (5pc commissionable to the agent) allowing unlimited beer, wine, cocktails, spirits, ice cream, tea coffees etc.

REPEAT Keep customers up to date with new facilities, new ships, new routes, and direct pick ups from Ireland. Establish an ongoing relationship.

Encourage your customers to discuss their next cruise with the ‘future cruise consultant’ on board there are lots of extras and you can come back to your travel professional to discuss adding on flights /hotels and tours afterwards.

Loyalty cards entitle the client to 5pc off the next cruise booked with Travel Agent. With most lines, commission goes back to the agent if the next cruise is booked on board.

LINK consecutive

cruises: tag one cruise onto another to see more especially in Asia.

FOOD Culinary standards on board continue to exceed expectations. While

cruises are know for their food, some clients can be very fussy eaters with unusual dietary requirements, cruising can remove all the hassle of finding somewhere to dine every day, while still offering great food.

Healthy food options are becoming more and more apart of the cruise lines fare. There are speciality restaurants on the bigger ships and some cruise lines are seeking Michelin stars for the chefs..

ONBOARD accommodation is all mod cons with lots of options up to the suites with hot tubs, pianos etc CHILDREN

Point out how child friendly many cruiselines are with kids clubs, facilities, babysitting, menus, dedicated pool areas, and Dreamworks characters. Some cruise lines offer allow 18 year olds cruise for free.

FEARS about sea

sickness can be assuaged by telling them modern ships are well stabilised but if you are concerned choose a big ship and a cabin on a lower deck in the centre of the ship.

You can reassure them

DUTY FREE

Point out the duty free shopping available onboard many ships.

SHORE Cruises try to allow passengers as much time ashore as possible, sailing at night and waking up in a new port. Many cruise lines are offering more overnights in destinations which is a great way to see many beautiful cities at night with the cruise ship acting as your hotel.

Warn that the cruise company’s own shore excursions can be expensive (although many cruise lines are offering these as commissionable extras) and that they can explore on their own.

SUGGEST un-

usual destinations. The big cruise lines are going to Asia, Africa and Australia. Try Hurtigruten for Antarctica and Star Cruises for Asia.

SWITCH SELL: Agents don’t get many clients walking through the door with a cruise brochure so they have to try to switch-sell.

DIRECT Point

our the number of cruise dpeartures from Dublin with the home porting of Celebrity, Princess, CMV and Fred Olsen.

BOOK NOW AND GET

ONE FREE NIGHT FOR SELECTED JUNE DATES!

APRIL 2018 PAGE 6

HOTELS

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PANAMA Cypriot businessman Orestes Fintiklis, majority owner of the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel in Panama City has regained control of the building after a legal battle with the Trump Organisation.

TETRARCH Michael McElligott headed Tetrarch Capital completed the €80m acquisition of Ireland’s largest hotel, the 764-bedroom Citywest Hotel in Saggart, from US investors Pimco who purchased the hotel for €30m in 2014.

FLYNN Hotels announced a €3m investment in the group’s four properties, the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny; the Imperial Hotel, Cork City; Old Ground Hotel, Ennis; and The Park Hotel, Dungarvan.

INUA Hospital, which owns Killarney’s

Muckross Park Hotel and the Radisson Blu in Athlone, Cork and Limerick, said its accumulated earnings hit €7.1m in 2017.

DALATA CEO, Pat McCann said he wants to expand into Germany and the Benelux countries, has concerns about Brexit, staff shortages and the continuing Dublin boom.

HYATT Hotels sealed a partnership with China’s Tianfu Minyoun Hospitality which will see 50 new Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels in China over five years.

WALTER RALEIGH Hotel in Youghal is for sale for €2.5m.

STR Global say Dublin room rates are

up 4pc in January, occupancy is up 1pc and RevPar up 5.4pc. RevPar outside Dublin is up 8.6pc, with occupancy up 1.5. Davy Research predicted RevPar would growf 5.5pc, “with particular market strength highlighted over the summer months.”

HOSCARS Galway City Hostel & Bar in Galway was named Ireland’s best in the Hostelworld awards (the Hoscars) The Star Hostel Taipei Main Station won the world’s best large hostel, the Soul Kitchen in St Petersburg, Russia the best medium hostel and Sungate One in Madrid, the best small hotel in the annual awards.

BELFAST’s Fitzwilliam Hotel commenced the second phase of a £4m refurb.

EUROPA Hotel and Slieve Donard

resort were among the hotels, restaurants and bars honoured at the Hospitality Ulster awards at Titanic Belfast. See more pictures here or connect with the album on Facebook

KEVIN BARR of IHG said they

will not repeat last year’s special dividend of $1.5bn because the company is currently investigating ways to spend more cash in a bid to accelerate expansion.

THAI-owned global hotel/serviced apart-

ments chain Vienna House, is considering a move into the Irish market, most likely Dublin, as it expands its presence in European cities.

An Bord Pleanála overruled its own inspector to give Abbey Ltd the go-ahead for a ninestorey 144 bedroom hostel in Dublin’s Abbey Street Upper.

I

The west awake

Michael Lennon becomes new president of IHF

t was an all-Connacht affair as Joe Dolan of the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon handed over the presidency of the Irish Hotels Federation to Michael Lennon from the Westport Woods hotel at the end of his two year tenure during the AGM of the Federation in the Sliabh Russell hotel in Cavan, Joe had dedicated his presidency to the issues of seasonality and regionality, which haunted rural hotels like his in Leitrim. As Paul Gallagher had concentrated on room rates, Stephen McNally on occupancy and Michael Joe Dolan hands over the IHF Presidency to Michael Lennon Vaughan on training, the new presiCarlow, Michael is a graduate of the lishment of the Destination Westport dent will dedicate his presidency to College of Catering, Cathal Brugha marketing group. the issues of Brexit, less reliance on he said: “there are serious challenStreet.

England and more and infrastructural He began his career in Chicago ges that need to be tackled to ensure catch-up in the regions. before returning to Ireland, where the sustained growth of the tourism He says he will concentrate on: he initially worked with the Great and hospitality sector. Chief among n Mitigating the risks posed to the Southern Hotel Group before joining these is Brexit, which poses a partourism industry by an unpredictable ticular risk to tourism in the regions.

Brian McEniff Hotels. and ever changing Brexit agenda.

Together with his wife, Joanne Tackling the high cost of doing busin Tackling the high cost of doing McEniff, he owns and runs the West- ness in Ireland will help to ensure business in Ireland. port Woods Hotel, which they bought that the right business environment n Increased marketing and prodexists to with stand the negative imover twenty years ago. uct development support for tourMichael has been an active mem- pact of Brexit.” .Joe divulged a secret ism, particularly in the regions for ber of the Mayo branch of the Irish to his inner circle, although he is a example: Hotels Federation for over twenty recipient of Leitrim man of the year, n Growing Tourism networks years and was involved in the estab- hie is actually living in Roscommon. around the country such as Destination Westport with the theme IHF PRESIDENTS ‘working together we are 1937 Josie Mongan 1972 Billy Kelly 1998 William Power stronger.’

1948 WD Redville 1974 Ben Naughton 2000 Mary Fitzgerald n Focusing upon best practice 1950 Charles Downing 1976 Billy O’Carroll 2002 Jim Murphy hospitality marketing and research 1952 Leo Downes 1978 Micheal McCarthy 2004 Dick Bourke for a sustainable growth in Irish 1954 Frank Burke 1980 Brendan Pettit 2006 Annette Devine Tourism.

1956 Eugene McCarthy 1982 Dermod Dwyer 2008 Matt Ryan n Promoting the continued 1958 Peter Jury 1984 Brian McCarthy 2010 Paul Gallagher expansion of skills and training 1960 Michael O’Carroll 1986 Conor McCarthy 2012 Michael Vaughan support for employees within the 1962 Toddy O’Sullivan 1988 Peter Malone 2014 Stephen McNally tourism and hospitality industr 1964 David McCaughney 1990 Willie Loughnane 2016 Joe Dolan A fifth generation hotelier with 1966 Barry McDonnell 1992 Eamon McKeon 2018 Michael Lennon over 25 years’ experience in the 1968 Micheál Vaughan 1994 Gerry O’Connor sector,. Michael is a native of Co. 1970 Hector Fabron 1996 Pat McCann

9pc OF HOTELS REPORT DECLINE

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t the Irish Hotels Federation prepare for their conference in Cavan, results of a survey were released showing the level of optimism about 2017 and 2018 business in the industry.

The results indicated that n 75pc of hoteliers reported domestic business was up., n 68pc say US business up,

n 51pc say Europe is up, n 38pc say France is up, n 62pc said English business was down and n 40pc said business from the north is down.

Unsurprisingly, 94pc called for additional marketing support and product development for their region.

Only 9pc of owners have seen business from England increase in 2017.

The IHF represents 800

hotels and guesthouses, which employ over 60,000 people throughout the country.

The IHF says advance bookings up from domestic and key overseas markets, helping to offset the drop in bookings from the UK, Ireland’s largest market, where visitor numbers continue to fall. The high cost of doing business, including insurance, continues to be a major concern. Joe

Dolan, President of the Irish Hotels Federation said “we operate in a price sensitive sector where we compete with the UK for overseas visitors. A sustained fall in sterling could have a negative effect on visitor numbers from other markets who may opt instead to go to the UK. Cost-competitiveness is critical.”

APRIL 2018 PAGE 7

www.travelextra.ie

HOTELS

Pre-marital strife

Border hotels beginning to count the cost of Brexit

B

order hoteliers voiced concerns at the IHF conference that their business will be affected by Brexit and sterling decline long in advance of England’s exodus form the EU. Each year 22,000 couples in the north get married, and around 500 cross the border to do so. Couples spend an average of €24,000 and that figure has been inflated by 20pc due to sterling’s freefall.

Border county hoteliers have reported a decline in bookings and inquiries from the region thanks to the weaker sterling and possibility of a hard border.

Michael Naughton, general manager of the Clanree Hotel in Donegal, which hosts 80 weddings a year expects that figure to decline to 65 by the end of 2018.

“Couples are coming and asking to guarantee the rate of sterling,” Naughton says.

We can maybe guarantee a saving of 10-15pc, but you cannot guarantee the 30-40% they were getting two years ago.

Martin Daly of The Hillgrove Hotel in Monaghan, who hosts 100 weddings each year, 40 of which typically come from the north, says the problem is uncertainty. “I’m getting that across all hotels in the area,” he says.

The prospect of the reintroduction of border checks is putting off engaged couples.

“You worry about how you’re going to get weddings across the border. Are they going to bring their

I

undergo an €20m expansion, with the addition of a new spa and gym as well as a further 66 bedrooms, bringing total room count to 140.

Sandals Resorts International appointed a new chief executive. Gebhard F. Rainer previously worked at Hyatt Hotels Corporation, where he was executive vice president and chief financial operator.

LONDON has 75 five star hotels, the

most of any city globally, with an average room price of $217 per night, making it one of the five most expensive cities for hotels in the world. Dubai has 61, New York 59 and comes first in price at $306 per night, Paris has 56 and Miami 46.

DISNEY will now charge guests a fee to park overnight at a resort hotel - $13 per night to park at a value resort, $19/night for moderate and $24/night for deluxe and deluxe villa resorts.

IHG InterContinental Hotels Group bought a 51pc stake in luxury brand Regent Hotels and Resorts for $39m in cash as part of its plan to go more upmarket.

IHF conference in the Sliabh Russell Hotel guests across checkpoints?”

“We’ve seen that down through the years. People don’t like that and don’t want to come out for that reason. You’re putting your wedding guests under pressure. It’s a special day for a bride and groom.

Tony Walker, general manager at Cavan’s Slieve Russell Hotel, agrees that there’s a need for the sector as a whole to improve its wedding offering.

“We think the decline in wedding bookings is for other reasons. There’s more competition in the marketplace.

Millennials opt for more quirky venues or exclusive venues.

You get a lot of couples that want to get married in a barn or put a marquee at the back of the house. That’s

all fine, it is just extra competition.

Hoteliers need to focus more on creating more attractive packages. A lot of us have the same offering but in a different venue at a different cost. It is just trying to be that bit different.

Maybe we need to get away from the traditional wedding fare.”

The IHF’s newly elected president, Michael Lennon, says he’s confident the market will bounce back based on the level of investment within the industry.

“I think 90pc of hoteliers in Ireland are planning to put more money into their properties,” he says.

“We must become less reliant on the English market and attract more business from North America and Germany.”

‘TOURISM CAN GROW BY 50pc’

TIC chairman Maurice Pratt told the IHF conference that more priority should be given to tourism to help grow the industry.

“This industry can grow 50pc between now and 2025 if the right policies and if the right decisions and investment is made.

We need the government sector to mirror the private sector’s ambition. The private sector is investing €3bn over the next three years but they cannot do it on their own.”

“The €300m earmarked

BELFAST’s Ten Square Hotel is to

for tourism is about half the amount that is needed.”

The panel discussion on tourism at the Irish Hotels Federation annual conference in the Sliabh Russell Hotel, featured Joe Dolan, President of the IHF, Niall Gibbons CEO of Tourism Ireland, Paul Kelly, CEO of Failte Ireland, Deirdre McGlone, owner Harvey’s Point Hotel in Donegal, and Maurice Pratt chair of the Irish Travel Industry Confederation.

Paul Kelly said that price, promotion and value for money mix is the key to

getting the British market, and feet on the street was needed.

Joe Dolan said the quality of the visit and the ability to get people to move around was an important part of the tourism marketing. “Seasonality does not mean just summer and winter, there are also discrepancies within the week.”

Paul Kelly said that Failte Ireland was transferring a lot of its grant aid for festivals into the shoulder season.

Deirdre McGlone of

Harvey’s Point Hotel said nit was an exciting time and the key was transmitting the message that everyone is welcome.

Deirdre McGlone and Maurice Pratt said that the initiative to transmit that message should come from our leadership.

Maurice Pratt said his conviction was that the principle effect of Brexit would be inflation. It was his initial impression and still is his forecast which would bring its own challenges to the hospitality industry in Ireland.

HILTON Worldwide Holdings CEO

Christopher Nassetta warned London’s hotel sector is getting gloomier as Brexit approaches.

Pre-tax profits at Windsor Surprise Ltd, which operates Cork’s Rochestown Park Hotel, rose fivefold to €1m for 2016.

INDIA’s biggest hotel chain, Taj Hotels,

has announced plans to help female staff by paying for fertility treatment as part of its commitment to promote equal opportunities for women.

DALATA Hotel Group is to invest

£1.5m in a revamp of the Clayton Hotel Belfast. The group is to sponsor Irish theatre company Druid in a three-year deal.

FOR SALE Hilton Dublin Airport Hotel, opposite Clarehall shopping centre, has been given a guide price of €22.5m.

SHELBOURNE Hotel became the 17th Irish hotel in the Virtuoso luxury portfolio, joining Adare Manor, Aghadoe Heights, Ashford Castle, Ballyfin, Culloden, Dromoland, Hayfield Manor, K Club, Killarney Park, Merrion, Mount Juliet, Powerscourt, Sheen Falls, Trump Doolin, Westbury and Westin.

BALLYFIN has been rated Europe’s 11th best hotel by US News & World Report here. Dublin’s Merrion Hotel 15th, and Ashford Castle 33rd on ratings based on reputation among professional travel experts, guest reviews and hotel class ratings.

CHOICE Hotels has agreed a manage-

ment contract with the owners of Galway’s G Hotel and Meyrick Hotel

RADISSON Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group will change its name to Radisson Hotel Group in a push to “embrace its marquee hotel brand and reaffirm itself as a global hospitality company.”

APRIL 2018 PAGE 08

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

O

ne of the highlights of the travel trade social calendar is Turkish Airlines annual Turkish Airlines Bowling tournament, which was restaged this month with qualifying rounds at Odyssey Pavillon Belfast Leisureplex Coolock and Leisureplex Cork.

This year 102 destinations from 51 countries are competing. The best team from each country will have a chance

E

ighty years after its foundation, the Irish Hotels Federation held some celebratory events at their annual conference in the Sliabh Russell hotel in Ballyconnell.

The Federation was founded on October 28, 1937 to lobby against the shop assistant’s bill, which would have increased costs to the sector, led by Josie Mongan from Carna. It was formalised at its first AGM attended by fifty hotel-

W

e learn how to this at Ryanair school, Kenny Jacobs said as he, Lisa Cashin and Eddy Wilson adopted the Michael O’Leary airplane pose.

As Ryanair briefed the media on recent aviation and industrial relations initiatives, it became clear that this was less gung-ho affair than previous yearahead briefings led by outspoken CEO Michael O’Leary.

to represent their country in the Grand Final in İstanbul. Ireland has not quite mastered the mechanics of getting cross-agency bowling teams to compete, as happens elsewhere,but in the meantime it is all good fun.

To get in the mood, Dublin Airport defeated Turkish by 18 points in the third annual bowling fixture between the companies. Picture shows the Turkish team led by Onur Gull.

iers in 1939, worried about the effects of rationing on the industry and their fledgling organisation.

The Federation released a book to chronicle their achievements over the years and renowned photographer Don McMonigle gathered the guests for a composite photograph. And then they returned to discuss legislation that would increase costs to the sector. Plus ca change.

Ryanair growth, which ran at 10pc in the monthly figures for most of 2017, has slowed to half that due to rostering restrictions.

Discussion was focussed on the aviation industry, and less inclined to stray into other subjects (one of the most viewed videos on Travel Extra’s Youtube channel is Michel O’Leary’s opinions on Donald Trump). The future?

Germany. A story for another day.

T

he Tourism Authority of Thailand, hosted by Emma Arnott and Sutanita Thavornchak, with 14 industry partners, hosted three roadshows in an campaign to grow th annual Irish figure of 67,273, making it our leading long haul holiday destination.

The speed dating sessions with the travel partners was attended by 45 in Belfast, 30 in Cork and 37 in the grand finale in Lana Thai restaurant in Lim-

M

inister Shane Ross attended ITB in Berlin to see Ireland in action at the world’s largest tourism event.

Tourism Ireland and 30 tourism companies were there to grow Ireland’s share of the important German travel market from the 0.7pc it currently enjoys. Air capacity to Germany is due to grow exponentially as part of Ryanair’s campaign to grow its market

I

reland’s ambassador to Cyprus Deirdre Ni Fhailluin met a media delegation who came to sample Cobalt Air’s Dublin-Larnaca service.

With the loss of air services Irish visits to Cyprus shrunk from nearly 70,000 to 3,500 and the Larnaca 2w service was the first step in getting it back.

Limerick born David Lee heads up Cobalt’s marketing operation and asked the trade to support the winter service,

erick, which served up the best food offering of any roadshow for a long time.

Much discussion at the events was about the growth of one stop flights to the regional airports, through Abu Dhabi, Doha, Dubai and Istanbul, offering easier access to Phuket, Krabbi and Chiang Mai, rather than through Bangkok.

Picture shows Emma Arnott and Sutanita Thavornchak.

share to 15pc of Europe’s largest aviation market.

Ireland won a slew of awards at the event. The following week Ireland was named ‘golf destination of the year’ in Germany. The announcement was made at Rhein Golf in Düsseldorf, Europe’s largest exhibition for golf travel and equipment. Expedia presented Tourism Ireland with its 2017 ‘campaign of the year’ accolade, on the Ireland stand

while he expects the summer service to increase to 3w. The group visited St Lazarus Church in Larnaca, St Minas monastery, To Plumin restaurant in Sotira and the Argonaftis Donkey farm Achna. Picture shows Aileen Eglington of AE consulting, Declan Mescall, Deirdre N Fhallúin Irish ambassador to Cyprus, Eleanor Goggi, Marisa Mackle, Paul Nolan of APG, Naomi Richardson, Yolanda Zaw.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 09

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

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er Lingus toured the country with 14 trans-Atlantic industry partners, Picture shows John Keogh and JJenny rafter at the Dublin roadshow.

They hosted 84 in Belfast, 177 in Dublin, 41 in Limerick, and 86 in Cork, making it the most successful roadshow in terms of turnout in the history of the travel trade in Ireland.

Participation was confined to cities

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n innovation at this year’s IHF conference was the hotel employee of the year award: Danny Connell of the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim.

Danny Connell won the award for a series of services above and beyond the requirements for a hotel staff member, not least saving a hotel guest form choking to death. After a competition based on nominations and an assessment by

that are Aer Lingus destinations, including the 2018 newcomers Philadelphia and Seattle. Hotel and destination participants included California Godfrey hotel, Martha’s vineyard, New England, Sky Hotels, Greater Fort Lauderdale, Chicao and Florida. Trans Atlantic tickets including accommodation were among the prizes.

Aer Lingus trans-Atlantic capacity is up 8pc for summer 2018.

judges led by Tony Lenehan, chair of Kildare Fáilte, Danny joined the Knightsbrook Hotel in November 2016. He was the Mourne/ Boyne /Lakes nominee for the National Employee of the Year Award. Members of the Irish Hotels Federation could nominate a candidate from their hotel/ guesthouse. :Picture shows Marie Cusack, Kate Cusack, Patrick Curran and Danny Connell.

Tourism Minister Brendan Griffin with Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, at the launch of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative

Tourism Ireland’s biggest ever Global Greening for St Patrick’s Day

T

he fountains in London’s Trafalgar Square, Chimo the Polar Bear statue in Ontario and the San Mamés stadium in Bilbao – the home of Athletic Club Bilbao – joined Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative for the first time this year. Tourism Ireland’s unique campaign is now in its ninth year.

With numerous landmark buildings and iconic sites around the world lighting up green to mark our national day, the campaign continues Tourism Ireland’s first half promotional drive to grow overseas tourism in 2018.

O

ther new landmarks which took part in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening for 2018

S

outh African Tourism hosted a visit by Irish travel media to the breath-taking Mapungubwe National Park in northern Limpopo on the confluence where Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa meet.

Limpopo is one of the three least visited of the nine South African provinces and Tolene Can der Merwe of SA Tourism is intent of changing that, working with the Irish travel trade to do so.

The selected travel media took a trip through Makhado and Elim to meet some of the craft workers of Limpopo Picture shows Michelle Jackson, Rachel Lewis of South African Tourism, Elaine Crowley of TV3, Isabel Conway, Kelly Edmonds of TV3 and (front) Eoghan Corry at the confluence where three countries meet (apologies to Larry Cunningham) over the Limpopo river.

included the Wawa Goose monument in Ontario and the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (also in Ontario), the National Football Museum in Manchester, the Palais de l’Europe (the seat of the Council of Europe) in Strasbourg, Lapland Hotels Snow Village, a lion statue made from re-cycled flip flops in Kenya, the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa, as well as Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square) in Tallinn. The new sites joined some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including the Sydney Opera House, the London Eye, the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Burj al Arab in Dubai, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas and Niagara Falls.

The San Mamés stadium in Bilbao joined Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening for the first time in 2018.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 10

CRUISE SPECIAL

Six-page guide to what’s new in 2018

Independence Day A new-look Independence and all-new Splendour for 2018 season

I

t’s going to be a busy year – as usual – for Royal Caribbean as it offers the world’s biggest ship (again) and gives a complete makeover to an old favourite, Independence of the Seas.

What’s interesting is that cruise lines aren’t competing with each other – they’re pitting themselves against land-based all-inclusive resorts. Royal is spending €162m to transform its private CocoCay island in The Bahamas.

Part of what it calls its Perfect Day Island Collection, more island resorts in the Caribbean, Asia and Australia are set to follow.

CocoCay will feature the most slides in any waterpark in the region, including a 135-foot Daredevil’s Peak, which will be the tallest in North America.

Oasis Lagoon will be the largest freshwater pool in the Caribbean, a swim-up bar and in-pool loungers.

For thrill-seekers, there will be a 1,600-foot zip line that criss-crosses the island at up to 50 feet high and a helium balloon that floats up to 450 feet above the ground overThe Bahamas.

The first phases begin this September 2018, with most of the new attractions in place by spring 2019.

On the ocean waves themselves, the line has two big developments. First up is the launch this month of Symphony of the Seas, the latest in the Oasis class of ships.

Oasis of the Seas made her debut almost a decade ago, to be followed by Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas, each one slightly bigger, slightly different. And it’s more of the same with Symphony, with her own unique features.

Agents and clients used to Oasis-class ships will find her a cinch to navigate – the distinct “neighbourhoods”, including Central Park and Boardwalk, are still there, along with The Ultimate Abyss slide, FlowRider surf simulators and zip line.

What’s new is what’s billed as the “world’s largest laser

tag arena” in the Studio B space where the ice skating is performed.

Accommodation-wise it will feature the Ultimate Family Suite, a two-level suite that will feature a slide, a floor-to-ceiling Lego wall, air hockey and cinema-style TV room with popcorn machine as well as a 212-square-foot wraparound balcony with its own climbing wall feature, pool table and whirlpool.

For those clients on a tighter budget, Symphony will feature 28 more cabins than Harmony of the Seas with balconies overlooking Central Park, virtual balconies on inside staterooms,

and the highest number of ocean-view cabins at sea.

Food-wise, it will feature a Mexican restaurant, El Loco Fresh, and casual seafood option called Hooked will debut on the ship.

Shows include Broadway’s Hairspray, and original production based around aviation called Flight and a skating show.

Royal’s always been known for it technology, and Symphony will have mobile check in via your smartphone.

Independence of the Seas has got a complete makeover (more ships will follow over the coming years in a $900m overhaul

recently announced. Combined with the updates to private islands will bring Royal’s spending over the $1bn mark as it targets the next big market to cruise – millennials.

Independence will again call Southampton in England her home port and will boast the latest features.

Sky Pad is a brand new virtual reality, bungee trampoline experience, while an interactive waterpark, Splashaway Bay, will come in handy on Western Med itineraries, including, for the first time in four years, the island of Ibiza. Escape rooms - where players battle to beat the clock and evacu-

Jennifer Callister and Amanda Darrington at Holiday World 2018. Above, CocoCay impressions

ate rooms - are popular in many cities, and the ship will have its own, called Puzzle Break, along with a Laser Tag arena.

For agents, Royal Caribbean has the advantage of brand recognition among the public, with a focus on the family market, where hosts of activities (industry firsts like ice rinks on Caribbean cruises seem nostalgic nowadays), all housed in 6,000-plus passenger mega-ships are key.

Amanda Darrington, Sales Director for Britain and Ireland, joined Ireland Head Jennifer Callister at Holiday World 2018 and said the big focus first off is the pre-launch of Splendour of the Seas in April, with 50 staterooms allocated to top-selling agents.

She said that “a huge percentage of the agents are from Ireland” and added that pre-launch fans “really do play a part in helping our agent partners.”

May sees a pre-launch trip on the new-look Independence of the Seas in Southampton. The #getmeonindy agents competition is for a place on the trip, with 1,000 rooms allocated for the trade.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 11

CRUISE SPECIAL

Six-page guide to what’s new in 2018

Dublin-bound Celebrity lives life on the Edge Celebrity’s decision to use Dublin as a homeport captured the headlines when it was announced, but it’s not the only major news from the Royal’s upmarket sister.

The brand has always been celebrated for its food, and fine cuisine is firmly on the menu as it launches its first new ship in 10 years.

Celebrity Edge will boast four main dining rooms and six new specialty restaurants. Only Blu open to higher-spending AquaClass and suite passengers - and the intimate Luminae will return.

The new Normandie Restaurant will feature French fine dining, while the Tuscan Restaurant will cater for passengers with high-end Italian favourites.

The main restaurant count will be rounded off by the more traditional

Cosmopolitan Restaurant and Cyprus Restaurant, with Greek fare and seafood.

Irish passengers will be eager to learn that in addition to 15 restaurants and cafes, Edge will offer 12 bars and lounges.

Rival line NCL set trends

with its flexible dining concept - a move away from the traditional set dining hours and set table each night - and now Celebrity has a similar twist, with a choice available between standard dining and the set dining and the flexible Ce-

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lebrity Select programme.

And the big plus of four main dining rooms is that holidaymakers can switch between them each night.

Celebrity Edge will also feature seven speciality restaurants and if clients are keen on their foods, it’s

worth looking at pre-paid dining packages for them, roughly from €100 for three meals up to €300 for 14. It’s a matter of choice per passenger, with some happy enough with standard meals (a good standard on this line), while for others food is a key consideration.

Speciality eateries include Fine Cut Steakhouse, the posh French Le Grand Bistro, with the nice touch of having some pavement-style dining with sea views.

The big draw, though, is the Magic Carpet (pictured), which is a moveable platform located on the outside of the ship.

A platform the size of a tennis court, its cantilevered from the side of the ship and can rise up from sea level all the way up to Deck 16.

Celebrity Edge will sail its inaugural cruise Nov-

ember 21, 2018, from Fort Lauderdale. The ship will operate a series of Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, before repositioning to the Mediterranean.

Closer to home, while Ships sailing out of Dublin are nothing new, Celebrity was the first big line to homeport in the city.

The mini-season onboard the Solstice-class Celebrity Eclipse this summer will see itineraries taking in such ports as Belfast, Reykjavik, Akureyri (both Iceland) and Lerwick (Shetland Islands).

While not cheap, such itineraries have pulling power for clients who don’t fancy flying, and want the ease of a ferry ride (no baggage fees here) and the luxury of a five-star holiday. It’s been so successful that the larger Celebrity Reflection will be in Dublin the following season.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 12

CRUISE SPECIAL

W

ith 18 ships in its fleet - ad high levels of customer satisfaction with its huge array of dining and entertainment options - Norwegian Cruise Line is one of the industry’s giants, and has slowly copped on to the potential of the Irish market in recent years.

And the offering is all about simplicity - there’s only one option for booking, and that’s premium all inclusive (a policy adopted last year).

So if your clients are teetotallers, it might not be the best fit, but for notoriously budget-conscious Irish holidaymakers, it’s a nobrainer, with everything paid for, and taken care of, up front.

“NCL are basically a premium all-inclusive brand - they don’t have to go with promotions or anything like that - it’s all your drinks and all your gratuities,” says Dawn Westmoreland Conway of Sunway, the Irish agents for the line.

And she feels the package has the edge over rivals. “They’re going for the idea that you don’t pay for anything onboard.”

Unlike other competitors, it’s for everyone in the cabin, she says, not just the first two, as with other lines.

Since it’s a premium, all-in concept, the price point tends to be higher - but Dawn says that’s where Sunway has an advantage when dealing with agents. “As a

Six-page guide to what’s new

Package delivers

company we have good exclusive offers out to the agents,” she says.

So what’s to be expected onboard? “The ships are definitely on par with Royal Caribbean and the food is second to none,” she says. It’s worth noting that it’s an American feel.

“NCL is all about freestyle dining so it’s not a set dining time and you don’t ever have to sit with others if you don’t want to. You can get a table for two or four so it’s a more relaxed feel.”

And she says the American influence is seen in the lower level of formality, with passengers not expected to turn up in tuxedos or ballgowns. “I was on Norwegian Epic - one of NCL’s largest and

most modern vessels - out of Barcelona on a seven-night round trip. I found it really easy-going, they don’t really go for the massive ballgown - they do a cocktail evening but it’s more relaxed.

“MSC would be more European but this is more American, with American brands and food.” And she says NCL has always been a frontrunner in introducing new and exciting amenities. “Epic was one of the first ships to get on-deck waterslides - and their new ships all have them coming in.”

The big launch this year is Norwegian Bliss, which will be playing Alaskan waters.

“It’s launching in April and that’s got a racetrack on board

so you can go gokarting on the ship,” she says.

Destination-wise, Irish passengers are looking to the Caribbean this year on the back of good, and cheap, connectivity. “You can get flights to the Caribbean area - say Miami or Orlando - for €500 this summer - and that’s against €500 to Venice, so pricing is really attractive,” Dawn says.

The Med is still a huge draw, she says, “if you can get cheap flights to Barcelona then the Med is popular and bigger ships are all going out Barcelona so people want to go out of there too.”

Ultimately, she says, “it depends on the cost.

The likes of American Airlines

Dawn Westmoreland Conway of Sunway.

Main picture, the line’s new NCL Bliss

have great prices going through Charlotte or Philadelphia. Virgin and BA have some good prices too but clearing customs in Dublin is very attractive to passengers.

One disadvantage of the direct Aer Lingus service is that it’s just three times a week to Miami, but Dawn says if the price is keen perhaps just €100 extra for two – Sunway can package up extra nights in the area to tie in with sailings.

Elsewhere, she says agents should also think about Cunard.

“It’s a tiny market which is a shame because it’s a lovely product but their prices are really good, it’s just that they’re not doing the drinks and the gratuities all-in,”

With Miami move, MSC’s heart is in Havana

MSC’s Erica Oglesby says it’s a busy year again for the Italian giant. “This year we have our third new ship in two years, MSC Seaview, which is launching on the second of June out of Rome. Next year we have two more - Bellissima and Grandiosa, launching on April 19 and November 19.”

The Irish have loved Cuba since those 1980s Aeroflot flights via Shannon, and the Caribbean’s largest island is a big draw for MSC this year.

“We’re moving our Cuba cruise - instead of MSC Armonia out of Havana it’s going to homeport in Miami,” says Erica. “Air France are doing great sale fares, so it would be the agents doing their own package,” she adds. “Our cruises from Miami start at around €499 for Havana which is great value. With our itinerary you get to overnight so it’s two days in Havana which is what our clients want.”

MSC’s all-inclusive promo - which proved popular with agents - has just ended, but she

says the line will have different offers this year, and aim to have a ship visit in Dublin later in the year.

“Our standard drinks package includes premium drinks as in Gordon’s gin and Smirnofff vodka. In general most clients would stick with just the standard package.” But she says it’s worth considering an upgrade especially in the Caribbean. An all-inclusive drinks package in Europe, Cuba and Abu Dhabi is €182 per adult and for kids

it’s €84, and upgrades are an extra €168 for adults. For the Caribbean it’s €301 per adult and €147 per child - but the adults upgrade to the Deluxe package is much lower, at just €49, and includes the likes of Grey Goose Vodka & Hendricks Gin. Erica and Rebecca Kelly are keen to work hard for the trade: “We always come up with a promo. We come up with the best value for clients and the best commercials on the

market and we also have the highest commission,” she says.

Europe is ever-popular, as are trips in the Abu Dhabi area, which run from January to March.

“In the last 18 months to two years

we’re getting a lot of repeats before that it was first-timers.

The market has matured in the past two years and Irish people are copping on that it’s great value and not just for older people.”

And Erica says children are well catered for onboard. “Our partners are Chicco toys and Lego which are two of the biggest brands in the world which goes to show our kids’ clubs are exceptional.”

She said the two newest ships - the giant, attraction-filled Seaside and Seaview (which launches this year) “give you a diffent concept - you’re at a resort and the restaurants are looking out to the sea.

There’s a lot of al fresco dining.”

Erica Oglesby of MSC and Cubabound Armonia

APRIL 2018 PAGE 13

CRUISE SPECIAL

Six-page guide to what’s new in 2018

Marella’s sun, ships and shores TUI Marketing Executive Carol O’Connor says “it’s a really positive for summer 2918 as three new ships have come in to the fleet”.

She says that the new ships - Marella Explorer and Discovery I and II - are much more in line with TUI’s reputation as one of the big family-focused operators in land-based holidays.

“People who travelled on a Thomson cruise in the past have noticed how even more family-friendly the Marella ships are, with entertainment and the family cabins really good,” says Carol.

One big bonus is the ability to combine a TUI land package and a cruise - “if you’re looking for a two-week holiday you can either cruise and stay or stay and cruise, out of Palma on

Explorer or Discovery II our of Corfu, you can do a Sensatori or a Family Life. And out of Palma we can offer three or four nights there so it’s really flexible.”

The big difference with the new ships is the class of offering, she says. “Our new ships have all inclusive as standard, and then you can upgrade to premium drinks too. But I was on Discovery 2 last May and say you wouldn’t really need to do the upgrade unless you’re into your premium brands.”

She adds: “The entertainment blew me away with the shows, and in one of the lounges there was a great reggae band who had all the

bar up dancing.

“The entertainment is more geared toward British and Irish so you’d be familiar with it, so it’s comfortable. As with TUI holidays, the entertainment team is vital and Carol says onboard “they’d all be trained in a similar way. I loved the way that people were actually remembering my name onboard.”

The older ship, Marella Dream, come with full board as standard, but it’s worth noting that clients can upgrade to drinks packages. Marella Explorer is the largest ship in the fleet, and sets sail for the first time this summer. Formerly

sailing as Mein Schiff 1 in Germany with TUI Cruises, it features new bars, Indigo and Aperitif; Scoops, an ice-cream parlour with bicycle-themed seating; and The Lounge, a new venue with colour-changing bar and signature brightly coloured piano, where customers can listen to live music.

Marella Explorer will also showcase ten dining venues including Surf & Turf, Kora La and Snack Shack, as well as new additions Umi Sushi and The Mediterranean. All the new ships feature family cabins and suites that sleep up to seven, kid’s clubs, kid’s menus in the restaurants,

family-friendly entertainment, climbing walls, minigolf, VR experiences and outdoor cinemas.

Carol says a big advantage for selling to customers is accessibility from Ireland, with Marella Explorer based out of Palma for the summer and with flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Belfast. And Marella has its own take on tipping: “All service charges and tips are inluded, so you’re under no obligation,” says Carol.

“One of our core philosophies is to make it clear to passengers that it’s always all included.”

FEEL AT HOME IN FARAWAY PLACES New ship Marella Explorer available with flights from Dublin, Belfast, Shannon and Cork next summer.

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APRIL 2018 PAGE 14

CRUISE SPECIAL

Six-page guide to what’s new in 2018

Take off without flying C elebrity isn’t the first line to offer flight-free excursions out of Ireland. Local operator jmgcruise.com shouldn’t be overlooked by agents with clients who want a stress-free sea voyage. JMG is the Irish agent for independent British line Cruise & Maritime Voyages, which boasts 95pc guest satisfaction.

While the cruise industry has gone out of its way to shed its older clientele image, this line embraces it. And although there’s a lot to be said for vessels with bumper cars and robot bartenders, there’s a big market for those who want luxury without the bells, whistles and crowds.

The big plus of smaller vessels is you get closer to your destination - if you’ve spent time waiting for tenders to get you from ship to shore, you’ll appreciated disembarkation points in the heart of the acton. Solo travellers are catered for too, with supplements of just

Hot tubs on the pool deck of a JMG cruise direct out of Ireland

25pc on sailings where an allocation of single rooms is kept.

For agents it’s worth looking at the various itineraries - some are adults-only, while a selection are for all ages, but note that the creches of the larger lines aren’t in play here. But prices are good out of Dublin and Cobh, with one from the latter port offering a

sea/river cruise combo, taking in Bristol, Antwerp and Amsterdam, Rouen and London from €709pps.

Other sailings onboard the line’s new ship Magellan include the Southern Mediterranean favourites, as well as Norway’s Fjordland; Iceland & Northern Isles; Scottish Isles & Faroes and Summer Gardens & the River Seine.

Meanwhile, Alan Lynch from cruisescapes.ie is the Irish agent for Fred Olsen, a key player in the market for older cruisers.

Note that older doesn’t mean dull, as he reveals that on a recent trip, “I was the first to leave the bar as I couldn’t keep up with the passengers” What probably helps is the drinks package he offers - at

€18 a day, Alan Lynch reckons it’s the cheapest on the market.

He also points to customer satisfaction, saying “most of our business with Fred Olsen is repeat business from passengers”.

The line has some exotic “soft adventure” voyages, with flights ex Dublin, Cork or Shannon to Manchester or Gatwick and then onto a charter to Mauritius for a 14-night cruise from €3,849.

Flights, transfers, hotel and cruise all included. “You check in your bag in England, and the next time you see it, it’s in your cabin,” he says. Closer to Home they offer over 200 itineraries from British ports around Europe taking in all the main favourites. And given the size of its ships, it’s a great way to go in and see picturesque but tight Norwegian Fjords which are inaccessible for bigger vessels.

Flights are from Cork, Dublin or Shannon to Edinburgh and then take the (shorter than Southampton) sea route from Rosyth to the Fjords, from €999.

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APRIL 2018 PAGE 15

CRUISE SPECIAL

Six-page guide to what’s new in 2018

O

ften in the shade of ocean cruising, river cruising is growing in popularity - and developing a cooler, younger image. And the growth can be shown by the fact that one in three of all river vessels were built in the large decade, with more balconies, more exotic itineraries and a push to go more mainstream.

Cruisescapes.ie is the Irish agents for the familyrun CroisiEurope, which has more than 50 ships throughout the world. Their itineraries are at four and five-star level, aimed at a lower price point than competitors, on the rivers of Europe, South Africa, Vietnam & Cambodia and Russia. operators.” And he says three nights cruise on the “They’re unique in that the ships’ prices are often four-anchor ship, full board as a family business, they a steal when compared to meals, welcome cocktail, build their own ships to land-based rivals too. entertainment, free wifi and order in Strabourg,” says He gives as an example excursions.

Alan Lynch. “It means they a mini-cruise in Paris, with And the berthing location have vessels best suited to three nights on the four-star is top-dollar too - beside rivers of all sizes in Europe MS Botticellil. the Eiffel Tower, with especially, and offering includes a Thursday, November better value Travel than Extra otherhalf page ad AprilThe 2018 offer Final.pdf 1 12/03/2018 09:45:20

What’s on stream in river cruising

1-Sunday November 4 stay from €379pp, while flights and port transfers can be arranged for extra.

The award-winning Uniworld Boutique River Cruises is the best known operator in the market, and it’s taken a gamble of late –

it’s aiming to woo a young, and much younger, generation of river cruises with its U by Uniworld concept.

And first impressions have been positive, so agents should note that it’s a new option for travellers who think river voyages

are for an older crowd.

Cruises will initially be on the River Rhine, with cabins and lounges fitted with USB ports and charging outlets (American, Irish and European) to keep voyagers connected at all times.

Users have said that the onboard wifi is fast and free, but routers can be rented too. All menus and daily programmes are shown on TV screens throughout the ship, as well as on in-cabin TVs, which offer music, Bluetooth connectivity and for-fee movies.

There’s a nightclub and for-fee mixology, paint and wine classes, the top deck turns into a cinema, with passengers voting on WhatsApp to choose the movie. There’s also yoga classes, drumming lessons, moonlight massages and even camping with tents available. Whatever your age or line you take, there’s one huge advantage of river cruising: you dock in city centres, so it’s a brilliant way to sightseeing without the strain.

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Turismo De Galicia

BeDsonline slU

Hahn Air lines GmbH

PortAventura World

Turkish Airlines

Bookabed

Happy Tours

Princess Cruises

Universal orlando resort

Cambrils Tourism Board

Headon representation

Qantas Airways

Uniworld Boutique river Cruises

Canary islands

Hertz rent-a-Car

Qatar Airways

Vale da ribeira residences

Catalonia - Catalan Tourist Board

Holiday Taxis

riu Hotels & resorts

Viajes euroamerica

Cathay Pacific Airways

Holidayguru.ie

riviera Travel

Vila-seca-la Pineda Tourism Board

China Airlines

Hotel Botanico & The oriental spa Garden

rotana Hotel Management

Visit orlando

Class Travel (Portugal)

innstant Travel

rovos rail luxury rail Tours

VisitFlAnDers

Cork Airport

insight Vacations

royal Caribbean international

VisitPortugal

Costa Daurada Tourism Board

ireland West Airport Knock

sabs Travel Technologies

Wallace Travel Group

Croatia Airlines

irish Ferries

salou Tourism Board

Wendy Wu Tours

Cruise & Maritime Voyages

irish Travel Agents Association (iTAA)

seaWorld Parks & entertainment

Dawson Travel.ie

Jet2 Holidays

siam Park

www.irishtraveltradeshow.com

APRIL 2018 PAGE 18

AFLOAT CLIA Technology in the cruise industry

is to be the sub-theme of CLIA’s 12th annual conference, taking place in Southampton from May 23 to 25. Themes will include ship design, new onboard initiatives, and updates on latest investments in technology from member cruise lines.

P&O

Cruises’ daily service charge is rising again, from £6 to £7 per adult, per day, on all cruises from March 23. The line raised tip charges from £5 to £6 last March, and raised the fee from £3.95 to £5 in May 2015.

DISNEY Adventures by Disney’s will offer nine-night Seine River cruises in 2019, in partnership with AmaWaterways to include two days of exploring Paris on land followed by eight days visiting ports such as Conflans and Vernon and an option to extend their trip with a visit to Disneyland Paris Resort

Westpac Express

the Seas will be the first ship in the fleet to feature virtual reality trampolines, called Skypad.

Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas is to get a dry dock makeover, also with the addition of a virtual reality trampoline attraction, two waterslides, a FlowRider surf simulator and a new-to-Royal Polynesian-themed bar.

Westpac Express replaces Swift on Dublin-Holyhead

ROYAL Caribbean said Independence of

NORWEGIAN Cruise Line’s next new ship will be called Norwegian Encore, cruise line president Andy Stuart said at a steel-cutting at Meyer-Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

CELEBRITY Silhouette is to be

tweaked for the Irish market when it arrives in Dublin for its first mini-season, featuring kettles in cabins; more beers, gins and mixers, with Marmite and HP sauce for the English market when she moves to Southampton, plus a curry night.

P&O Cruises is to build a second 5,200-passenger ship, slated for delivery in 2022. It and its sister, due in 2020, will be the largest cruise ships ever built for the British market.

MSC Cruises is to base a second ship in Dubai for winter 2018-9 and offer calls to India, MSC Lirica is joining MSC Splendida and is featuring longer sailings of 11 and 14 nights.

UNIWORLD is planning a refurb of its Bordeaux ship River Royale in 2019, `Marissa Beck told guests at an event in Dublin.

ROYAL

Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas has been voted best ship overall in Cruise Critics’ 2018 Cruisers’ Choice Award winners.

NORWEGIAN Bliss will move to

New York for winter 2019-20, Norwegian Getaway to New Orleans; Norwegian Breakaway to Port Canaveral; and Norwegian Epic to San Juan.

CHILEAN cruise line Australis launched its second expedition vessel, Ventus Australis.

CELEBRITY Cruises replaced its

partnership with the Corning Museum of Glass with Hollywood Hot Glass,

Bigger fast ferry

T

he Irish Ferries fastcraft Jonathan Swift is to be replaced on the Dublin-Holyhead route by the larger 2001 built High Speed Craft Westpac Express.

The Westpac Express currently in Harland & Wolff shipyard for refurbishment after a series of charters. Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas is to buy the Jonathan Swift.

WestPac Express is currently the only HSV with an axial stern ramp, which affords it greater loading and unloading capacity.

Westpac Express is high-speed

catamaran built in 2001 by Austal of Henderson, Western Australia.

It was chartered as a United States Marine Corps Maritime Prepositioning ship by Military Sealift Command until January 2018 to provide extensive logistics support to US Marine Corps Maritime Prepositioning ship for Military Sealift Command. Westpac Express was sold to Irish Continental Group for €13.25m in April 2016, who continued to contract it out to Military Sealift Command until the end of 2017.

Irish Ferries operator, Irish Con-

tinental Group, has agreed to sell high speed craft Jonathan Swift to Balearia Eurolineas Maritimas for €15.5m, less broker’s commission and less a 10pc deposit.

The vessel is to be delivered by the end of April 2018. It was commissioned by and delivered to ICG in 1999 and has since operated on the company’s Dublin - Holyhead route.

On delivery to the group in 1999, the Jonathan Swift cost the group €38.8m. The disposal will generate a book profit for ICG of approximately €14.0m,

CELEBRITY EDGE IN FINAL PHASE

C

elebrity Edge has floated out of dry dock in the next stage of preparation for her launch.

The ship is under construction at STX France shipyard in SaintNazaire, France.

“The float out process marks a milestone in the building of Celebrity Edge,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises.

“With exterior construction com-

plete, the STX France team will now turn their attention to bringing all of the venues and staterooms to life.”

Industry firsts on board include a movable platform called the “Magic Carpet” located along the outside of the ship, which can double as a tender station, restaurant or bar depending on where it is located.

A revolutionary new ship design has allowed for the creation of so-

called infinite balconies, in which the balcony can be either an outdoor space or provide extra space indoors with the touch of a button.

Celebrity Edge will sail its inaugural cruise November 21, 2018, from Fort Lauderdale. The ship will operate a series of Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises, before repositioning to the Mediterranean; it also will sail a mini-cruise from Southampton.

ment to the Terminal 3 ramp with work which commencing on in mid February lasting for five days.

Captain Wyn Parry, Stena Line’s Irish Sea South Ports Manager, said: “We are always looking at ways to improve our facilities for our freight and travel customers and the two upgrades will certainly have a positive impact on our ability to remain com-

petitive and efficient.

“The new lower deck of T3 was fabricated by McGregor Ltd and transported to the Port by barge.

Unfortunately the exchange to the new linkspan will mean a minor inconvenience to Port customers but we have worked hard to minimise the impact.”

HOLYHEAD GETS RAMP REVAMP

S

tena Line Ports is investing £4m in upgrades to improve infrastructure at the Port of Holyhead.

The ferry company says the line recorded a record year for freight growth.

The upgrades will include the creation of additional freight space at the Port and also extensive refurbish-

APRIL 2018 PAGE 19

Symphony sound

T

Royal Caribbean showcases new public spaces

he world’s largest cruise ship -- Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas -- has successfully completed its first sea trials.

Having previously been postponed due to bad weather, the sea trials of the 230,000-ton, 5,479-passenger vessel took place from February 15 to 18. The ship left the STX France shipyard in Saint-Nazaire and covered a total of 1,000 nautical miles in 80 hours off Belle-Ile island in the Atlantic Ocean.

A statement released by the French shipyard said that every onboard system was tested during the trial.

The cruise line invited 200 trade and press to see the ship prior to the launch. Champion skaters Tanya and Serge were testing the ice for the invitees, and the ice creative consultant was watching from the corner.

The Boardwalk has been redesigned with a new sports bar, Play-

AFLOAT HURTIGRUTEN’s new cruise ship

Roald Amundsen, which features pioneering environmentally-friendly technology, launched at the Kleven shipyard in Ulsteinvik in Norway, ahead of the final stage of construction work. The first of two new passenger expedition ships in Hurtigruten’s Explorer Class of ships, Roald Amundsen has been purpose-built to sail in Antarctic and polar waters.

Tim Rice, Broadway and West End lyricist, is among the speakers for the Seabourn Conversations program aboard new ship Seabourn Ovation, debuting in May 2018.

SCENIC ’s first Discovery Yacht, Scenic

Symphony of the Seas completing its fit our in St Nazaire makers, that implements Royal’s sailing will depart from Barcelona on exclusive O3B satellite technology to March 31.

After its launch, Symphony of the keep up to date with sporting events worldwide. Starbuck’s is back in the Seas will offer seven-night MediRoyal Promenade and in the totally terranean cruises from Barcelona redesigned solarium there are two before repositioning to Miami for new eateries for Royal Caribbean, El seven-night Caribbean cruises.

New to the line is the Ultimate Loca Fresh for Mexican fast food and Fresh the Hooked Seafood, a fresh Family Suite, with features including fish and raw bar. a slide from the children’s bedroom The first pre-inaugural five-day to the lounge and a floor-to-ceiling

FRANCE

Eclipse, floated out at the Uljanik shipyard in Pula, Croatia. Scenic are to build a second expedition ship, the 228-passenger ice-class Scenic Eclipse II which will carry 200 passengers on Arctic cruises and feature the same impressive attractions including two six-seat helicopters, a six-seat submarine and aft marina with fleet of 12 Zodiacs.

CARNIVAL Jennifer De La Cruz of Carnival said the company has “taken immediate action to address the issues identified during recent ship inspections,” after Carnival Vista (79) and Carnival Breeze (79) both scored below a passing grade of 86 in health inspections designed to control the spread of gastrointestinal illnesses, the Miami Herald

DAILY SAILINGS SUMMER 2018 DUBLIN & ROSSLARE

M620

Follow the sun to France this summer!

Book now, play later with a deposit of just €100 at irishferries.com Travel. Together.

Book with a €100 deposit minimum 43 days before travel. Final balance payable 42 days before departure. New bookings only. Subject to availability. Daily summer sailings commence with introduction of WB Yeats July 2018. See irishferries.com for details.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 20

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

RYANAIR took delivery in Dublin of three aircraft, EI-GJD, EI-GJE and EI-GDY, all in one day bringing fleet size to 425 Boeing 738s.

NORWEGIAN Air International has

applied for a scheduled international licence to operate a service between member states of the European Union and Canada.

SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson said SAS Ireland operations “got off to a flying start” in December with the four A320neos completing 800 flights and carrying 80,000 passengers.

NORWEGIAN reported 32pc RPK

growth in February with passenger numbers up 11pc to 2.3m and load factor down two to 84.3pc.

TURKISH Airlines reported revenue of

US$10.9bn in 2017, and net profit of $223m.

South Africa’s Auditor General says SAA may not be able to continue to operate as a going concern having made a net loss of about US$471m in the year to March last.

Kenny Jacobs, Lisa Cashin and Eddie Wilson

Winter growth

BELFAST International passenger

numbers in January 2018 were down 3.9pc to 364,465, almost exclusively due to a 30,000 drop in passengers using Belfast-Gatwick following Ryanair’s pilot roster exit from the route.

AER LINGUS/Stobart Air confirmed

the twice daily Dublin-Kerry route will operate with ATR 72 from March 25, replacing ATR 42.

DUP Graham Keddie of Belfast Inter-

national Airport faced criticism for its sponsorship of a DUP dinner chaired by Ian Kyle Paisley in Antrim.

DUBLIN bus proposed its Dublin Airport route among three bus services to become 24 hour this year. Regular fares will apply to the service, rather than the increased costs of Nitelinks. housing estates along some of the routes will be avoided, with buses travelling only along the main roads.

RYANAIR announced it will offer flights from Berlin-Tegel and Dusseldorf for the first time this summer sing Palma based aircraft

AIR NAMIBIA, the state-owned air-

line faces collapse with banks refusing to grant the carrier credit to fund day-to-day operations after it failed to publish annual reports for over 10 years, The Namibian newspaper reported.

Irish regional start-up Aer Southeast, which originally planned to launch from Waterford Airport in 2017, is expecting to begin flights this year

RYANAIR announced 37 new Italy routes in winter18 to raise passenger numbers 5pc to 39m annual passengers. Riga winter 2018 schedule sees 3 new routes. Tallinn winter 2018 schedule sees 3 new routes. Ryanair is to close its Glasgow base while adding new routes to Edinburgh.

Ryanair promises 5pc winter growth out of Ireland

R

yanair announced its biggest winter programme yet for Republic of Ireland airports for 2018/19 for a planned 15.6m passengers for the year 2018/19, an increase of 5pc.

New routes below include newly extended summer operations. Frequencies are weekly except where stated.

At Dublin (13.1m passengers up 5pc): n 7 new routes: Athens (2), Bari (2),

I

Frankfurt (2 daily), Luxembourg (3), Marrakesh (2), n Paphos (1) & Santander (2).

Frankfurt and Luxembourg replace Hahn. n More flights on 11 other routes: Barcelona (3 daily), Birmingham (6 daily), Budapest (2 daily), Cologne (2 daily), Faro (2 daily), Krakow (2 daily), Lanzarote (8w), Madrid (3 daily), Malaga (9w), Manchester (6 daily) & Venice (3w).

At Cork (915,000 passengers, up

3pc): n 1 new route to Faro (2w).

At Shannon (715,000 passengers, up 7pc): n 2 new routes Bristol 2w and Liverpool (3) plus Manchester increased from 4 to 6w.

At Knock (585,000 passengers, up 2pc) n 1 new route to Bristol (3w) At Kerry 285,000 passengers, no indicated change but Berlin Schönefeld seems to have been removed.

WATERFORD STILL HOPES FOR REVIVAL

rish regional start-up Aer Southeast, which originally planned to launch from Waterford Airport in 2017, is expecting to begin flights this year.

Aer Southeast announced an early start through its official Facebook account, which showed a Saab 340 in its

A

livery.

The start-up said it is now part of a company that has its own airline operating license and air operator’s certificate.

More info is to follows in the coming days,” the statement said.

Aer Southeast originally planned to start flights from Waterford

on 24Jul17. This launch was pulled, because the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation banned from the airline from taking bookings without the correct licenses. At the time, Aer Southeast CEO Einar Adalsteinsson described the situation as “lessthan-ideal.”

Einar Adalsteinsson

FRANKFURT MOST SERVED

n analysis of OAG schedules for a typical peak week in July 8 shows that Frankfurt will serve more non-

stop destinations than any other airport worldwide.

The top seven remains largely unchanged from the equivalent week in

S17, the only movers being CDG overtaking Istanbul Atatürk to move into second from third.

Paris CDG will provide links to the most country markets and will also be served by the most airlines

APRIL 2018 PAGE 21

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

DAA & EI truce?

A

Airport and Aer Lingus CEOs find common ground

er Lingus has “reached an agreement” with Dublin Airport regarding plans for infrastructural development at Dublin Airport to enable continued expansion by carriers.

Aer Lingus CEO Stephen Kavanagh and IAG CEO Willie Walsh have both complained about capacity constraints at Dublin Airport Despite the criticism of the daa’s infrastructure rollout, Kavanagh said engagement so far with newly appointed DAA CEO Dalton Philips has been “excellent”.

Aer Lingus has accused Dublin airport of putting brakes on its trans Atlantic expansioin plans in the past.

The criticism relates to gate capacity for wide bodied aircraft.

Stephen Kavanagh acknowledged that there is a recognition that, “not just from an Aer Lingus perspective, but from an airport perspective, infrastructure is required.”

MOODIE DAVIN Dublin and Ire-

land West aiports took home four awards in the global Moodie Davitt awards, which recognise excellence in digital in airports and airport retail..

AIRCRAFT parts supplier Aero-Zone Distribution Europe is to boost its workforce from 10 to 25 at Shannon Free Zone, and move to the former Boart building, which is three times bigger than its current 6,000 sq ft facility.

FLY The Colm Barrington headed Fly

Leasing is to buy 54 Airbus narrowbody aircraft and seven CFM engines on lease to AirAsia Berhad, part of a larger acquisition under which FLY will acquire 132 aircraft from AAB and its subsidiary AAC, as well as options to acquire 50 A320neo family aircraft.

OAG schedules for July next show that Frankfurt will serve more non-stop destinations than any other airport worldwide.

Stephen Kavanagh and Willie Walsh

“I think there’s now a joint agreement in terms of where and how the Aer Lingus ambition can be fulfilled in terms of the development of the south apron.”

“The question then of course is how quickly it can be delivered.

While we can see summer 2018 operating, beyond summer 2018 we are seeing pinch points.”

Free th nking ble independent

COBALT Air, which flies from Dublin to Cyprus, was admitted as a member of the International Air Transport Association at a ceremony in Larnaca airport.

SMARTWINGS passengers in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, and France are to provide streaming content using software developed by Inflight Dublin.

The USA on our doorstep

With full US Preclearance at Shannon Airport, there is no need to waste precious time in a queue when you land in the USA. Just pick up your luggage and walk out the door to the time of your life!

Declan Power declan.power@shannonairport.ie

Isabel Harrison isabel.harrison@shannonairport.ie

shannonairport.ie

APRIL 2018 PAGE 22

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

SIPTU claimed the industrial relations environment at DAA is broken as talks continue over a new pay and productivity agreement QATAR Airways took delivery of the

world’s first Airbus A350-1000 as the aircraft’s global launch customer before an audience of international media at the Airbus Delivery Centre in Toulouse. Akbar Al baker says he will be introducing an A350 on the Dublin-Doha route.

RYANAIR’s winter 2018 schedule includes Belfast-Manchester daily bringing passenger numbers to 955k, the return of the roster-reduced Dublin-Stansted 3 daily bringing Belfast to 13 routes, Derry-Glasgow 5w and Liverpool 4w, bringing passenger numbers to 145k. Picture shows Michael O’Leary and Graham Keddie.

ETIHAD Airways is reducing flights from 14w per week to 12w on the Abu Dhabi to Dublin route from May 1 to June 14 in what he calls a temporary network operational change, suspending EY41 Abu Dhabi to Dublin and EY48 Dublin to Abu Dhabi on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Etihad Airways standard schedule change commercial policy is in place to rebook and accommodate guest on other services.

Trade partners who wish to contact them directly may call +3531 5245497.

CAR The Commission for Aviation Regu-

lation Second Interim Review of the 2014 Determination in relation to a Supplementary Capital Expenditure Allowance for Dublin Airport supports 23 DAA projects, collectively referred to by DAA as PACE, the Programme of Airport Campus Enhancement, to catch up on capacity required to meet recent unforeseen traffic growth and capacity strains at the airport. The commission supports an additional capital allowance of €267.5m as its estimate of the efficient cost of completing all of the PACE projects.

AER SOUTHEAST appears to have been resuscitated and licensed, but no word yet on the planned attempts to revive Waterford services to Birmingham and Luton.

AER LINGUS missed revenue tar-

gets for Dublin-Hartford by 10pc and will be taking the Connecticut state subsidy of 3.5m for starting the service. Bradley Airport says Aer Lingus passenger traffic is up 8pc in the first quarter of its second year (Oct-Dec 2017).

Aer Lingus reduced from 4w to 3w for the first two months of the year in response to off-peak seasonal demand.

RYANAIR said it plans to seek com-

pensation from Portuguese fuel company Galp because of fuel failures at Lisbon airport after the aviation regulator required airlines to compensate passengers.

ROUTES Online analysis shows Dublin Airport is among Europe’s biggest growers since 2012.

RYANAIR is to close its base in Timisoara, Romania on March 25 due to weak commercial performance

Eddy Wilson and Kenny Jacob of Ryanair brief the media

Brave new world 30pc of passengers now select seats in advance

E

ddie Wilson of Ryanair said 96pc of Spanish pilots, 80pc of Irish, are on new terms. He told a briefing for travel media that Denmark and France will talk on pilots and cabin crew.

He told the briefing that union & pilot leadership together can be positive,as happened in London with BALPA, but in other places, unions (he suggested Dublin) “think they are the centre of the aviation uni-

verse and want to change Ryanair to be like Aer Lingus or Lufthansa.” He said unions should be about members rather than ideology.

Kenny Jacobs told the media that overall about 30pc of passengers now select seats on a directly paidfor basis, 20pc as part of a higher fare and 50pc do not choose seats.

Ryanair is making the case in Brussels of Ryanair supporting European integration with low fares and putting

places on the map.

It is also championing its green initiatives such as high density low fuel aircraft, high seat factor, and the war on plastic.

Ryanair would like to see the second Dublin runway sooner, but for €240m not €320m and would like a third independent terminal longer term. DAA has done a good job but needs to provide more capacity at the right price.

LARGEST DRONE IN IRELAND TAKES OFF

T

he largest drone ever flown in Ireland has carried out its first European test flight in Co Clare.

The company that designed the CGT45 SLT unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) wants to establish Clare as a European test centre for its drones.

A-techSYN, which

designs and builds unmanned aerial systems (UAS), launched its UAV business in the Shannon Free Zone near Shannon Airport in 2017. The company forms part of the Shannon Avionics Cluster.

Wednesday’s demonstration was held at Spanish Point airfield in

front of Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection Mr Pat Breen; representatives from the Turkish Embassy in Dublin; Shannon Group as well as members of the Irish Coast Guard, Civil Defence and other interested groups.

Gokhan Celik of A-techSYN

QATAR PAX UP BUT HEAD FOR LOSS

Q

atar Airways is to report a “very large loss” in current fiscal year ending 01Apr18, due to a regional political dispute that has slapped restrictions on the airline.

Carrier will need to find new streams of financing

to survive since it has no access to the equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, says CEO. Qatar Airways announced plans to launch Doha-London Gatwick 14w from May 22 with B787-8 aircraft, increas-

ing frequency to 16 times weekly from 15Jun to Sept 29. Qatar announced other new routes to Bodrum and Malaga too. [Aviator.aero] For the first time all AirAsia operating units including Philippines, Indonesia Thailand, India and

Malaysia, made profits in 2017 Q4. The “Group” (encompassing Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippine Units) posted Q4 revenue of RM2.66 bn, up 10pc.

Load factor of 88pc was up one and passengers up 17pc to 10.44m.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 23

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare RYANAIR is reducing the number of aircraft based at Hahn Airport from 5 to 4 for summer 2018. Four routes affected (Porto, Venice Treviso, Valencia and Zadar) will be relocated to Frankfurt am Main and the fifth route to Plovdiv will be discontinued.

STOBART A Stobart ATR 42-600

EI-GEV entered service last week on Dublin-Newquay.

It will be another record summer at Dublin airport with 145,033 aircraft movements

25m summer seats

A

irport Coordination Ltd, responsible for slots at Dublin Airport report for summer 2018 indicates total aircraft movements at Dublin for summer 2018 are up 7.4pc to 145,033. Seats cleared are up 9.1pc to 25.06m.

Movement capacity is increased by seven since summer 2017. Departure slots in the 0900 hour are reduced by 4 from 29 to 25, presumably based on experience of congestion in 2017.

Peak week movements are up 6.0pc to 4,992 movements and seats up 8.2pc to 848,556.

Ryanair remains the carrier with most peak week seats, up 7.2pc to 317,167, a capacity share of 37.4pc, down from 37.. Aer Lingus including Aer Lingus Regional is up 5.7pc to 299.044 seats, a share of 35.2pc, down from 36.1pc. Aer Lingus has 53 more slot pairs this year, and more and larger transatlantic operations.

T

The big two combined seat share is 72.6pc, down from 73.8pc. All 53 other passenger carriers account for 27.4pc, up from 26.2pc, (3) British Airways is up 3.7pc to 21,002, a 2.5pc share. (4) Lufthansa is up 13.2pc to 14,728. (5) Norwegian up 56pc with 14,670. (6) Flybe up 40pc to 13,828 including the franchised Stobart Air services to Southend. (7) American Airlines unchanged at 12,544 seats.

(8) Emirates unchanged at 11,032.

(9) Delta unchanged at 9,898. (10) United down 9.5pc to 9,828, (11) Air Canada up 4.6pc to 8,260. (12) Cityjet down 16pc to 7,790,.

Development are China - Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Hainan Airlines with capacity for 6w, listed

by ACL as an operator to Beijing and Shenzhen announced as 8 sectors to/ from Beijing with 4 non-stop and 4 via Edinburgh.

Cello is a new English charter operator has flights listed to Dubrovnik, Lourdes, Naples, Palma, Reus, Salzburg and Verona, 19 peak week sectors.

Loganair is listed with a Norwich service which may have dropped out after a review or may have been a slot holder for the Carlisle service.

Aer Lingus is shown as having new Philadelphia and Seattle services and Miami, decreases on London Heathrow, Madrid, Bristol (EI Regional), Glasgow (EI Regional) & Newcastle (EI Regional) services and increases on Izmir, Malaga, Amsterdam, Bilbao, Birmingham (EI Regional), Bordeaux, Catania, Dubrovnik, Rome, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Lyon, Marseille, Milan, Miami, Nantes, Chicago, Split, Toulouse, Berlin Tegel, Prague, Venice, Vienna & Zurich services with Warsaw closed.

EI PUNCTUALITY 81.7pc IN 2017

he IAG Annual Report and Accounts for 2017 indicates Aer Lingus punctuality (departure within 15 minutes) in 2017 was 81.4pc, BA 80.0pc, Iberia 90.0pc, Vueling 79.9pc Fuel efficiency, grams of CO2 per pax-km showed Aer Lingus 96.5, BA 97.8. Iberia 83.3, 84.5, reflecting

route structure, seating density and load factor Renewable electricity use across the Group in 2017: Aer Lingus 49pc, BA 81pc, Iberia and Vueling 18.5pc each.

Continuous descent operations help reduce noise by keeping aircraft higher over the ground for longer,

and save fuel. British Airways and Aer Lingus are already among the top performing airlines, regularly achieving over 90pc compliance.

During 2017 Iberia and Vueling continued their focus on improving CDOs, bringing all IAG carriers to over 80pc CDO compliance at London Heathrow.

WALSH: HEATHROW TOO COSTLY

W

illie Walsh launched an attack on Heathrow’s cost and project management record at the Westminster Parliament Transport Committee hearing on Airports National Policy Statement.

He said lots of airlines are trying to operate at Heathrow have not been able to make money because of the costs associated with Heathrow.

“When I started dealing with Heathrow in 2001 as CEO of Aer Lingus, Heath-

row charges were £5.23 per passenger. Today, they are £20.72”.

“A hub works because you have short-haul and long-haul. I suspect there will be a lot of interest in additional long-haul flying.

I think there is going to be

very little appetite for additional short-haul flyin”.

“The reason why British Airways has 52pc of the slots at Heathrow is that since 2001, when we held 36pc of the slots, we have bought slots from airlines that abandoned Heathrow.

AVOLON Domhnall Slattery-headed Avolon grew its owned, managed and committed fleet to 908 aircraft in 2017, full year profit after tax increased 59pc to US$550m, revenue was up129pc to $2.4 bn, an increase of 129pc year on year. Annualised lease rate was 11.5pc.

WAYPOINT Limerick based Way-

point Leasing, the largest independent global helicopter leasing company, named Hooman Yazhari as CEO replacing Ed Washecka, who has left the Company. Alan Jenkins has been promoted to President of Waypoint. Allan Rowe has been promoted to Head of Sales & Relationship Management.

STANSTED Airport lodged a planning application to raise the cap on the number of passengers from 35m to 43m.

EUROWINGS

is to grow 30pc capacity at Düsseldorf Airport where it plans to station 40 aircraft and operate 250 flights a day in summer in response to Air Berlin’s demise.

LOW COST T/A Anna.aero/OAG analysis show Norwegian has extended its lead over AirAsia X as the world’s largest long haul low cost carrier scheduled to operate transatlantic links from nine European countries. The analysis did not include Aer Lingus.

NORWAY All of Norway’s short-haul airliners should be entirely electric by 2040, the country’s airport operator, Avinor, said.

QANTAS rejected the results of a fuel efficiency industry report which put the airline last in the transpacific market. The International Council on Clean Transportation said the Australian carrier was the least fuel efficient of 20 major airlines operating between the US and Asia Pacific in 2016.

CORK Airport Managing Director Niall

McCarthy believes that Brexit could have a silver lining - the return of duty free for flights between Ireland and Britain.

DUBLIN Work has begun on Dublin

Airport’s new air traffic control tower which is vital to the new runway project.

RYANAIR announced increased winter schedules in Poland, Portugal.

DUBAI International is to close its runway for 45 days.

BA have raised the minimum age for someone travelling alone from 12 to 14 from May 1, HAWAIIAN Airlines is considering

nonstop flights from Hawaii to London and Perth, after committing to ordering 10 B787-9s delivering from 2021. It cancelled the only orders for the short-body A330neo.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 24

THE FLYING COLUMN

Aviation with Gerry O’Hare

RYANAIR r announced a new environmental policy with a voluntary option to make a donation to offset carbon emissions. Ryanair will now accept cards on the Discover Global Network, which includes Diners Club from 55 countries worldwide.

AER LINGUS CEO Stephen

Kavanagh reportedly said he would trial a co-operation agreement with Ryanair to offer connecting flights on each other’s services in the marketplace. If it is successful, we will live with the problems of success. If not, we will learn the lessons and move on. The service will be packaged by a third-party intermediary that will also offer passengers connection insurance to cover missed onward flights. The risk of having to compensate passengers for missed connections was one of Ryanair’s main reasons for shunning the idea of offering feeder flights for long-haul routes.

LOGANAIR is to take over Glasgow to Derry when Ryanair discontinues the route on October 28.

AER LINGUS passenger numbers

were up 6.6pc in February with load factor up 1.7 to 71.2pc, points.

DAA plans to leverage data from tens of

Simon Coveney toasts the new Dubin-Beijing route

thousands of passengers in an effort to boost the €400m-plus annual retail and ancillary sales generated at Dublin and Cork airports, it was reported here.

AIRBUS said that 3,700 jobs are at risk

across sites in Europe as a result of its plans to cut production rates of its A380 and A400M aircraft.

AER LINGUS flights from Belfast

International to Faro and Malaga next summer are to be operated by ASL B737, leaving Heathrow as the only Aer Lingus operated route from Belfast.

US negotiators offered a standard bilateral agreement in their initial negotiations for post-Breatimeacht aviation, these typically require airlines to be majority owned and controlled by parties from their country of origin.

This will curtail the transatlantic operating rights of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Ed Sims is the new CEO of Westjet, replacing retiring Gregg Saretsk MICHAEL O’LEARY was de-

clared a dollar billionaire on the latest Forbes listing

RYANAIRwill replace the €30,000 charge for trainee pilots with a “sponsored” programme, under which pilots will pay €5,000 for training with CAE Amsterdam for cadets from flying schools with valid EASA (CPL) and frozen ATPL (Air Transport Pilots License).

CORK Airport has been shortlisted for a European-wide public vote to be named as a new route for German airline Eurowings, to be part of its 2018/2019 winter schedule and is currently running a very close second to Kosice. The public can vote here.

A Beijing boost

Hainan to fly Dublin-Beijing 4w, 2 via Edinburgh

A

s first reported by Travel Extra’s Sunday Supplement, the much anticipated Hainan Dublin-Edinburgh-Berlin 4w routes will commence on June 12.

Two of the flights will be clockwise and two anti-clockwise, were confirmed for June 12 using an A330-300 in 32-160 configuration.

Flights will be overnight in both directions. Departures from Beijing are scheduled at 0130, non-stop to Dublin on Thu and Sun arriving 0600, and via Edinburgh on Tue and Sat arriving Dublin 0910.

Dublin departures on Tue and Sat will be at 1110 non-stop and Thu and Sun at 0800 via Edinburgh, all arriving Beijing next day at 0500.

Hainan has an extensive connecting network at Beijing. The flights are not yet on Hainan’s website but it has a practice of very special promotional offers once they are put up.

The deal was signed at a ceremony in Beijing with Tanaiste Simon Coveney.

AER LINGUS FINDER SERVICE AT A COST

A

er Lingus passengers are to be charged for return of lost property. It has hired an outside firm to take care of returning items like phones and cameras left on planes.

The charge also ap-

plies to items left in the company’s lounge at Dublin Airport.

The firm wereturnit. com charges €20 to find a wallet or purse, €30 for a bag and €60 for a laptop. Other airlines such as Norwegian

also use WeReturnIt for handling lost property.

Dublin Airport has a €6 handling charge for each lost item returned to its owner, with additional postage fees if required.

A place to lose your phone

DUBLIN PLANS IMPROVEMENTS

D

ublin Airport announced plans to spend an extra €285m between 2019 and 2021 on minor infrastructure changes in additional to their proposed

€100m million a year spend. Regulator will allow €267.5 to be recovered. Plans include: n T1 immigration halls expanded

n T1/T2 self service check in system expanded south apron stands n T2 business lounge docking system and fixed ground power units in T1

major taxiway changes to alleviate the current bottle neck with extended dual taxi extended, extra line up points, and improved pier 4 access.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 25

TRAVEL WRITER AWARDS 2018 winner of Brenner Charlotte the Newcomer/Young of TUI, sponsor, Journalist EoghanAward, Corry Conor Haugh of the Sunday Independent with Charlotte Brenner of Falcon Holidays

Denise Lavelle and Rachel Healy, RTE Cork for “Creedon’s Shannon” series on RTE1, Teresa Gancedo, and Eoghan Corry

Yvonne Gordan: “Healy Homeland – Something v write about”, Fiona Cunningham of Tourism to Northern Ireland, sponsor, Eoghan Corry

Adventure winner Isabel Conway: “Lots of ado about mushing”, Sunday Times, Martin Skelly of uWalk.ie, sponsor, Eoghan Corry

M

Mal Rogers is writer of year

al Rogers was presented with the Travel Extra Journalist of the Year Award at a ceremony held to coincide with the annual Holiday World Show.

Ten other winners, each for different holidaying categories, were announced on Friday night at a dinner in Thomas Prior House, Ballsbridge which was attended by the cream of Irish travel and tourism writers and broadcasters.

The event was sponsored by the Spanish Tourism Office and Ibiza.

The award winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of senior Irish journalists. This year saw a huge increase in the number of submissions from previous years, displaying the creativity and continuing innovation of travel and tourism journalism in Ireland.

Best Newcomer Journalist sponsored by TUI: Angela Mullins: ‘Whiskey yourself away for a weekend in Aberdeen’ in the Irish Sun Best Digital Media sponsored

by ClickandGo: Mal Rogers ‘Burgundy wine trail’ in the Irish Post Best Broadcasting sponsored by the Spanish Tourism Office: John Creedon Shannon Series on RTE1.

Overall winner Mal Rogers with Teresa Gancedo Neito, director Spainish Tourist Board Dublin, Vincent Torres I Ferrer, Ibiza Tourist Board, sponsor and Eoghan Corry.

Best Northern Ireland sponsored Best Long Haul sponsored by

by Tourism Northern Ireland: Cassidy Travel: Aoife Finneran Yvonne Gordon Heaney home- ‘Miami So Ice’ in the Sun land: Something to write about.

Travel Extra Travel Writer of Home market (Ireland) story the Year (overall) sponsored by the sponsored by Fáilte Ireland: Moira Spanish Tourism Office (Ireland): Hannon ‘Into the West’ in the Star: Mal Rogers.

Best Adventure sponsored by Previous winners of the overall UWalk.ie: Isabel Conway: Lots of award were: 2002 Cleo Murphy, ado about Mushing in the Sunday 2003-4 Pól Ó Conghaile, 2005 Times.

Kathryn Thomas, 2006 Muriel BolBest Skiing sponsored by Top- ger, 2007 Philip Nolan, 2008 Pól Ó flight: Catherine Murphy ‘it’s all Conghaile, 2009 Mark Evans, 2010 uphill from here’ in the Mail on Philip Nolan 2011 Isabel Conway Sunday 2012 Sue Morris, 2013, 14, 15 Pól Best Short Haul: sponsored by Ó Conghaile, 2016 Isabel Conway, Sunway: Pol O Conghaile Morocco 2017 Yvonne Gordon, 2018 Mal in National Geographic Traveller Rogers

Best Ski Catherine Murphy “It’s all uphill from here”, Mail on Sunday, Michelle Anderson of Topflight and Gastein Tourist Board Austria, sponsor, Eoghan Corry

Home Market (Ireland) winner Moira Hannon: “A League of their Own” (about Donegal), The Star, Alex Connelly of Fáilte Ireland, sponsor, Eoghan Corry

Best Short Haul Pol O Conghaile “Morocco”, National Geographic, Marie Claire Porter of Sunway, sponsor, Eoghan Corry

Room with a view

Digital Media winner Mal Rogers: “Burgundy Wine Trail”, The Irish Post, Gillian Wilkie of ClickandGo.com, sponsor, Eoghan Corry

Best Long Haul winner Aoife Finneran of the Sun with category sponsor John Spollen of Cassidy Travel and Eoghan Corry

All award winners

APRIL 2018 PAGE 26

GLOBAL VILLAGE

Inside the Travel Business

EMIRATES announced the winners in the make 2018 a year to remember competition. First Prize, 3 pairs of return Business Class tickets to Dubai: Lynn Dempsey of Newbridge Travel, Nikki Atkinson of Travel Solutions and Kathryn McCarthy of Abbey Travel (pictured). Second Prize, 3 pairs of return Economy Class tickets to Dubai: Siobhan Collins of BCD Travel, Yolande Fitzpatrick of Selective Travel Management, Aisling Murphy of Keller Travel. Third Prize: 3 pairs of VIP hospitality tickets to see Arsenal: Luigi Di Marzo of Usit, Aoife Jordan of Travel Leaders and Jamie Thomas of Travel Counsellors.

AMADEUS released NDC-X, its response to NDC which it says will enable travel companies to evolve their travel distribution and merchandising to ensure that it responds to travel seller requirements, and that it has the right economics to drive investment.

TRAVELPORT released a product roadmap to extend its content offering to enable travel agency customers to access IATA and NDC content via Travelport’s platform which it says will offer industrialised connection for airlines that connects via NDC-standard APIs, a point of sale companion application for travel agencies that offers NDC-enabled content alongside the GDS workflow in Travelport Smartpoint desktop and, in time, a first fully integrated search, book and manage function, combining NDC-connected content and GDS content in the same workflow on Travelport product including Travelport’s API Trip Services.

CLICK&GO appointed Limelight Communications as their new PR Agency.

AIR CANADA “Understanding the operational reality of the marketplace,” Air Canada is only allowing ACGlobe cards issued under the name of the agency to be used for payment based on new IATA Resolution 890. When submitting your application for the ACGlobe or ACGlobe Plus card, enter the code RES890 which will fast track your application through the underwriting process.

BA and Brand USA are offering an additional chance to win a place on Ireland and Britain MegaFam 2018. The top 10 sellers in the month of February 2018 will be entered into a draw to win their place on the trip.

ITAA The Irish Travel Agents Association

called again for updated legislation to contract the fact that 85pc of travelling public remain unprotected by outdated bonding legislation.

Registration is open for the Irish Travel Industry Trade Show on Thursday, April 12.

MSC are seeking a third person to join Rebecca and Erica Oglesby on the team.

TRAVELPORT

partnered with ACI Worldwide to launch fraud control and settlement product for airline customers Travelport Authorise Plus.

IATA say the industry incurs losses of

$1bn per year from fraudsters using stolen, compromised or fake credit card details to buy

IATA board members photographed at the annual conference in Cancun last June

IATA card change

T

Move to accept agency cards follows lobbying

he International Air Transport Association member airlines will collectively allow accredited travel agents to pay for tickets with their own payment cards for the first time.

The change was allowed after decades of lobbying by the travel industry. IATA members also voted to create a process called Transparency in Payments to support use of agentowned cards through its Billing and Settlement Plan clearing system. TIP will allow airlines to understand and approve the costs they face for each

form of payment and agent remittance of airline funds.

“No form of remittance is barred

by TIP, but travel agents can only use those forms to which an airline has previously given consent,” according to an IATA statement. Airlines had been reluctant to allow agentowned cards because of the uncertainty about how much it would cost them. Merchant fees charged by card providers range from around 1.75 percent to 3pct, a spread which soon adds up when multiplied across thousands of tickets.

The new IATA mandate will appear on all Amadeus Itineraries /e-ticket receipts and ITRs Air Canada responded to the change by saying “understanding the operational reality of the marketplace,” Air Canada is only allowing ACGlobe cards issued under the name of the agency to be used for payment based on new IATA Resolution 890.

When submitting your application for the ACGlobe or ACGlobe Plus card, enter the code RES890 which will assist in fast tracking your application through the underwriting process.

72 MEMBERS AND NEW CHAIR FOR VISIT USA

V

isit USA Committee Ireland membership has grown to 72 members.

They include tourist boards, airlines, car rental companies, accommodation, tour operators and attractions and last week’s meeting was the first for the newly elected Execu-

tive Board: Chair Claire Doherty of the Travel Department, Vice-Chair Jenny Rafter of Aer Lingus, Treasurer Patricia Purdue pf Massachusetts Office of Tourism and Discover New England, secretary Mairead Keegan of Click&Go, with Tony Lane as Executive Director. Tony

Lane noted Ireland is once again ranked in the top 20 countries for visitation to the US, an incredible fact given our population size, and we are seeing a steady increase in air lift too, giving a great deal of capacity.

Tony Lane

TRAVELPORT TO NAME SUCCESSOR

T

ravelport is close to naming a successor to Sinead Reilly as Country Manager for Ireland, Sinead has been pro-

moted to the new role of Strategic Account Director for the Northern European Region. Simon Ferguson, Managing Director, Northern Europe, told Travel

Extra that the company would be sticking to its principle of appointing an Irish person to the position.

Country Manager for Britain and Ireland Paul

Broughton backed up the view, and said an Irish name - and a big Irish presence - is key for the travel tech company.

u

APRIL 2018 PAGE 27

Inside the Travel Business

GLOBAL VILLAGE CLASSIC COLLECTION

Jane Nevin, from Arrow Tours, is the winner of the February draw for a place on the Classic Collection Holidays five-star trip at the end of April. One more draw is still due, with agents automatically entered into the competition when they make a Classic Collection Holidays booking..

PORTUGAL Susana Cordoso is the

new Dublin director of Turismo de Portugal to succeed Celina Tavares who has been promoted to head up the USA office of Turismo de Portugal.

MSC Cruises, headed in Ireland by Rebecca Kelly, has a yearly family pass to Dublin Zoo up for grabs. To enter, make a booking on the last of MSC’s Summer flycruises and email your reference number to RebeccaK@ msccruises.co.uk . Winner will be chosen at random on March 20.

Opening of the 2017 Irish Travel Trade Show. The 2018 show takes place in the RDS on April 12

President Spollen New ITAA chair wants to boost confidence in trade

C

assidy Travel’s John Spollen is set to succeed Cormac Meehan as President of the Irish Travel Agents Association. The appointment is set to be ratified at the ITAA annual general meeting on April 12.

John Spollen, a joint founder and Managing Director of the successful Cassidy Travel along with John Cassidy 33 years ago, said his programme would be “confidence in the country and confidence in

the trade”. It is one of the longest partnerships in the business with 90 staff and nine travel shops.

In his time in the industry he has seen immense change in booking patterns and technology, business ups and downs.

John Spollen was in the night club business when John Cassidy and himself got together to found a travel agency. According to Spollen we are still friends and confidantes.

Cassidy used the reces-

sion to grow into the ring of shopping centres around the M50. They have also

grown their online business across the 32 counties.

ITAA PRESIDENTS

1970 Michael Kelly 1972 Louis Byrne 1974 Con Neenan 1978 Andy McKenna 1980 Michael Kelly 1982 Michael Doorley 1984 Jim Loftus 1986 Con Horgan 1988 Eugene Magee 1990 Tony Brazil 1992 Jim Sharkey 1994 Gerry Benson

1996 PJ Brennan 1998 Gerry Benson 2000 Fergus Kilkelly 2002 Tony Brazil 2004 Michael Doorley 2006 James Malone 2008 Jim Vaughan 2010 Pat Dawson 2012 Clare Dunne 2014 Martin Skelly 2016 Cormac Meehan 2018 John Spollen

TRADE SHOW GROWS TO BIGGEST

T

wenty more exhibitors have signed up for the fourth Irish Travel Trade Show in Hall 3 of RDS Main Hall Complex, Dublin 4, on Thurs-

day April 12th. The show, organised on behalf of the ITAA by Business Exhibitions Limited, is offering free registration to all Irish travel professionals. The

120 exhibitors include 20 airlines and 31 national and regional tourist organisations. The day includes ITAA management meetings in the morning,

the Spanish Tourist Board will host a luncheon for invited guests from 1pm. At 2pm the Irish Travel Trade Show will be officially opened.

SPAIN LAUNCHES TRADE CERTS

T

he Spanish Tourist launched Spain Specialist Programme a new training platform for travel agents.

The programme features

11 modules, each following a short questionnaire whereby on completion of all modules, agents will earn Spain Specialist advanced certificates.

Agencies that complete the programme will also appear on the official tourism board website www. spain.info in the list of agencies specialising in

Spain and will earn the right to use the “Specialist on Spain” logo on promotional materials.

HILLS BALFOUR joined forces with MMGY Global, which the companies say will expand their global reach and brings the agency’s total number of employees to more than 400 and overseas offices to four, including Madrid, Taipei, and now additionally London and Dubai.

SKAL Dublin club AGM took place in the Herbert Park Hotel, hosted by Skålleague Ewan Plenderleith. A drive to recruit a new younger membership was among the items on the agenda.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN Michaela Banks was awarded the RCCL Circle of Excellence Award.

AMADEUS launched Video Solutions, a video player that allows Travellers to view the destination but also book local restaurants and trips UNIWORLD Boutique River Cruise

Collection is asking agents to complete three courses: Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection Agent Training; U by Uniworld product for the 21-45 age group to debut in April, and the 2018 update course on 2018 innovations, the SS Beatrice, Remarkable Rhine itinerary and themed cruises. Enhancements to the year old Questex include images, video content and insights on the rivers and excursions. Upon completion of all three courses, agents become eligible for travel agent rates up to 70pc off the published fares for Uniworld and U by Uniworld and receive a badge for their e-mail signature.

TUI An English couple who lodged a bogus food poisoning damages claim against a Turkish spa resort have escaped jail after a private prosecution brought by TUI. THOMAS COOK is bringing back Tunisia ex Belfast for Summer 2018.

LES VILLAGES

Nature, a collaboration between Disneyland Paris and Center Parcs, is aiming to enlist Irish tour operators to sell the French holiday park in Ireland, the resort’s Cathy Rankin told Travel Extra.

APRIL 2018 PAGE 28

WINDOW SEAT Last month in numbers

130m Number of passengers Ryanair carried in

the rolling twelve months to February 2018.

5.9m Number of passengers Ryanair carried in February 2018, a record for the month.

318,200 Number of Irish visits to Portugal in 2017, up 11.8pc and a new record.

u39 Ryanair average fare in summer 2018 as predicted by Kenny Jacobs, back to 2005 levels

612 Number of flights at Irish airports cancelled

by Blizzard Emma.

518 Average number of daily movements in Dublin airport so far in 2018, a low season record.

245 Number of sites who participated in Tourism Ireland Global Greening in 38 different countries

F

THE WILD WINDS DOTH BLOW

or those who have ever looked at a wind map, this book is a treasure.

Nick Hunt remembers, as a child, perusing the map of wind routes of Europe with their magical names, like Tramontana, Mistral, Sirocco, Bora and Helm. He found them romantic and mysterious.

The arrows put him in mind of roads connecting regions and cultures and made him want to walk some of the paths to see if they made sense as a journey.

He chases the helm in Cross Fell, the bora (or bura) in Trieste and Croatia, the foehn in Switzerland and Provence’s mistral.

Where the Wild Winds Are by Nick Hunt is published by Hodder & Stoughton

The Bora blows on the Adriatic coastline, where the mountains run parallel to the sea, the Greek god of the north wind.

You can see him depicted in the Tower of the Winds in Athens, a furious old man with a beard full of ice, holding a conch shell to signify the sound he makes when he sweeps down from the north.

The people have a strong affection for it, he says, as it sweeps away the pollution and mugginess and brings clear, bright blue skies.

The Karst makes people stay in

and lends them character – the locals have a reputation for being tough, hardy and intensely parochial. He describes the little doves, rocks used to weigh down the tiles.

You can tell the most wind-affected areas by the frequency of the rocks.

It is a tribute to his skill as a writer, that he manages to keep the pace even when the winds decide not to make an appearance.

The Ordnance Survey have a wind map which is online. It has arrows, though not the strange names.

Maybe someone might walk there.

Busman’s holiday: Hugh Bruton

S

ince my early teens I sensed I must have had some French DNA diluting my otherwise Celtic gene pool. From this young age, I loved French culture and the musical overtones of the French language so much so that I went on to study their language and literature in college and ended up living and teaching in Nimes in the spectacular Gard region in the south of France for a memorable year in the early 80’s.

My exposure to everything French including the opposite sex was a happy and transformative life experience for me!

So, as fate or cosmic Karma would have it I ended up working for a

A

French car ferry company which meant I kept my love affair with France alive. It was so easy to spend many a happy family summer holiday in many different places throughout France since the late 80’s to the digital noughties.

France as a country is truly blessed by its diverse and spectacular scenery, great food and wine and the odd ( literally ) philosopher.

So it’s no surprise that I have been able to marry my love for the outdoors and hillwalking in particular in view of the stunning mountain scenery France has to offer..

Since the late nineties I have combined most of my family holidays with a few days trekking in the French Pyrenees with one of my best buddies.

My two favourite locations to set out from are Cauterets and St Lary Soulain nestled high in the mountains and leading to some of the most stunningly beautiful places on earth such as Lac de Gaube, Vignemale, and the pics of

Gaube Lake, Cauterets Midi, Bernatoire , Ardiden and Bastan……places of awe inspiring beauty in the high Pyrenees well worth discovering for those who love life above 2000m. Another bonus of losing yourself in such stunning surroundings is that words are unnecessary and you need only speak when you can improve on the silence.

But no hill walking trek would be complete without a bit of serious post walk pampering. Luz St Sauveur and Cauterets have excellent thermal spas and after a 3 or 4 day hike your body needs to be treated like the temple it is and these two spas are the place to be.

And to cap it all, the customary meal at ‘Chez Christine’ ( an establishment now run by an Francophile Englishman

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

winter storm is nothing to the aviation industry, they deal with them all the time, but the recent visit of Blizzard Emma to Ireland reminds us that winter is not what it used to be.

With Ryanair running a load factor of 95pc and Aer Lingus with a load factor of 84pc, it took a lot longer to relocate stranded passengers. Dublin airport was dealing with 35,000 a day during the quietest time of the year, peak summer

leaves not so long ago. This year’s summer peaks will be closing in on 110,000.

It is also clear that travel agents can rise to the occasion and shine when it comes to a weather crisis.

The people who booked through Travel Agents fared better than some of those who booked direct.

Delta, Emirates, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Luxair, SAS, Swiss, Turkish & WOW all added extra capacity to Dublin to help clear the

backlog. Aer Lingus hired in from Titan Airways. Within days it was back to business as usual.

Sadly, for travel agents, it took a lot longer. Having worked around the clock to help their clients they saw forward booking collapse and cash flow slow down to a dribble, in some cases a couple of hundred euro instead of the tens of thousands they require.

Travel agents are being taken for granted. It is time to change that.

called Charles and his family. Excellent fare and beautiful Rosé and wine served in his establishment.

But no matter where you go in France there is always a taste of Provence to be had; pure liquid nectar found in a few sensually shaped bottles of Côteaux Varois en Provence or a cheeky Bandol is a just reward after 6 or 7 hours in a rarefied atmosphere.

No matter where you are in the high Pyrenees there is always a venue where the food and wine never disappoint.

And homage to the fromage is a must as there are so many mountain cheese varieties to savour. One I particularly like is the subtle l’Ossau-Iraty goat’s cheese..magnifique. Just what the body needs to replace the calories lost on the hills.

So for 2018 I just can’t wait to discover my next piece of mountain paradise and now that there is a direct service between Cork and Santander this April for the first time ever, I may get the chance to revisit the Spanish side of the high Pyrenees or the equally impressive Picos de Europa. Bring it on!

IN YOUR NEXT Y TRAVEL EXTRA: NTR OU GS IN IG C A B OPEN AN TOAgents Available to Travel or online G E PL E IN H UID XCIT E AG IN T DA ARKS STEP NA 2018 T CA April E P NEX22 M E Y T O PA RA UR PE DE R

Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: Hugh Bruton of Brittany Ferries.

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APRIL 2018 PAGE 29

MEETING PLACE

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Travel Counsellors Sinead Daly and Sharon Tier- Sunway’s toni Birthistle and Barry Hammon n Travel and Stephen d at Aer LIngus Dublin roa Laura Hayes of Shando at the Know India tourism nan-Murphy at Aer LIngus Dublin roadshow dshow Sands of Riviera Travel , February 15 2018 blin seminar at Ananda, Du

Aine Danaher, Christina Twomey of Best4travel Mulhare and Noelle with Anita Skibiel of Du at the Thailand tourism sit Limerick roadshow

d Rita Gaughan of Lim Pamela O’Loughlin an s Limerick roadshow gu erick Travel at Aer LIn

Mike Shinnors of Holiday Experts and Christina Mulhare of Best4travel at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Justin Blackwood, Brigid Hayes, Donna O’Gorman, Band Catherine Bowe of Michael Bowe Travel at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

of gus and Noreen Lane Ivan Beacom of Aer Lin r LIngus Limerick roadAe at s lor Travel Counsel show

Jayne O’Shea, Stephan ie Grath of Limerick Travel Nagle and Mary Mcat Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Ivan Beacom of Aer Lin gu to Flordia Frances Grog s, winner of the flights an of Grogan Travel, Gary Orr of Sky Hotels an LIngus at Aer LIngus Lim d Dermot Lee of Aer erick roadshow

Julie Greenhill and Greg Evans of the Greg Evans Consultancy, promoting Philadelphia, with Yolanda Fletcher, of Cellet, promoting Illinois, at Aer LIngus Dublin roadshow

lly O’Brien of CW Nicole Twomey and Sa ow dsh LIngus Limerick roa

cover Connecticut and r Susan Henrique of Dis chusetts Tourism at Ae Patricia Purdue Massa ow LIngus Limerick roadsh

Marie Donovan, Kamile Lubecka, Sheila Treacy and Fiona Lane of Ace Travel at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Ivan Beacom of Aer Lin gu Greg Evans Consultan s, Julie Greenhill of cy, Philadelphia prize winner Sheila Treacy of Ac e of Aer LIngus at EI Lim Travel and Dermot Lee erick roadshow

Adele Walsh, Bronwyn Clinton and Jean Claffe of JWT at Aer LIngus y Dublin roadshow

Dermot Lee and Ivan Beacom of Aer Lingus at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

T at Aer

trier New England and Pa Lori Harnois of Discov ts Tourism at Aer LIngus set cia Purdue Massachu Limerick roadshow

APRIL 2018 PAGE 30

MEETING PLACE

y h Melanie Cahill, Sherr Anita Skibiel of Dusit wit Travel Counsellors at of an Meagle and Sue Ry erick roadshow the Thailand tourism Lim

Aine Danaher, Christina Twomey of Best4travel Mulhare and Noelle with Anita Skibiel of Du at the Thailand tourism sit Limerick roadshow

of ders and Sally O’Brien Mark Sheedy of Trailfin ck roadshow eri Lim CWT at Aer LIngus

Denise Moloney, Maire ad Ryan and Claire Ke of Roscrea Travel with nny As the Thailand tourism Lim ilza Rastam-Waters at erick roadshow

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Chris Bowen of Trailfin Tom Britton of Marble City Travel and Frances ders, Shannon O’Dow Grogan of Grogan Travel at Aer LIngus Limerick of Etihad and Mark Sheedy of Trailfinders at d the Thailand tourism Limeri roadshow ck roadshow

Rita Gaughan, Pamela O’Loughlin, Jayne O’Shea and Stephanie Nagle of Limerick travel at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

ie Nagle and Mary Jayne O’Shea, Stephan vel at the Aer LIngus Tra ck eri Lim McGrath of Roadshow in Limerick

Christ Nicole Coleman and Declan Hughes of Flycruise- 4T ine Mullane and Noelle Twomey of Bestravel with Patrick McKin stay with Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad at the Thai- at the Thailand tourism Limney of Qatar Airways land tourism Limerick roadshows erick roadshow

Travel Counsellors Sharon Tiernan-Murphy, Hayes and Catherine Sinead Daly, Brian Hynes, Lorraine Wynne and Karieann Sexton, Tessa r LIngus Limerick roadKaren Morgan-Murphy at Aer LIngus Dublin road- Cinnamond of TUI at Ae show show

e Leanne Mulcahy and Sarah Maher of Limerick Sharon Ha Linda McNamara of Ac Marie Donovan abnd tourism Travel at the Thailand tourism Limerick roadshow Dobbyn rney, Cassidy Travel, with Fiona nd aila Th the at o dd Lo and Marek Maslo a dre An h wit vel Tra at Aer LIngus Dublin roa wiec of Classic Resorts dshow Limerick roadshow

Lucy Russell of Brand US State at Aer LIngus Lim A, Will Hall of New York erick roadshow

Ivan Beacom, Aer Lingus, with Club Travel’s Paul James, Sean McCarthy, Greyce Inacio and Deirdre O’Hare at Aer LIngus Dublin roadshow

ter , Hannah Norris of Grea Gary Orr of Sky Hotels ndeven of Visit Florida Sta Ford Lauderdale, Gill roadshow ck eri Lim s gu LIn r Ae at

APRIL 2018 PAGE 31

Out and about with the Travel Trade

MEETING PLACE

I at Catherine Cinnamond, Tessas Hayes, Kerriann Joanne Conlon and Karen rine Cinnamond of TU Travel at Aer LIngus Du Fegan of Centre Clodagh O’Flynn, Cathe erick roadshow Sexton, Clodagh O’Flynn and Michelle Sousa of blin roadshow the Thailand tourism Lim TUI at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Gill Standeven of Visit Florida, prize winn er Marie Donovan of Ace Tra Aer LIngus at Aer LIngu vel and Dermot Lee of s Limerick roadshow

n City Travel and Noree Tom Britton of Marble Lim s gu LIn r Ae lors at Lane of Travel Counsel erick roadshow

Pamela O’Loughlin an d Travel at Aer LIngus LimRita Gaughan of Limerick erick roadshow

Wright, Toni Fennell, Danielle Freeman and Elisha Bernie of Neenan Abbey Travel’s Rebekah bott, of Des Abbott Travel/Breakaway at Aer LIngus Dublin roadshow Marie Byrne with Des Ab Dublin roadshow Travel, at Aer LIngus

Sally O’Brien, Linda McNamara and Marena Naughton of Ace Travel at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Stephanie Nagle, Jayne O’Shea and Mary McGrath of Limerick Travel at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Lori Harnois of Discov er New England, prize ner Tony Brazil of Lim winerick Travel and Derm ot Lee of Aer LIngus at Ae r LIngus Limerick roadshow

r

of Limerick Travel at Ae Tony and Sheila Brazil ow LIngus Limerick roadsh

ey Paul Sauceda of Godfrey Hotel, Nancy Gardella Mike Shinnors of Holida Lynam, Michelle Buckl Cassidy Travel’s Sean Aer LIngus Dublin road- of Martha’s Vineyard, Patricia Purdue Massachuy Experts, Teresa South of at Best4tra rkin Du e ari n-M and An setts Tourism at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow erick roa vel and at the Thailand tourism Limdshow show

Angie Colombo and Ro n at Aer LIngus Limerick Pecok of Port of Seattle roadshow

Brendan Croft of Visit California, Lucy Russell of Brand USA and Hayley French of LA Tourism at Aer LIngus Limerick roadshow

Treacy of Ace Travel at Fiona Lane and Sheila erick roadshow the Thailand tourism Lim

★★★★

★

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2019

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BELFAST TITANIC EXHIBITION CENTRE JANUARY 18/20

DUBLIN RDS SIMMONSCOURT JANUARY 25/27 For more info log on to:

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SHANNON

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FEBRUARY 2/3 FOR MORE INFO LOG ON TO:

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EXHIBIT! 117086 TE APRIL_ HWS 2018 FP_V2.indd 1

Maureen Ledwith Sales Director

Paulette Moran Sales Manager

Angela O’Rourke Business Development Manager

t: +353 (0)1 291 3700

t: +353 (0)1 291 3702

t: +353 (0)1 291 3705

e: paulette@bizex.ie

e: angela@bizex.ie

e: maureen@bizex.ie

3/12/18 1:43 PM