Lookout

LOOKOUT

The latest pictures from industry events

The cruise industry joined Carnival for the UK Cruise Awards at the Roundhouse in London in February. Big winners on the night included ROL Cruise (2 Sarah Wikevind pictured centre with Tony Roberts from Princess Cruises and Angus Struthers from Cunard); Iglu (3 Dave Mills and Simone Clark pictured with Alex Delamere-White from P&O Cruises), Cruise.co.uk and Hays Travel, which picked up the award for Retailer of the Year (4 John Hays pictured right with Delamere-White).

Below we speak to John and Irene Hays, joint owners of the company. In October 2019, they bought the entire Thomas Cook retail portfolio and have since employed 2,300 former Thomas Cook sta .

cruise adviser: What do you put your success down to during what many have perceived to have been a di cult year? John: We have fantastic people working for us who are passionate about the travel industry, highly skilled and empowered to help people choose the right holiday for them. As an independent, we can o er free choice of any product from any company – we’re not restricted to any particular operator. We pride ourselves on fantastic customer service, being able to understand what our customers need, help them fi nd it and then make sure they’ve got the best quality and best value for money. We have every faith in the British travel industry and all the hugely committed people who work in it and we had no doubt that expansion by taking on the Thomas Cook stores was the right route for us.

How important is the high street? Irene: For many people the high street is a lifeline and they support their local shops because they get exceptional personal service and

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value. For us, a presence on the high street is a fundamental part of our business because many of our customers want the confi dence of booking face to face with someone who knows what they are talking about. We complement this with being able to book by telephone, online and via social media.

John: We also think it’s important to be a signifi cant service for the community and to play a role to support our local areas. One of the ways we do this is through our community partnerships, where we give all of our branch managers funds to kick-start their own fundraising or volunteering in the local area. We think everyone has to play their part to make sure high streets continue to thrive and it’s great to see so much activity going on, with events and o ers like free parking to draw people in. In addition we have the Hays Travel Foundation which helps young people be the best that they can in sport, the arts, health and education. We are passionate about contributing to the places where we operate.

How signifi cant is cruise to your business? Irene: Extremely important! Interest in cruise holidays continues to increase as the variety of cruises on o er grows. The image of sedate, relaxing holidays afl oat for older people is simply outdated. You can still have a fantastic, relaxing luxury cruise, but you also choose anything from an adventurous wildlife exploration to a family fun trip or a rock music voyage. Cruisers are getting younger and many people are happy to travel as singles on cruises now, with the range of special o ers available. With new cruise ships launched every year to increase the worldwide fl eet, we are excited by the opportunities for the future.

Who have been your best sellers? John: The Mediterranean and the Caribbean are always popular, but cruises to Norway and the fjords, whale-watching o the west coast of America and the sights of the Baltic are growing in popularity.