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FITUR 2018
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IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION Free
MARCH 2018
High places Irish travel trade salutes its champions
VOLUME 23 NUMBER 3
MARCH 2018 PAGE 3
www.travelextra.ie
2,047,379 to Spain
Irish send record numbers to our favourite destination
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pain’s statistics office recorded 2,.047,379 visitors from Ireland in 2017, a record. The number was 13.2pc up on 2016 and meant Ireland was the fifth fastest growing market after the USA (32.4pc), Switzerland (21.1pc), the Nordic countries (14.2pc) and Russia (14.1pc). Spain recorded 81.786.364 visits during the year, moving it ahead of the USA and second behind France in the international tourism league. Catalonia received 19m visits overall, ahead of Canaries (14m), Balearics (13.8m), Andalucia (11.5m), Valencia (8.9m) and Madrid (6.7m). From Ireland 24pc of visitors go to
NEWS PORTUGAL International tourism
to Portugal was up 11.7pc to 20.6m and overnights up 8.6pc to 41.6m in 2017. Visits from Ireland are up 11.8pc to 318,200 and bednights up 10pc to 1,511,200l Algarve the largest market was up 8.2pc to 220,100, Lisbon up 9.9pc to 57,000, Porto up 46.3pc to 17,800, Central Portugal up 72pc to 13,200, Madeira down 1l.9pc to 6,400, Alentejo up 26.4pc to 2,000 and Azores up 12pc to 1,800.
COSTA RICA had 4,321 Irish visits in 2017, up 8.6pc. Costa Rica had 2,959,869 worldwide visitors in 2017, up 1.2pc
MALTA visits from Ireland in 2017 were up 9pc to 36,177, spend up 4.6pc to €32.2m Laura Cordoba, Borja Bedoya, Inmaculata Bernabeu, Sara Rivero and Teresa Gancedo of the Spanish Tourist Board
the Canaries and 20pc each to Catalonia and Andalusia. The proportion travelling to the Balearics has fallen from 15pc to 9pc over the past 20
MAYA Bay on the Thai island of Ko Phi
Phi Leh, best known as the shoot location of movie The Beach, is to be temporarily closed years. Galicia and the Basque Coun- for three months in the low-season, between try have the smallest proportions but June and September due to excessive tourthe fastest level of growth for Irish ist numbers. visitors. FRANCE has handed Pheasant Island back to Spain. The island which lies in the middle of the Bidasoa Rive has switched between the two countries for 350 years, Spanish sale. from February 1 to July 31 and French from We are fortunate that we are so August 1 to January 31. well connected to the US with direct routes from Aer Lingus, United Air- US Outbound to Nov 2017 was up 16.5pc. lines, Delta , Norwegian and Amer- A chronic drought that could leave Cape Town without water within weeks is hurting visitor ican Airlines.” Four out of 10 travel agents said numbers and knocking a rare economic bright that the biggest issue faced by their spot, South African officials said. customers last year was cancelled RUSSIA is planning to send paying flights. tourists on the International Space Station out on spacewalks for the first time, an official from the country’s space industry. The price? A cool €80m per passenger.
US, SPAIN, PORTUGAL STRONGEST
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he US, Spain and Portugal were the most popular holiday destinations for Irish holidaymakers in 2017, the latest Irish Travel Agents Association quarterly survey found. The US is set to continue in popularity, given early booking trends, and was also voted one of the top three destinations for 2018, after favourites Spain and Portugal.
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Cormac Meehan with biker Rob Chester at the announcement of the latest ITAA quarterly survey results ahead of Holiday World Show 2018. Photos: Arthur Carron Cormac Meehan, President of the ITAA, said: “The resurgence of US destinations has been assisted by the extensive transatlantic routes on offer from Ireland. There are now over 3m transatlantic seats from Ireland on
IRELAND GETS FERRY TO SPAIN
reland-France operator Brittany Ferries is launching Ireland’s first direct route into northern Spain. Starting at the end of April, the service will link Cork and Santander, making two return-sailings a week. The move comes as Brittany Ferries celebrates its 40th year in Ireland – the Cork to Roscoff route opened
on St Patricks Day in 1978. The former Ms Asterion will be renamed Connemara. She will carry around 500 passengers with space for 195 cars. She hosts 2,225 lane metres of garage space and Brittany Ferries expects a fifty-fifty split between passengers and freight carried. The Port of Cork will facilitate and
enhance significant freight and tourist activity already established in Cork. Previously known as Borja (20072010), MS Baltic Amber(2010-2011) and MV Norman Asturias (2011– 2016), MS Asterion was delivered in 2007 and has a gross tonnage of 25,000,
LAKES & MOUNTAINS Awaken your senses in Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland and Germany. TUI is a trading name of TUI Ireland Limited and is fully licensed and bonded by CAR T.O.021.
QUEENSLAND Tourism Industry Council wants forecasters to be less gloomy about the state’s weather. It said Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology should replace forecasts like ‘partly cloudy’ with ‘mostly sunny’ or ‘chance of rain’ with ‘likely sunny.’ THERAPHY passengers are being
helped to relax at New York’s La Guardia Airport with therapy dogs every Friday afternoon.
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MARCH 2018 PAGE 4
THE KNOWLEDGE Travel Extra Clownings, Straffan, Co Kildare (+3531) 2913707 Fax (+3531) 2957417 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
Travel Extra takes no responsibility for errors and omissions. Distribution Manager: Shane Hourican shane@bizex.ie Origination: Typeform
Printer: WG Baird Limited Caulside Drive Greystone Rd Antrim BT41 2RS Contact +353872551675 if you have difficulty getting Travel Extra.
CONTENTS
3 News Holiday world 6 Hotels: News
www.travelextra.ie
8 Postcards: News from the trade 10 ITIA Awards: This year’s winners 24-25 Afloat: A quantum leap 26 Derry: The bishopsgate hotel
28-31 Flying: Airline and airport news 34 Global Village Inside the travel industry 36 Window seat: Our columnists 37 Pictures: Out and about
Staying under cover
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any people have a fixation on price as the determining factor when choosing travel insurance. But there is a substantial difference between policies in terms of coverage, the level of excesses and what cover is available only as an optional extra.
BUSINESS
travel is not covered by 25pc of annual policies and is an optional extra for 28pc of them. Cover is standard with 47pc of annual policies.
SEPARATION A third of
annual policies won’t provide cover for your children (or stepchildren) if they don’t live with you.
CHILDREN
travelling independently are not covered by half of all annual policies and other insurers are likely to regard children as travelling independently even if one parent puts them on a plane and the other collects them when they get off. They insist that children are accompanied by a responsible adult for the whole journey.
WINTER sports
bills for medical treatment abroad can be huge, despite this, a fifth of skiers don’t bother with insurance at all, while only a third of those who do buy a policy check that it covers them for winter sports. Just 30pc of annual travel policies include winter sports cover as standard, while 63pc
You never know when and where: Ambulance in Benidorm
offer it as an optional extra and 7pc don’t include it at all. Check the terms carefully. Some exclude off-piste skiing altogether, others insist that you have a guide, for example. Many policies restrict the amount of skiing you can do within the year.
AIRLINE fail-
ure is covered by just 34pc of annual policies provide this cover as standard, while it is an optional extra for 4pc of annual policies; 62pc don’t provide cover at all. However, the elaborate bonding scheme does not cover most ticketonly air fares you buy direct from an airline.
Some charge no excess at all, but others charge as much as u500 of a claim before you receive a penny from your insurance. With medical expenses the average excess is u85, with a range of zero to u600. For cancellation, the average excess is u80, with individual insurers charging anything from nothing to u300. For loss of deposit is the average is u40 and maximum u300; the equivalent figures are u80 (maximum u250) for lost baggage, u10 (maximum u120) for delayed baggage and u80 (maximum u420) for legal expenses.
Three quarters EXCESS limits on AGE of annual policies have your insurance can vary widely according from one insurer to another.
a maximum age of 75 years or less, and 27pc have a maximum age of
65 or less. It is essential that any pre-existing medical conditions are declared to the relevant provider as failing to do so could invalidate the policy.” Cover might already be there from your bank as part of your current account. Although “packaged accounts” are much maligned, they can offer the elderly a cheap way to get travel cover. Even where insurers did not have maximum age limits, premiums are often so high as to be unaffordable. One policy has a maximum age of just 34.
LENGTH of holiday is important. Some policies allow you to be overseas for a maximum of 17 consecutive days, 45pc of annual policies limited trip coverage to 31 days abroad while
others will cover you even if you are abroad every day of the year.
BREAKING the journey could invalidate your insurance, if you have a backpacker policy but need to come home for a few days, some insurers won’t cover you when you resume your travels. Coverage will automatically cease for 57pc of backpacker policies, regardless of whether or not you intend to resume their travels abroad. PETS If your return
from holiday is delayed, will your travel insurance cover the cost of an extended stay in kennels for your pets? Fortysix per cent of policies provide such cover, with limits typically varying from u50 to u750.
MARCH 2018 PAGE 6
HOTELS
www.travelextra.ie
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.
Park tops Harvey’s New lead hotel in Ireland for Tripadvisor guests
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iamh O’Shea’s five-star Killarney Park Hotel was named SHELBOURNE Hotel became the best hotel in Ireland and fifth 17th Irish hotel in the Virtuoso luxury portin Europe in the annual TripAdvisor folio, joining Adare Manor, Aghadoe Heights, Travellers’ Choice Awards for 2018. Ashford Castle, Ballyfin, Culloden, Dromoland, The 67-bed five-star is owned Hayfield Manor, K Club, Killarney Park, Merrion, by Killarney’s Treacy family. HarMount Juliet, Powerscourt, Sheen Falls, Trump vey’s Point in Donegal, which had Doolin, Westbury and Westin. won best in Ireland for the last four BALLYFIN has been rated Europe’s years, finished second in Ireland and 11th best hotel by US News & World Re22nd in Europe and Ashford Castle port here. Dublin’s Merrion Hotel 15th, and third. Ashford Castle 33rd on ratings based on repuCastlewood House in Dingle tation among professional travel experts, guest finished third on the TripAdvisor list reviews and hotel class ratings. of the world’s best bargain hotels, Ballyfin, Co Laois, finished seventh CHOICE Hotels has agreed a managebest small hotel in the world.. ment contract with the owners of Galway’s G TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Irish hotels Hotel and Meyrick Hotel 2018 1 Killarney Park Hotel, Killarney, 2 RADISSON Carlson Rezidor Hotel Harvey’s Point, Donegal Group will change its name to Radisson Hotel Group in a push to “embrace its marquee hotel 3 Ashford Castle, Cong, Co Mayo brand and reaffirm itself as a global hospitality 4 Hayfield Manor, Cork 5 Ballygarry House Hotel, Tralee, company.” Travel Extra quarter page ad March 130218.pdf 1 13/02/2018 16:12:37
Killarney park hotel
6 The Merrion, Dublin 7 Castle Durrow, 8 Dromoland Castle, 9 Villa Rose Hotel, Ballybofey, 10 Absolute Hotel, Limerick Tripadvisor users deemed Viroth’s
Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia the best in the world, rooms average €105 a night and can be found for €88 a night. The Hotel Belvedere, in Riccione was best in Europe
POWERSCOURT GETS A €750,000 AMPHITHEATRE
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owerscourt has completed a €750,000 refurbishment and addition of an outdoor amphitheatre in its 10th anniversary year. The amphitheatre, featuring 100mb broadband will be used for weddings and special occasions. It joins the purpose built 5,959 sq. metre ballroom and 1,111 sq. metres of conference and meeting space which are all accessed through a private entrance, making the hotel fit for exclusive events. In addition to the am-
phitheatre, The lobby and Sugar Loaf Lounge has undergone a €500,000 refurbishment that incorporates the hotel’s signature style with bespoke, custom made furniture designed by Irish manufacturers of handcrafted furniture. While the Sugar Loaf Lounge has been given an injection of colour, the lounge and lobby’s bold wooden panelling and stone pillars remaining the centre of Powerscourt’s interior. The increase has increased seating capacity to 120 and a new state
of the art sound system completes the refurbishment. Ian Wynne, General Manager said: “We are delighted to add this new unique space to our hotel offering. We have built a strong reputation over the years as one of Ireland’s leading hotels and we strive to provide the utmost in service and facilities to all guests. We have welcomed some fantastic high profile events over the last 10 years and we look forward to welcoming many more.”
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. Based on number of booking and average
rating the ClinkNOORD in Amsterdam was rated number one ahead of Athens Backpackers and The Attic Backpacker in Auckland. Dalat Friendly Fun in Da Lat, Vietnam was rated best value for money.
GALWAY TOP HOSTEL
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alway City Hostel & Bar in Galway has been named Ireland’s best in the latest annual Hostelworld awards - dubbed the Hoscars The Star Hostel Taipei Main Station won the
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MARCH 2018 PAGE 8
POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE
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oyal Caribbean invited fifty selected travel writers from around the world, including Travel Extra, and key trade including Mary McKenna of Tour America to see their new baby, the US$1.35bn Symphony of the Seas. The largest passenger ship ever by gross tonnage (228,021 GRT) will launch at end March, surpassing her sister Harmony of the Seas. She is 362 m
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nsight Vacations and Luxury Gold showcased some of the dining experiences that are offered on their escorted trips with a six-course meal at Pickle Restaurant, inspired by the cuisine of Northern India. Seven Luxury Gold journeys and eight new “European Discoveries” Premium Journeys itineraries are included in Insight Vacations’ 2018 portfolio. European Rhapsody, a new 12-day
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he 19th annual Topflight Ian Dempsey ski trip with Today Fm attracted a record 720 enthusiasts who joined Ian on the slopes. Kirchberg in Tirol, for the 19th annual Topflight Today FM Ski Trip. Kirchberg in Tirol hosted the charming army before in 2017 and 2014. Music formed a key part of the week. The highlight of which was the Athy based Irish pop rock duo ‘Picture This.
long, carries 5,518 passengers at double occupancy up to a maximum capacity of 6,680 passengers, and a crew of 2,200. Such are the advances in technology that Symphony of the Seas was six weeks ahead of its sisters in the building cycle eat the time of our visit. Who will sail on her? Both Mary McKenna and Ben Bouldin answered “families”as their first answer. Picture shows Ben and Mary at the event.
journey of Europe’s imperial cities culminates in a dinner in Venice. India is among the destinations such as Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, USA, Canada and Europe offered by Insight. Their 2018 USA & Canada Premium Escorted Journeys brochure features 16 itineraries throughout North America. Picture shows Louise Jordan of TL with Marissa Beck, and Carol Hurley at the event.
The Harleys were back by popular demand and the official GAA Poc Fada on the snowy slopes of Kirchberg astonished the locals. Topflight report strong ski bookings largely helped by the excellent snow conditions across Europe and last minute deals still available, while Italian sales are almost double year on year. Picture shows Mario Rosenstock, Tony Collins and Ian Dempsey on the trip.
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lan Masterson’s TravTab, a travel technology start up based in Dublin in providing white label mobile solutions to the traditional Travel Agency market. Alan says the core mission is to mobilise the Travel Agency market worldwide with a white label payment App which facilitates customers payments to pay off their holiday. Benefits for the agent include simple
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YC & Company and British Airways hosted a New York agents group visit. The group sampled the Clubworld lounge at Heathrow and Clubworld class to JFK, the new Freehand Hotel on Lexington Ave, cocktails at the Novotel Hotel, One World Observatory, the 911 museum, a shopping trip at Brookfield Place, lunch at Beaubourg Le District, and champagne at Hermes Parfumarie.
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ourism Ireland listed 179 landmarks worldwide confirmed to go green at the start of their St Patrick’s day campaign. It is difficult to avoid us, with landmarks around the world turning green for St Patrick’s Day. At this year’s launch, he said Ireland would again be trending at No 1 on social media. Sydney Opera House, where it all began, will return green for the first time since
instalment payment feature to make customer payments faster, safer and easier, Travtab do not hold any money, and accept out of hours payments. The service gives Travel Agencies customers the ability to pay off their balance by either once off payments and calls to process payments or instalment payments on mobile. Picture show Alan Masterson, founder, and Declan Murray COO of Travtab
The group saw the signature new attractions at Times Square, National Geographic Ocean Odyssey, Gulliver’s Gate, and the NFL Experience followed by cocktails at the rooftop bar at the Indigo Hotel. Picture shows Vanessa Holohan of Club Travel, Tryphavana Cross of NYC & Company, Suzanne Knott of American Sky, Deirdre Gunn of American Holidays, Tara Magee of BA and Sharon Harney of Cassidy.
2014. Newbies include Pen Monument in Hanoi, Space Needle in Seattle, Chimo the polar bear in Ontario, the fountains in Trafalgar Square London, and Beaugrenelle shopping centre in Paris and Palai d’Europeik Strasbourg. Mr Gibbons said the Space Needle’s addition was timely, given the new direct connection from Dublin to Seattle. Picture shows Minister for tourism Brendan Griffin and Niall Gibbons.
MARCH 2018 PAGE 9
POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE
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rish tourism visits to India figures for 2017 are not yet in but numbers rose 10.5pc to 36,440 in 2016 from 32,973 in 2015 and 28,978 in 2014, boosted mainly by the online visa, which is granted in 72 hours. Applications can still be made through the embassy and are also granted in 72 hours. India is stressing yoga and wellness tourism and the upgrade of national monuments for 2018.
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tena officials travelled far for the official keel-laying ceremony took place at the AVIC Weihai Shipyard in China, a traditional maritime event marks the start of the construction phase of the hull and the exterior parts of the vessel. Niclas Mårtensson, CEO Stena Lin, placed four coins (Euro, Swedish Kroner, Chinese yuan renminbi and English pound) under the keel-block as a sym-
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imerick Holiday Show in Association with Shannon airport drew 10,000 consumers to the University of Limerick Arena. There was lots of activity around Shannon-focused exhibitors, the Aer Lingus and Shannon stands at the entrance, the New York State stand, the Spanish Tourist Board Salou stand and American Airlines and Air Canada stands. Shannon’s signature summer
Ambassador Vijay Thakur Singh told trade and airline guests at the Know India seminar in Ananda restaurant in Dublin that she hoped there would be direct flights soon to India. For the ambassador’s speech Picture shows Anita Shukla of the Indian embassy Vijay Thakur Singh Ambassador of India and Vaishnavi Narasimhan of India Tourism with the guests at the tourism seminar
bol of good fortune in the traditional Coin Ceremony. The new vessels have a planned delivery timetable during 2019 and 2020. They will be 50pc bigger than today’s standard RoPax vessels. The new RoPax vessels will be deployed on the Irish Sea and represent a strategic investment to continue to further strengthen Stena Line’s business in the region.
route is Air Canada’s new Toronto service. American have extended Shannon -Philly and while Reus is a new route. Irish Ferries also generated a lot of activity around their ferry developments. American, Trailfinders. Tropical Sky and Flightcentre have all released Canada specific brochures while Limerick Travel were offering Canada specials. Picture shows Isabel Harrison and Declan Power.
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romoland Castle won the best five star hotel category and Slieve League Cliffs the best attraction as CIE Tours International recognised 84 Irish hotels and attractions voted from 30,000 customer surveys. The awards were presented at its 28th Awards for Excellence ceremony, in the National Gallery of Ireland by Vivienne Jupp, Chairman and Elizabeth Crabill CEO of CIE Tours International.
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ublin Holiday World show visitor numbers to 38,000. Activity, including the opening queue, reached levels not seen since 2008. One of the agents on the largest ever Visit USA pavilion stand reported bookings up three fold on last year. Edmund Hourican, Managing Director, Business Exhibitions Ltd., organiser of Holiday World Show Dublin said “Our 2018 show has been more success-
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here was an upbeat mood at FITUR 2018 in Madrid with local suppliers buoyant at the news that Spain had 82m visitors in 2017. The new UNWTO CEO Zurab Pololikashvili declared that Spain had surpassed USA to become the world’s second most popular tourist destination after France. Ireland have not exhibited at Fitur for five years but the country was repre-
The 84 awards honoured hotels, entertainment venues and tourism destinations, including 14 overall category winners from around the country. Picture shows Elizabeth Crabill CEO of CIE Tours International, Mark Nolan of Dromoland Castle, Mary Gleeson of the Old Ground Hotel, John Davern of Caherconnell Sheep Dog trials, Geraldine Enright of the Cliffs of Moher and Tom McNamara Mayor of Clare,
ful than ever before with visitor numbers up 9pc on last year.” The Visit USA Pavilion attracted 40 participating exhibitors. This year’s Home Holiday Pavilion was the biggest Irish representation in the show’s 29 year history, making up 30pc of the 600 exhibitors – an increase of 10pc on last year. Picture shows ITAA presdient Cormac Meehan, Minister Shane Ross and Maureen Ledwith.
sented by inbound specialists Ole Irlanda. Madrid had n exotic stand with balconies and bright light bulbs. Catalonia’s stand was smaller than before, and, as always the best on stand party was hosted by the Basque region while the Costa Del Sol hosted the best evening event. Picture shows Manuel Butler, the Spanish Tourism CEO who is proud of his Kilkenny ancestry, and Teresa Gancedo, director of the Dublin office.
MARCH 2018 PAGE 12
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
ITIA AWARDS 2018
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All the award winners pose for their annual photograph, t was Joanna’s night, most of all. Joanna Gomez of Travel Focus won the Travel Agent of the year at the annual Irish Travel Industry Awards in the round room in Dublin’s Mansion House. The Travel Professional corporate award was won by the job-sharing Louise Dunne and Karen Ray of The Travel Broker, based in Clontarf, at a gala awards ceremony compered by Miriam O’Callaghan and attended by 600 trade representatives from Ireland and abroad. Rebecca Kelly of MSC won the hotly contested Travel Supplier representative of the year award for the fourth time. MSC also won the supplier support team award
Surprise of the prizes Industry celebrates the pursuit of excellence in Irish travel
it previously won in 2015 and 2016. Mary McKenna’s Tour America won the large travel agency of the year award for the second time and Des Manning Travel from Kilkenny won the small travel agency. Marie Grenham Travel in Athlone won the marketing category, while new categories were won by Paul Hackett’s Clickandgo for digital marketing and John Cassidy Travel for bricksand-mortar agency marketing campaign.
There were some surprise results on the night. The cruise category which has been won by Royal Caribbean since the awards were first established in 2011, went to MSC for the first time. Celebrity won the new premium cruise category and Silversea retained the ultra cruise award. First time winners in the tour operator category included the John Grehan-headed G Adventures (specialist tour operator) and John Booty-headed Wendy
Wu Tours (escorted tour operator).Sunway won the European sun tour operator award for the sixth year in a row. Emirates won best long haul airline for the third successive year having lost to Etihad the previous five years. Turkish won the business class award for the second successive year. Aer Lingus won the airline to North America for the fourth year and remain undefeated in the best airline to Europe category which they won
for the eighth year. Hertz won the car hire category for the fifth year in succession. Portugal beat Spain in the sun destination category for the second year. Spain‘s dominance of the tourist board category continues, winning the award for the seventh time, each year since the award was inaugurated in 2018. Others who remain undefeated in their category since the awards were inaugurated include Irish Ferries in the ferry
category, Amadeus in the technology provider category, Lanzarote in the winter sun category, Barcelona in the European city category, New York in the worldwide city category, and Universal Orlando in the theme park category, while Blue Insurance also won for the seventh successive year. Bookabed have won seven of the eight accommodation only awards. The categories of ski destination and ski tour operator were controversially dropped this year
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5-STAR ALL-INCLUSIVE BOUTIQUE RIVER CRUISING We are incredibly thrilled to have won Best Specialist Cruise Company for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises at the 2018 Irish Travel Industry Awards. We are very honoured to be recognised once again as a leader in the river cruise industry. We would like to extend our deepest and most sincere thanks to everyone that voted for us. We truly value and are very appreciative of all your continued support over the years.
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Visit UniversalAgents.co.uk to find out more. HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR. (s18) *Requires theme park admission. Early Park Admission begins one (1) hour prior to regular scheduled park opening to either Universal Studios Florida™ or Universal’s Islands of Adventure™ (as determined by Universal Orlando) and Universal’s Volcano Bay™. Valid at select attractions at each park. Attractions are subject to substitutions without notice. Additional restrictions may apply. †Requires theme park admission. Valid at Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Not valid at Pteranodon Flyers™ at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Excludes separately ticketed events. Benefit not valid for guests staying at Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, and Universal’s Aventura Hotel (Opening 2018) or for Universal’s Volcano Bay. Valid for the number of guests staying in the room for the length of hotel stay. Available during normal theme park operating hours only. Additional restrictions may apply and benefits are subject to change without notice. Aventura Hotel TM & © 2018 UCF Hotel Venture IV. All rights reserved. Cabana Bay Beach Resort TM & © 2018 UCF Hotel Venture II. All rights reserved. Sapphire Falls Resort TM & © 2018 UCF Hotel Venture III. All Rights Reserved. Portofino Bay Hotel and Royal Pacific Resort TM & © 2018 UCF Hotel Venture. All rights reserved. Hard Rock Hotel Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. Universal elements and all related indicia TM & © 2018 Universal Studios. All rights reserved.
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MARCH 2018 PAGE 14
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Mary Denton, Tanya Airey, Jeanette Taylor of Sunway accept the award for best European sun tour operator from Jason Kearns of Hertz Irish Travel Industry awards
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unway ended their 25th year of operations to Mo- EUROPEAN SUN TOUR OP: rocco with the European SUNWAY tour operator award, making it eleven and a half awards in three Leisure Travel Agency, categories in the history of the awards In 1991 Sunway started Tour Oper(they shared the 2012 long haul cat- ations to Morocco and has since exegory with Cassidy). panded their programme over the years Tanya Airey commented - ““We have to offer more than 75 destinations been honoured and humbled by all our worldwide. friends and colleagues in the travel trade Cyprus is new for summer 2018. New who voted for us. These awards are a as is camping in Salou and Lake Garda. true testament to the high quality of There is an expanded programme to service and variety of options that we Sardinia. strive to provide for our customers.” Shortlisted: Classic Collection, Sunway was founded in 1966 by Roy Click&Go, Topflight, TUI. Previous Beatty, Tanya’s Grandfather. Originally winners: 2011 Sunworld, 2012 Thomas opened in Blackrock as a Corporate and Cook, 2013-4-5-6-7 Sunway.
Best LONG HauL tOuR OPeRatOR
Thank you for voting us Best Longhaul Tour Operator 2018
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Joanna Gomez of Travelfocus winner of the Travel Agent of the year award receives the award from category sponsor Mark Hooper of Portaventura ravel agent of the LEISURE TRAVEL year for the first time was Joanna PROFESSIONAL: JOANNA Gomez. She said has have alGOMEZ OF TRAVEL FOCUS ways loved to Travel. “Meeting new people, many, many years ago. Sometimes this tasting different food, experiencing di- brings its challenges - but what we can verse cultures and thinking, feasting the do now, the information at our fingereyes on amazing scenery, especially in tips, the services we can offer, makes us the warmer climates of the World. more efficient, professional and helps “Working as a Travel Agent has us to continually prove our worth to our given me the opportunity to explore customers. places that I may never have had the Thank you ITAA, thank you to my chance to go to. amazing clients who allow me to turn “To be able to experience and then their holiday wish lists into very real return, boosted, full of ideas for my experiences and thank you Noel Mccustomers, has kept my “Joie De Vivre” Auliffe for all the support over the past topped up! 16 years! “Putting an itinerary together for Shortlisted: Georgina Kelly of The someone else to experience, hearing Travel Broker, Leslie Marshall of Tour their happy highlights on their return America. Previous winners: 2013 and listening to the planning of the next Katrina McMullan of Navan Travel & trip, has never felt like work. To be Clare O’Dwyer of Shandon travel, 2014 awarded the accolade of ITAA Leisure Christine Rickard of Tour America & Travel Professional has been the “icing Katrina McMullan of Navan Travel; on the cake” to be rewarded for doing a (2 categories), 2015 Louise Brenjob I love – just amazing. The industry nan Ormsby of Club Travel, 2016 Liz has changed beyond recognition since Wright of Tour America, 2017 Sandra my humble beginnings at Saga Holidays Mooney of Cassidy Travel.
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Michael English, Ruth Gardiner, Andrew Bolton, Jo Rzymowska, and Mandy Burrie of Celebrity Cruises accept the award for best premium cruise line from category sponsor Hasan Mutlu of Turkish Airlines
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elebrity Cruises is an old favourite with the Irish travelling public and has a market share in Ireland way beyond what might be expected for a premium product, . The love affair was extended further with the commencement of two mini seasons out of Ireland, this April with Celebrity Silhouette and also in April
PREMIUM CRUISE: CELEBRITY
2019 with Celebrity Eclipse. Celebrity were previous winners in the Luxury Cruise category in 2011, 2012 and 2015. Shortlisted: Cunard, Holland America, Oceania, Silversea. New category.
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Leading the way A big thank you to everybody who voted to name Irish Ferries as ‘Best Ferry Company’ once again at the Irish Travel Industry Awards. With the arrival this year of our new cruise ferry the W.B. Yeats, we’ll continue to lead the way and we look forward to sailing with you and your clients very soon.
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21/02/2018 15:13
MARCH 2018 PAGE 16
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Jason Whelan of Blue Insurances, Stephen Sands of Riviera Travel, Maeve Slalom and Ciaran Mulligan of Blue Insurances, best insurance provider award lue Insurance have dominated the award for ‘Best Travel In- TRAVEL INSURANCE surance Provider’ at the Irish PROVIDER: BLUE Travel Industry Awards for seven years. INSURANCE They currently employ 75 staff in both Ireland and Britain. Specialising in Irish travel agents. The fact that our Travel Insurance, Blue Insurance also travel industry turnover has grown by offers gadget, pet, wedding, breakdown, 57pc in 2017 is a testament to the relabicycle and car hire excess insurance. tionships we hold dearly with our colThe company, whose recognised dirleagues in the Irish travel trade. We are ect brands include Multitrip.com and passionate about providing our clients Gadgetinsurance.com, started selling 2 and customers with great value insurYear Car and Home Insurance in Ireance products and first-class customer land in June 2015. Blue Insurance has service. I also would like to thank all won awards for business each year since the team at the Irish Travel Industry opening, including Best Travel InsurAwards for hosting another wonderful ance Product by the Irish and Northern night yet again.’ Irish Travel Trade. Shortlisted: Accident & General, Ciaran Mulligan said: ‘We are deAIG, Axa, Worldwide Insurance. Previlighted to pick up this award for the ous winners: 2011 Accident & General, seventh year in a row and appreciate the 2012-3-4-5-6-7 Blue Insurance. ongoing dedication and support from
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Linda Ryan, Leslie Marshall, Mary McKenna and Polly Bond accept the Travel agency award over ten employees from Trish O’Leary of Amadeus
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ary McKenna TRAVEL AGENCY: of Tour America were TOUR AMERICA. expressed he delight at receiving the award for courage her to be different, and support best large travel agency at the ITAA her and her team with their ideas. These awards. awards are very important for our team “For us this award confirms that we and show our customers that we are a are a company that never stands still, company that truly cares. We couldn’t that we pro active not re active, and that do what we do without our wonderful we encourage our team to be creative suppliers who are incremental in our and innovative. success. And we want to thank each and “In particular I would like to thank every one of them. revious winners: Veronica who heads the Marketing and 2011 Lee Travel, 2012 Tour America, Digital team at Tour America, she is 2013 O’Hanrahan Travel, 2014 Lee continuously thinking outside the box, Travel, 2015 Club Travel, 2016 Cassidy and my job as a leader is to always en- Travel, 2017 Shandon Travel.
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IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
John Spollen and Fiona Dobbyn of Classic Resorts accept the award for best long haul tour operator from Jason Kearns of Hertz
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his is the fourth win by Classic Resorts, LONG HAUL TOUR OP: the tour operating CLASSIC RESORTS wing of Cassidy Travel, which has been in opertels of The World, Leading Small Hoation for 30 years, tels of The World, Relais & Châteaux Classic Resorts specialise in and Small Luxury Hotels of The World. tailormade luxury holidays to the CaribThe combination of these magnificent bean and Mexico, cruising, USA, Asia, hotels together with their locations, ofIndian Ocean & Dubai and Africa. fers a taste of what we can offer.” New for 2018 will be India, offer Shortlisted: If Only, Intrepid Travel, tours of the Golden Triangle & Kerala, Sunway, Travel Focus. Previous winFly drive USA and cruising in Carib- ners: 2011 Sunway, 2012 Classic Rebean, Asia and UAE. sorts/Sunway, 2013 Classic Resorts, Iona Dobbyn says “we work with 2014-5 Sunway; 2016 Classic Resorts, the finest hotels in the world, many of 2017 Sunway. which are affiliated to The Leading Ho-
MARCH 2018 PAGE 17
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Ivan Beacom, John Keogh, Yvonne Muldoon, Jenny Rafter, Sarah Lee, Dermot Lee, and Alan Molloy of Aer Lingus accept the best airline to North America award from category sponsor Jon Woolf of Dublin Airport
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er Lingus have dominAIRLINE TO EUROPE: ated the best airline to Europe award since the AIRLINE TO N AMERICA: Travel Industry awards were AER LINGUS inaugurated in 2011. They have previously won the best airline ity in the Irish market through talent acto North America in 2011-2 and 2014-5. quisition increasing the sales team. The introduction of new services and This has enabled the department to a Yvonne Muldoon said “Aer Lingus improve the lines of communication has been in growth mode launching new and accessibility via our trade support transatlantic routes to Miami, Philadelline and email. The feedback from our phia and Seattle. trade partners regarding to increased enThe Aer Lingus sales team has taken gagement has been very positive and we a proactive approach working hand look forward to growing the business in hand with our trade partners across partnerships throughout 2018.” Ireland through joint marketing camShortlisted: British Airways, KLM, paigns, trade promotions, sales misRyanair, Turkish. Previous winners: sions, and Fam Trips. 2011-2-3-4-5-6-7 Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus has increased our visibil-
MARCH 2018 PAGE 18
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Onur Gul and Hasan Mutlu of Turkish Airlines accept the best airline business class to Europe award from category sponsor Jon Woolf of Dublin Airport
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urkish Airlines are a first time winner BUSINESS CLASS AIRLINE TO for best business EUROPE: TURKISH AIRLINES class airline to Europe. port and assistance as we strive for the It is a big year for Turkish, with expansion plans acceler- highest standards of service delivery”. Turkish Airlines has been in the Irish ated by the opening of the new Istanbul airport on October 29. Eventually it market since 2006 has been growing every year. will have a capacity of 120m. “We are now flying to 300 different Hasan Mutlu, General Manager of Turkish Airlines,Ireland said: “We destinations and have 334 aircraft and would like to thank all our trade part- are the market leader for destinations ners for this prestigious prize, which such as Tel Aviv and Cape Town. Turkish Airlines also holds “Europe’s Best was a huge surprise on the night. We are overwhelmed by the well Airline” title for the seventh consecuwishes and congratulations we received tive year, by Skytrax Survey in 2017. Shortlisted: Air France, British Airby our industry colleagues. We hope to continue our success in the Irish market ways, KLM, SAS. Previous winners: and we gratefully appreciate your sup- 2015-6 BA, 2017 Turkish.
Thank you For voting Amadeus Ireland Best Technology Provider at the Irish Travel Industry Awards 2018
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Pauline Grenham of Grenham Travel, Miriam O’Callaghan and Marie Grenham of Grenham Travel ot on the heels of MARKETING CAMPAIGN having won the Travel Agency of BRICKS & MORTAR: the Year award last year, GRENHAM TRAVEL Marie Grenham and her team in Athlone’s Grenham Travel are this week celetravellers; family holidays; cruise holibrating another major win, the bricks and days and everything in between. mortar marketing campaign award. Marie Grenham says she is always Grenham Travel, which is based on “very heartened” to get feedback from Connaught Street and celebrated 100 customers and loves to hear stories of years in business in 2011 memorable and fun-filled holidays that Marie Grenham took over the helm at she and her staff have organised for cliGrenham Travel in 1999,. They are spe- ents. cialists in longhaul travel, which Marie Shortlisted: Click & Go, Tour AmerGrenham says is “extremely popular with ica. Previous winners: 2011 FCm, 2012 all ages groups” and they also cover every Shandon Travel, 2015 Tour America, other aspect of holiday bookings from 2016 Clickandgo, 2017 Tour America. honeymoon packages to city breaks, solo (no award in 2013-4).
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
Best car hire provider award winner Jason Kearns of Hertz, category sponsor Stephen Sands of Riviera Travel,
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ertz are won the award for Best Car Hire provider for the fourth year in succession. On accepting the award Jason Kearns of Hertz commented. “We at are delighted that the members of the ITAA have bestowed on us this honour. Hertz pioneered the concept of Car Hire and today in our 100th year we continue to strive to be the best at what we do. We look forward to working with the incredible members of the Irish Travel Trade throughout 2018 and to make sure we endeavour to give our very best service and support” Operating the Hertz, Dollar and Thrifty vehicle rental brands in ap-
CAR HIRE COMPANY: HERTZ proximately 10,000 locations throughout the world. Hertz Global is one of the largest worldwide vehicle rental companies, and the Hertz brand is one of the most recognized Travel Brands in the world. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards, Carfirmation, Mobile Wi-Fi and unique vehicles offered through the Adrenaline, Dream, Green and Prestige Collections set Hertz apart from the competition.
BEST SUPPLIER REPRESENTATIVE
MARCH 2018 PAGE 19
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Antonio Padeira and Celina Tavares of Visit Portugal accept the sub destination award from Caitriona Toner of American Airlines
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ortugal was a first time winner of the SUMMER DESTINATION: summer sun desPORTUGAL tination award. Ana Celina Tavares who has been promoted to Director of tourism, as well as the MICE segment; the PNTO in the USA, said the Sum- to re-invent history by investing in the mer Sun Destination 2017 Award. be- renovation of 30 buildings of historical longs as much to all our partners in the interest and monuments that will be market, as to us. We receive this award used for Tourism and for the training with a great sense of responsibility. It and qualification of the future generamotivates us to do even better and to tion employed in this sector. Our oath is work hard towards development of the to always make people feel welcomed to Portugal, wherever they come from. Tourism sector. Shortlisted: Italy, Greece, Lanzarote, VisitPortugal has projects to deSpain. Previous winners: 2011-2 Alvelop and improve new products such garve, 2013-4-5-6 Spain, 2017 Portugal. as cycling, walking, nature and active
BEST MAIN STREAM CRUISE COMPANY
T HA N K Y O U FOR VOTING FOR US
BEST SUPPLIER SUPPORT TEAM
MARCH 2018 PAGE 20
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Erica Oglesby, Steve Williams, Antonio Paradiso, Rebecca Kelly and Giovanni Ponticelli of MSC Cruises accept the award for best cruise line from category sponsor Hasan Mutlu of Turkish Airlines SC won the cruise award that pain has been Irehas been dominated by Royal CRUISE COMPANY: TOURIST BOARD: SPANISH land’s leading sun Caribbean since the awards MSC destination for TOURIST BOARD were introduced in 2018. seven decades with a Rebecca says that this year’s ITIA MSC Cruises, Erica and I. the Irish Travel Industry all of you inspiring Irish consistent performance awards has been the highlight of her ca2017 was our most successful year Awards. None of this people to discover great and attracted a record 2m reer. Our hard work and dedication to yet. We saw unprecedented growth, we would have been possible experiences in Spain.” visitors sin 2018. the industry was recognised and we won worked very closely with our trade partSpain’s trade profile without all your support. The tourist office for three awards. ners throughout the year and engaged in We are also really proud has been boosted by Spain in Dublin recently To win Best Mainstream Cruise Line many trade activities, from the launch for receiving one more frequent trade events moved to a new location after seven years was no mean fete of MSC Meraviglia to the hugely sucyear the awards of Best in Dublin, fam trips led after ten years. and we are hugely grateful to our trade cessful Lip Sync Battle. The year 2018 Winter Sun Destination: by the popular Kathryn Teresa Gancedo, who partners who voted for us. We owe are marks 10 years of MSC Cruises in IreLanzarote and Best MacDonnell and hostings has been director of the successes to them. I want to thank each and land and we look forward to celebrating European City destina- of the ITAA and ITOF Dublin office since Sepevery one of you for your continued support. with you all. tion: Barcelona. conferences. tember 2016, says “all To win Best Supplier Team and Best Shortlisted: Fred.Olsen, Norwegian, We are delighted to see Shortlisted: Dubai, Las the team at the SpanSupplier Representative was the icing Princess, Royal Caribbean. Previous our efforts rewarded and Vegas, New York, Portuish Tourist Office are on the cake I was personally over- winners: 2011-2-3-4-5-6-7 Royal Caribwe are looking forward gal. Previous winners: delighted to have won whelmed and honoured that the trade bean. Spain 16:30 Page continue our work with 2012-3-4-5-6-7 Tvl Extra Half Pg All Productto2018 [149x215}.qxp_Layout 1 copy 3 13/02/2018 1 “Best Tourist Board” at used their very import votes to support
Stephen Sands of Riviera Travel presents the tourist board award to Kathryn MacDonnell and Teresa Gancedo of the Spanish TB
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Thank you for your support in 2017 and we look forward to working with you all in 2018!
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IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
Cormac Meehan of Meehan Travel Bundoran President of the ITAA, presents the services to the industry award to George Barter of J Barter Travel and Kevin Cullinane of Cork Airport
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ounded in 1865 INDUSTRY AWARD: by Joseph Barter, George is the fourth GEORGE BARTER generation to take comITAA President Cormac Meehan mand of a family owned told the guests at the ceremony about business. The current Director, George Barter, how The young George Barter was diswas one of the most excited ever recipi- patched by his father to learn the trade at ents of the contribution to the industry Thomas Cook’s in London. “Many current owners started their journey at 92 award at the ITIAs. Two years ago Barter’s celebrated its Patrick St. A board member of the Guild 150th anniversary with an exhibition, of Travel Agents and various ITAA and ‘150 Years of Travel’ in the Cork Vision IATA committees and groups. The Centre. Barter’s have four branches and success of the company is down to his leadership.” a thriving brand employing 20 staff,
MARCH 2018 PAGE 21
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Best technology provider award winners Siobhan Boskett McGuigan of Amadeus, category sponsor Stephen Sands of Riviera Travel, Olwen McKinney, Trish O’Leary and Emma Holian of Amadeus madeus’ award for the Best TECHNOLOGY Travel Technology Provider set another record. “It is particuPROVIDER: larly satisfying for us as we have now won this particular honour eight times AMADEUS in a row,” Trish O’Leary says, “and the entire Ireland team are very thankful for travel technology in Europe.” “But it is crucial to make them work the continued vote of confidence we refor every single agent, and every sinceive from our customers.” “It is a great honour for me to be gle travel consultant, in their very own heading a team in Ireland that is 100pc way.” Shortlisted: Dolphin Dynamics, committed to making the lives of travel Proactive Labs, Travelport, Zendesk. consultants in Ireland easier.” Previous winners: 2011-2-3-4-5-6-7 “A lot of time, money and effort goes Amadeus. into our products and solutions which is why Amadeus is the largest investor in
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BEST PREMIUM CRUISE LINE. THANK YOU. We are delighted to have won Best Premium Cruise Line at the Irish Travel Trade Awards and want to thank you all so much for your ongoing support. Don’t forget our award-winning ship Celebrity Eclipse® will be calling Dublin home for a mini-season from this April and we look forward to welcoming your customers onboard.
CRUISINGPOWER.IE
MARCH 2018 PAGE 22
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
ITIA AWARDS 2018
Enda Corneille, Filippo Rocchi, Lotfi Temimi, Anita Thomas, Jane Masterson, Lynsey Lamont, Olwyn McGlynn, Helena Sweeney, Nisha Leelakrishnan and Lisa Rabbitte from Emirates accept the best long haul airline award from category sponsor Jon Woolf of Dublin Airport I mirates retained the long haul award as they increased cap- LONG HAUL AIRLINE: acity on their double daily EMIRATES flights from Dublin to Dubai. The Emirates difference means a “Five years ago, when we said we generous baggage allowance with up to were going to start operate from Ireland people said we were nuts,” Country 35kg in Economy Class, 40kg in Business Class and a very roomy 50kg in manager Enda Corneille says. “We are one of the largest airline First Class; more than 2,500 channels of brands in the world but take nothing for entertainment on ice, Emirates’ in flight granted, so we are thrilled to once again entertainment system, gourmet cuisine, be voted by our industry peers for this fine wines and complimentary toys. Emirates employs 30 people in IreBest Long Haul Airline award. “We always try to go the extra mile land and around 500 Irish nationals at for our customers and the award is testa- its hub in Dubai and has grown signifiment to the consistent service our teams cantly since its entry to the Irish market. Shortlisted: Aer Lingus, Etihad, provide not only in the sky but also in our sales office, at the airport and across Turkish, Virgin. Previous winners: 2011-2-3-4-5 Etihad, 2016-7 Emirates the network in our lounges.”
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¡GRACIAS! Thank you one more year for your support. We look forward to welcoming you and your customers to sunny Lanzarote and continue to be your favorite winter sun escape!
Best wishes for a successful 2018!
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es Manning is the fifth generation travel agent TRAVEL AGENCY: in the business (Thomas, MANNING TRAVEL Thomas, Des, Thomas, Des) since his great, great grandfather got the local agency for White Star, P&O and Holland America back in the 1860s. The cliché is customer service which is definitely true. After that, it is trying to put across to your clients that you are modern, that you are not something from a previous age. It is important to have a great website, good social and a slick office, to offer products that are not just the ordinary everyday stuff, that you are a cutting edge modern business other than the old fashioned and shake off the perception that we are a dying breed. Customers come in because they don’t know how to deal with what they are dealing with. Des Manning of Manning Travel Since the award the feedback and accepts the travel agency under ten employees award from Trish response has been brilliant, Facebook, His grandfather, Des, set up travel emails, cards, amazing well wishes. I agency across the 1978 and Des inherreally think it has been a good benefit ited it when his father, Tom, died in Deto the business. It has been great for us. cember 2003. The people in Kilkenny are proud of a Shortlisted: Grogan Travel, The national award, it is great for Kilkenny Travel Broker. Previous winners: 2015 as well. There were lots of jokes about Navan Travel, 2016 Fahy Travel Galwinning a national title in January be- way, 2017 Grenham Travel Athlone. cause we won none in September.”
IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION
MARCH 2018 PAGE 23
ITIA AWARDS 2018
John Grehan and Brian Young of G Adventures accept the award for best specialist tour operator from Jason Kearns of Hertz I
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ohn Grehan of G Adventures says he only discovered G Adventures had been nominated in the ITIA Awards two weeks before the event. “At that stage being nominated was my celebration, a main stream category was terrific recognition from the larger Irish travel industry, the chances of winning were so out of the question. It’s for this reason I was so blown away at winning the award having been nominated for the first time and pitched against such established brands within the category. Over the last 14 months we have pushed G Adventures with good old fashioned tramping the pavements, pitching up at every trade and consumer event with brochures and banners and rocking up to any bun fight to get the word out. Seems it may have worked thank heavens. The awards go a long way in gaining
SPECIALIST TOUR OP: G ADVENTURES that extra recognition from the already converted and acts as an endorsement to others instilling a confidence that G Louise Dunne and Karen Ray of the Travel Broker, corporate travel agent Adventures is a “real thing” . winners receive their award from Mark Hooper of Portaventura The relationship between G Advenor the first time a tures and the agents is two-way, we love CORPORATE TRAVEL job share has won to see bookings for a destination or style an agent award at PROFESSIONAL: LOUISE that is out of the ordinary, the agent in the ITIA, and it was won return loves the sense of achievement of DUNNE & KAREN RAY OF by a highly efficient duo. the sale of a unique product. Both are mothers of THE TRAVEL BROKER Thanks to all in the Irish trade for vottwo. Karen Ray works ing G Adventures and more importantly time. This is the third time they had two days a week, Louise for the continued personal support.” Dunne works three and they never see been nominated for the award. Shortlisted: Classic Resorts, CrysProprietor Clare Dunne says “they each other although they are very sertal Holidays, Discover Travel, Travel work hard and very serious about their ious about working together. Focus. Previous winners: 2011-2 DisLouise celebrated her twentieth an- jobs. It is really well deserved.” cover Travel, 2013 Classic Resorts, “Some clients don’t believe there are niversary with Travel Broker last year. 2014 Insight; 2015 Sunway, 2016 InKaren has been there 18 years. Both two of them. They think they are only sight, 2017 Sunway. started in the Travel Broker at the same one.”
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DESTINATION DERRY
erry’s new boutique hotel is where hipster meets history. The telephone at the bedside is a giveaway. It looks like one of those you would use to call up The not-so-great Gatsby to let him know that his party invitation has been accepted. And you could make it direct from Derry in those days. The telephone was one of the twentieth century accoutrement we are allowed in the room, amid mirrors and yellows from the 1970s, as if all history comes back into fashion. The grandiose period building where Bishops once lived is a good place to celebrate the lavish, from the revolving doors as you enter, period furniture in the lobby, high counter reception desk and welcome smile (Bishop’s Gate’s Laura Curran was winner and Stephanie McCarron runner up in the 2017 NIHF hotel receptionist of the year award), Then the balconied stair, big stained glass window and mixture of hip modern art sculptures and classic period portraiture of once famous now forgotten grandees. The sens of tasting the best of times past even extends to the Baked Alaska on the dessert menu, a piece of history in itself.
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t is hard to get anyone to say exactly when the troubles ended in Derry but is seems a long time ago now, long before anywhere else in the province. Derry’s 1970s model of power-sharing has been accepted by the rest of the province, and a long-running tribunal in the Guildhall is consigning Bloody Sunday, the pivotal event of the troubles, to history. History hangs heavy in the air, but not all of it is canonfire and sieges and community battlegrounds. The Tower Museum, a
Fit for a Bishop
Is this Ireland’s most hipster hotel? Bishop’s Gate Hotel Derry
rebuilt O’Doherty towerhouse on the original location, is one of the first in Ireland to actively engage the story of the troubles and worth visiting just to see the ingenious way it tip toes through the thorny subject of politics. It is one of the best kept secrets of the northwest, remarkably undiscovered despite its awards from Irish and English-based organisations. It also has the only open air viewing facility in the heart of the city centre.
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hirt-making still lingers in the Thomas Pink product, for Derry was once regarded in the way the Far East is today, home to a ready supply of cheap labour. The shirt-factory horn of Phil Coulter’s song no longer sounds (it was a war air raid siren), and those that didn’t arrive
at 8.30am, invariably women, were docked half a day’s pay. Karl Marx mentions the exploitation of Derry workers in Das Kapital, and factories such as Tilly & Henderson, a red brick building at the end of Craigavon Bridge, supplied 80pc of the shirts to England. Tour guide Tommy Carlin enjoys revealing the juiciest of nuggets to a variety of visitors. Somebody from The city is compact and ideal for the guided walking tour. In summer they resonate in different languages around the wall stops. The stories go back from John Caker Casey who painted the famous You Are Now Entering Free Derry slogan on a wall gable, to St Columba himself and the leafy spot where his first monastery was founded, to the cannonball on which Jacobite surrender
terms were delivered in 1688, to the altogether more colourful stories of Bishop Harvey in the 18th century. Harvey was of a mercantile Bristol family, which named the Bristol Cream rather than the wall-banger, although, true to form, Harvey banged a hole in Derry’s walls to build a triumphal arch commemorating the centenary of the siege. Turning attention to the welfare of his mistresses and fine wines, he had a bridge built to cut the journey time to one of his lovers in Donegal. He eventually died of gout, but the fine architecture of his ambitious construction projects still distinguishes the city where he lived.
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he real revolution has been accommodation. It is a decade and a
bit since the first hotel within the walls since Lundy;s Time opened. Now there are a selection of guesthouses, B&B’s and others catering to the growing tourist audience, 403,000 visited the walls last year by one estimation. It fell to somebody to raise the red and white standard and give Derry a hotel to the forefront of European boutique standards, and that was where the Bishopsgate came in. The location, inside the old walls of Derry, gives the lingering effect of being an insider in the city. The hotel is quite new, 1899, but built in a retro style. You are now a local, so go where the locals go, to Peadar O’Donnell’s pub and the adjoining Gweedore bar are an obvious first stop, they are not, as Temple Bar is regarded in Dublin,
a tourist trap, but a living breathing part of the city’s heritage. Centres for the performing arts don;t come any more readymade.
N
o Bishops of Derry actualy lived here in the Bishop’s Gate hotel, but you could have expected they might. Instead it was a club for wealthy merchants during a rich couple of decades of Derry history. The Bishop’s Gate hotel could easily have become focused on the debt and richness of its own history instead of doing what it did. If there is a more hipster hotel in Ireland we want to stay there To paraphrase a Derry poet, this is where hipster meets history. Tel: +442871 140300 www.bishopsgate.c hotelderry.com
BOOK NOW AND GET
ONE FREE NIGHT FOR SELECTED JUNE DATES!
MARCH 2018 PAGE 28
THE FLYING COLUMN RYANAIR IN FRANCE David O’Brien said that Ryanair plans to double its capacity in France over the next four years and add 30 aircraft to the French market in the aftermath of its decision to recognise trade unions. Ryanair new winter routes for 2018/19 include Paris Beauvais to Bratislava (2 pw), Malta (2), Prague (3) & Thessaloniki (2); Marseille to Bucharest, Budapest & Faro (all 2pw); Nantes to London Stansted (4 pw) & Seville (2); Bordeaux to Valencia (2 pw) Ryanair may operate five bases in the country, with Marseille, Nantes, Toulouse and Beauvais likely candidates and Paris Orly airport if it lifts what O’Brien described as “artificial restrictions” on capacity. David O’Brien said Ryanair has met with representatives of airports in Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse with the aim of stationing five aircraft each at two French provincial hubs. NORWEGIAN is to create a cabin crew base in spring 2018 in Dublin. So far 60 cabin crew positions have been recruited for the Dublin base. Further pilot positions are being advertised for experienced Boeing or Airbus candidates. Norwegian says its Stewart International flights are performing better than Providence, and ancillary revenue is lower than anticipated on the Irish routes. Aviation Analytics claimed Cork is Norwegian’s most profitable airport. Elsewhere Norwegian is to discontinue its only service to Hartford, from Edinburgh. ANNIVERSARY A plaque was erected at Ballymadun near Ashbourne in memory of Aer Lingus trainee pilots John Kavanagh (19) and Rory de Paor (20) who were killed along with Aer Lingus training captain Hugh O’Keeffe, when an Aer Lingus Viscount training flight crashed on 22 June 1967. HARTFORD Kevin Dillon of Con-
necticut Airport Authority, said the Aer Lingus service from Dublin to Hartford has shown promising growth and said the route is in line for an aircraft upgrade in 2019.”
DUBLIN Airport wants an upmarket café to replace the Spar store in T2 arrivals to “deliver a high quality coffee offer” to the arrivals hall than the current Spar. DUBLIN
Airport passenger numbers in 2017 were up 6pc to 29,582,321, moving it to 14th in Europe, up one place with Copenhagen down three places to 15th.
RYANAIR’s controversial attempt to exclude Ryanair contractor pilots from being represented in union recognition talks was discussed by the European cockpit association. WESTON Airport landing fees have reverted back to €20 for light aircraft under 1 tonne and €40 for aircraft arriving from outside the state. They were reduced to €10 last summer.
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
Recontstruction work in Dublin Airport’s Terminal 1: the airport handles 68pc of Irish passenger traffic
The 68.1pc airport Dublin’s proportion of traffic on and off island grows
T
he 2017 total passenger numbers for Irish airports show that Dublin’s proportion of air traffic to and from the island is up, again, to 68.1pc and 61.9pc if ferry passengers are included. Belfast International, which now accounts for 6.5pc of traffic to and from the island, showed the biggest percentage growth and Derry the biggest percentage loss.
Irish airports handled 43,395,532 passengers in 2017 and the main ports another 3.9m passengers. It means that Dubin’s share of traffic has grown from 67.2pc in 2015, to 67.8pc in 2016 and now to 68.1pc. Cork, having suffered seven years of decline saw its growth halved from 7.7pc to 3.5pc and Shannon which saw six year of decline recorded its fifth successive year of growth but only just - by 0.2pc.
IRISH AIRPORTS 2017 Belfast Int up 13.4pc to 5,836,735 Belfast City down 3pc to 2,558,000, Cork up 3.5pc to 2,308,507 Derry down 33.2.pc to 194,280 Donegal up 5.3pc to 46,514 Dublin up 6pc to 29,582,321 Kerry up 3pc to 335,480 Knock up 2.2pc to 750,000 Shannon up 0.1pc to 1,751,116
RYANAIR WANTS TO REFUND FARE FINDERS
A
n increase in checked bag allowance (€25 for 20kg) and a refund the difference plus five euro offer for cheaper alternative fares is among the measures announced by Ryanair as part of its 2018 so-called “Always Getting Better” programme.
S
Ryanair listed measures that it will in introducing : n An offer to refund the difference plus €5 to the My Ryanair account if a customer finds a cheaper fare elsewhere n A 90pc on time punctuality promise – n Simple Bag Policy – 2 free cabin bag remains
n increased checked bag allowance (€25 for 20kg) n EU261 claims processed in 10 days n A promise to be plastic free in next 5 years; n A carbon offset scheme for customers n Discounts on flights for customers who book with Ryanair rooms
Kenny Jacobs
STOBART ATR42 TO DONEGAL
tobart Air, the franchise flying partner to airlines including Aer Lingus and Flybe, has RYANAIR reinstated its Kerry-Faro invested in its fleet as the route for summer 2018 and extended the period airline’s contract to operof operation. ate the Dublin-Donegal and Dublin-Kerry Public FRANCE has scrapped a project to Service Obligation (PSO) build an airport near Nantes.
routes, under the Aer Lingus Regional brand was recently renewed. Stobart Air, operating as Aer Lingus Regional, has operated these routes, on behalf of the Government, since 2015 and the renewed contract will run
until January 31, 2022. The airline has invested up to €13.8m in its fleet to operate its PSO services over the period. Stobart Air has invested in a new aircraft with Nordic Aviation Capital, while extending an existing lease with GE
Capital Aviation Services. The new aircraft will operate the Donegal services while the airline will deploy its larger aircraft (ATR72) to operate the Kerry route, increasing capacity by up to 50pc on Kerry services in 2018.
MARCH 2018 PAGE 29
THE FLYING COLUMN
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
Convert alert
Ryanair accused of using out of date conversion rate
R
yanair have been criticised for exploiting currency to their advantage and charging rates which have not changed since England voted to leave the EU in June 2016. Customers booking two return flights for £400 from England with a euro-denominated card would have been charged €448 if using widely available bank rates, compared to €480 with Ryanair’s conversion option, which customers can chose. A spokesman said “all Ryanair fares are quoted in the currency of the departure country, and our booking system automatically identifies the currency of the card during the booking process. “Customers have the option of paying in the currency of the card with absolute certainty of what the final payment will be at the time of booking. “Alternatively, they have the op-
FASTEST There was incredulous reaction to claims that a Norwegian B787 set a record for the fastest transatlantic flight crossing by a subsonic jet, JFK to Gatwick in 5 hours 13 minutes. Last Sunday Aer Lingus/ASL flew Boston-Shannon in four hours 30 last Sunday. January 14, while an Aer Lingus B720 flew JFK to Shannon in 4 hr 58 minutes as far back as November 18 1960. NORWEGIAN is to double its
weekly flights Shannon to Providence from 2w to 4w and increase Stewart NY to 3w this summer. Declan Power said six airlines will operate 90 flights a week to seven destinations from Shannon this summer.
Ryanair’s web policies are under fie once more tion of taking the, yet unknown, exchange rate applied by their bank/ card provider. “This is presented transparently, and no one is being “ripped off”. All customers are advised of the dynamic currency conversion rate applied and have the option to avail of this rate or not.” Ryanair’s website warns: “Ryanair guarantees the currency exchange
rate at the time of booking the ticket. This exchange rate will not change. If you do not choose Ryanair’s currency exchange rate you may be exposed to negative currency fluctuations between the time you make your booking and when your card issuing bank converts the transaction, as in most cases the currency conversion occurs a number of days after the date of booking the booking.
Free th nking ble independent
DNATA, part of the Emirates Group, says its new airline catering facility at Dublin Airport will employ 60 people. The company prepares 320,000 meals every day for 190 airlines. LUFTHANSA Technik selected
Shannon as the group’s first B787 base maintenance site.
DUBLIN AEROSPACE
Conor McCarthy said Dublin Aerospace is considering maintenance operations at one of Ireland’s regional airports.
GECAS Declan Kelly was named Chief
Commercial Officer for GECAS. A newly created role.
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
MARCH 2018 PAGE 30
THE FLYING COLUMN
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
EASYJET reported a 14.4pc jump in revenues to £1.1bn for the three months to December 31 2017 under new Chief Executive Johan Lundgren. Passenger numbers rose by 8pc to 18.8m in the same period. The airline looks to have benefited from the troubles of low-cost competitors, with Monarch collapsing, Ryanair cancelling flights, and Air Berlin and Alitalia going into administration. “Clearly there has been less competitive pressure on certain routes,” Mr Lundgren said. RYANAIR filed a complaint to European competition authorities about a Polish airport company’s alleged refusal to expand Warsaw’s Modlin airport, the airline’s Polish base. The market leader has a 30pc share of Polish business, while state carrier Lot operates from Warsaw’s main Chopin airport. MERGER PROPOSAL Gulf carriers Emirates and Etihad should merge as the “most logical” solution to Etihad’s financial and strategic woes, according to a report from Davy Stockbrokers.
CATHAY Pacific
which will launch a Dublin to Hong Kong service this summer is set to announce a new route to South Africa’s Cape Town.
LEASING Ireland’s aircraft leasing
industry contributes around €541m to the economy, and supports about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, a report by PwC said. The CSO report on aircraft leasing in Ireland 2007-2016. Reports revenue of €14.3bn, profit after tax €3.0bn, tax €187m, assets of €141.6bn (of which €4.9bn cash), liabilities €141.1bn (of which €40.6bn equity) and average pay of €165,000..
TUSKAR TRAGEDY The 50th anniversary of the St Phelim Aer Lingus tragedy in which four crew and 57 passengers died is to be commemorated at Rosslare on Saturday, March 24. This will be followed by a Memorial Ceremony at Rosslare Harbour Memorial Park. LUFTHANSA launched a new automatic check-in service for customers travelling on flights within Germany and to selected European destinations in the Schengen area. RYANAIR announced an open day for hotel owners and operators, offering them the chance to list their rates & availability on the Ryanair Rooms website. Ryanair say their Rooms Direct gives hotels access to 130m customers a year on the airline’s website ETHIOPIAN Airlines says Irish passenger uplift figures are up 37pc and load factors have increased by 26pc as it named its one millionth passenger out of Dublin. Passenger Emer Hall, travelling with partner Fergus Whelan, was greeted by Meseret Tekalign, Ethiopian Airlines Area Manager Ireland, at Dublin Airport. LOGANAIR are to reinstate Donegal to Glasgow 3w from March 25. Aer Lingus Regional Donegal to Glasgow service ends March 23. Numbers on the Glasgow route were down 2.6pc in 2017.
Emirates team in Dublin: Filippo Rocchi, Anita Thomas, Sarah Jane Wilson, Olwyn McGlynn and Enda Corneille,
Emirates eyes 3
Enda’s four good reasons not to bring A380 to Dublin
E
nda Corneille of Emirates gave four good reasons why the A380 will not be coming to Dublin soon at his talk to the Royal Aeronautical Society. To construct the double decker gate for the A380 would take up to four wide-bodied airbridges and gates out of commission for a three to four month period. “While it was being built, it would take four gates out of commission. They are very valuable for A330s,” he said, referring to the aircraft Aer Lingus uses to operate transatlantic flights. “We are kind of in a bind. I think the airport want to do it. We want to do it, but it’s the issue of the gates.” There is only one space on Dublin Airport’s airfield where an A380 – which is 262 feet wide and has a private lounge on board – could park and reverse without bumping into other planes. It is highly unlikely that airport operator DAA would prioritise Emirate’s wishes for the sake of a single aircraft. “If you spoke to Mike Rutter from Aer Lingus, he’d say, ‘I want more taxiways.’ If you speak to me, I want a gate for a 380. Michael (O’Leary) wants other stuff. DAA has other mouths to feed.”
It is more likely that Emirates will schedule a third B777 flight from the Irish capital. Traditionally, the airline has started than introduce an A380routes with daily flights using a B777, moved to double daily frequency and then switched the aircraft for an A380. Emirates currently uses a 362-seater Boeing B777. It claims to fly more than 20,000 passengers out of Ireland every month. It competes with Etihad, Turkish and Qatar Airways. Another player will enter the arena in early June when Cathay Pacific launches its four times weekly service to Hong Kong. “Ireland Inc is very excited about Cathay. Tourism chiefs and government ministers are all clambering to claim credit for the first direct Chinese route. But I don’t believe it’s about China at all,. “I see all the numbers and I don’t see enough numbers Ireland-China to justify anything. They’ll fly into Hong Kong, but they’ll use Hong Kong in the same way we use Dubai as a hub. Cathay will be fighting out with us on Australia and the Philippines in particular.” That said, another airline advertising eastern flights is good for us all”. “If I look at the competitive set at the moment. We are doing a load factor
or around 80pc. We are profitable. Do I want to overload the boat? Vanity can get in the way. I want to see how the summer goes with the capacity we’ve got. A third flight out of Dublin using a B777, which have larger bellies than A380s, would allow the airline to carry more cargo out of Ireland. According to Corneille, Emirates flies up to 25 tonnes of goods out of Ireland every day. “You would be amazed what would be underneath the floor when you’re on the aircraft, everything from Keogh’s crisps, baby milk formula, live falcons and Botox from Mayo. “With the number of A380s coming down the track, these things have to go somewhere. I would hope to bring it into Dublin, but I just can’t tell you when.” Emirates ordered 36 new A380s in a deal worth $16bn in the new year, effectively saving the superjumbo and already has 101 in its fleet. A380 services have commenced to Barcelona and Prague in recent years. “Strategically we want to build out a third operation from Dublin. Given Cathay, given others, you don’t want to be daft about it either,. I think it’s something we might grow into, but maybe not just this year.”
MARCH 2018 PAGE 31
THE FLYING COLUMN
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare AVOLON’s direct parent company,
Bohai Capital, plans to issue shares to fund a revamp of the aircraft lessor’s ultimate parent, the HNA Group to buy assets from another HNA subsidiary as part of an overhaul at the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate.
WOW Air will suspend Miami-Keflavik
service on April 7, the first US route suspended or cancelled since beginning US service in 2015.
CORK Airport named the Shine Centre
for Autism as its Charity of the Year for 2018.
SCHIPHOL wants discussions to end its 500,000 flight movements cap, having reached that limit with 497,00 takeoffs and landings in 2017, handling 68.5m passengers. Michael O’Leary: Predicts staff costs will rise by 45m
Fare to fall 3pc
Newly unionised Ryanair warns of negative PR
R
yanair said fares will FALL 3pc in 2018 as it reported a record Q3 profit. The airline warned investors to expect “negative PR” as it finalises union discussions. The airline reported a 12pc rise in Q3 profit to €106m as average fares fell 4pc to just €32 per customer. Traffic grew 6pc to 30.4m with load factors up 1pc to 96pc. Unit costs fell 1pc and exfuel unit costs rose 3pc.
Michael O’Leary said: “Following our pilot rostering failure in Sept., the painful decision to ground 25 aircraft ensured that punctuality of our operations quickly returned to our normal 90pc average. “Our AGB customer service programme, coupled with 4pc lower fares, stimulated 6pc traffic growth to 30.4m at an industry leading 96pc load factor. Staff costs will rise this year by an additional €45m.
IAA HANDLES RECORD NUMBER OF FLIGHTS
T
he Irish Aviation Authority’s latest figures show that Dublin Airport handled almost 85pc of all air traffic movements in 2017. Work has commenced on the building of a new u 50m air traffic control tower at Dublin Airport. At 87m tall, the new tower will be the tallest building in Ireland and
facilitate DAA plans for a Northern parallel runway at Dublin and will be visible to all passengers travelling via Dublin from March 2018 onwards.” Total flights handled include total commercial terminal movements, North Atlantic Communications flights managed and En Route flights (flights, which
do not land in Ireland). Dublin had 215,829 out of 255,019 aircraft movements last year, 84.6pc of all flights, with the remainder evenly divided between Shannon and Cork. The authority said a record 1,135,845 flights including those not landing in Ireland were safely handled in our airspace in 2017, up 2pc.
Y
Ryanair last year. The five airline Lufthansa group carried 130m passengers, ahead of Ryanair (128.77m), Aer Lingus owners IAG
RAF CENTENARY Speakers at a
free one day centenary conference in Belfast to mark Ireland’s connection with the Royal Air “After 30 years of successfully Force on April 25 will include Guy Warner, dealing directly with our people it Ernie Cromie, Pat McCarthy, Joe Gleeson, became clear in December that a Nina Hadaway, Nigel Henderson. majority of pilots wanted to be repredropped its 1w Cork sented by unions. In keeping with AER LINGUS to Munich flight from the summer schedule our policy to recognise unions when with the final flight departing on March 31 the majority of our people wanted it, to allocate the flight’s capacity to other Cork we have met pilot unions in Ireland, routes where there is greater demand such as UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Cork to Heathrow and sun destinations, MalBelgium and France to discuss how aga, Alicante and Las Palmas. we can work with them on behalf of our people.” AER LINGUS is to wet-lease to BA for some Heathrow T5-Dublin and Heathrow T5-Hamburg to allow BA release aircraft to take up Gatwick slots taken over since Monarch collapsed. Aer Lingus will not offer business class on the routes.
AER LINGUS CEO Stephen Kavan-
agh told the Irish American Business Chamber and Network at the Philadelphia Pyramid Club: “we want to be the leading value carrier across the North Atlantic,”
CORK Airport has reported the third
consecutive January of growth, with passenger numbers up 5pc this year..
Dublin’s new control tower will be Ireland’s tallest building
LUFTHY PIPS RYANAIR FOR TOP
ear end passenger numbers released by Lufthansa mean that it has overtaken Ryanair as Europe’s largest airline it lost to
BELFAST City airport reported 163,523 passengers in January. The airport lost its fourth service in three years this month, Veuling, SN Brussels Citywing and now Icelandair from May 15. Air Iceland Connect is closing its Keflavik base and disposing of its Q400s. Easyjet continue to serve Keflavik.
(104.83m), Air France KLM (98.72m) and Easyjet (81.83m). Lufthansa airlines carried 9.3m passengers up 19.9pc as Ryanair’s
growth slowed top 3pc as it cancelled 20,000 flights. “Next year, as we grow to 140m passengers, we expect to overtake Lufthansa again, unless they acquire
DUBLIN Airport is to undergo major building work in the coming years, with the DAA preparing to double its spend on construction to €300m a year. DAA employees, supported by the company and members of the public, raised a total of €300,000 for the company’s charity partners last year - MS Ireland, Merchant’s Quay Ireland and My Canine Companion for Autism.
BRISBANE Airport is set to become
the planet’s first aviation hub to accept Bitcoin - as well as a selection of other virtual currencies, including Dash, Steem, Litecoin and Ethereum - after signing an agreement with tourism company TravelbyBit Australia.
u
MARCH 2018 PAGE 32
THE FLYING COLUMN RYANAIR announced 29 new Spanish routes for winter 18/19 plus increased frequencies on 35 routes for a total of 500 routes, 41.5m annual passengers (up 9pc). The new routes (all 2w except where indicated) are: Barcelona-Malta (4w); Palma-Milan Bergamo, Rome CIA, and Weeze; Alicante-Bologna, Gdansk and Newquay; Valencia- Bordeaux, Cagliari, Fez, Tangier, Bristol and Palermo; Seville-Bristol and Alicante (3w), Cagliari, Catania, Malta, Edinburgh, Fuerteventura, Luxembourg, Nantes, Porto (3w), Rabat, Tangier and Venice Treviso (3w); Tenerife SouthMilan Malpensa; Las Palmas-Venice Treviso; Santander-Budapest. CROATIA Airlines is to launch a sea-
sonal two class A319 Dublin-Zagreb service 2w from May to October with onward connections to Balkan sunspots.
SHANNON is to get Ryanair services
to Bristol 2w from May 17, Liverpool 3w from May 19 and Manchester increasing 4w to 6w.
CITYJET moved its London-Dublin services to Southend for a day after a World War II bomb find closed London City Airport. STOBART Air is to continue the Public Service Obligation Contract on the Dublin to Donegal and Kerry services, and invest €13.8m in its fleet.
ANNA AERO analysis of the 2018 summer season shows that Ryanair will offer the most routes with 1,600, Turkish Airlines will serve the most countries and American Airlines will operate from the most airports. BLUE AIR Daily analysis of OAG data shows scheduled air capacity between Europe and North America will grow 7.3pc to 73.8m seats in summer 2018 and LCC capacity will grow 70.3pc and account for 7.8pc of the trans-Atlantic seating capacity. RYANAIR announced extended con-
necting flights service at Milan Bergamo and Rome FCO, adding a further 27 city-pairs, mainly regional Italy-Spain.
RYANAIR said it was forced to cut prices for flights to Catalonia by up to 30pc because of the political crisis in the region, and that tickets are still selling for less. NORWEGIAN Air is to put $250m
into its Irish subsidiary as it continues to expand its operations here bringing total investment in Ireland to $750m since 2013.
RUNWAY An application brought on
behalf of a number of residents for permission to bring an appeal against plans for the new €320m runway at Dublin Airport was dismissed by the High Court.
RYANAIR head of marketing Kenny Jacobs said he hopes to launch its much-discussed feeder connection with Aer Lingus later this year. FINNAIR plans on increasing its cap-
acity by more than 15pc in 2018, with most of this growth coming in the first half of the year.
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
AerCap’s 402 deal Airline transactions in 2017 include 119 widebody
A
erCap reported net income of $1.0bn in 2017 on revenues down 2pc to $5.0bn, with 402 aircraft transactions including 119 widebody, $5.3bn of aircraft purchased and $2.4bn of aircraft sold. AerCap ended with $9.6bn of available liquidity and adjusted debt/ equity ratio of 2.8 to 1. A new $200m share repurchase program was authorised. Since June 2015, AerCap has repurchased over 30pc of AerCap’s outstanding shares for $2.8 bn. Q4 net income was US$266.3m with revenues down 8pc to $1.2bn. AerCap expects to deliver approximately $6bn of aircraft assets in 2018, reinforcing the return to asset growth, which began again in Q4. This level of delivery may be impacted by recent developments on the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan engine on the A320 family. CEO Aengus Kelly said: There is quite a few tourists (investors who have just dipped in and could dip out again) in the sector who have arrived here due to the paucity of yields available in other asset classes. So as the yields on those increase, I have no doubt that we will see money leave the sector. I do think we will see an increased opportunity for people like ourselves, if we do continue to see rising (interest) rates. We are leasing many airplanes into the market where (Boeing’s proposed mid-market) aircraft will go. That mission is done by A330s, B767s and A321s, mainly older B767s and A330s. For a new airplane to successfully dislodge those very reliable tried and tested assets, it will have to come in at a competitive price. If (interest) rates rise, then there is a corresponding rise in the lease rental to offset the rise in rates If we see a reasonably controlled grind higher of lease rates that will
D
Aengus Kelly of AerCap be a good thing - we’re assuming that that reflects a stronger global economy with improved GDP outlook will lead to some inflation of the asset value also. It will probably lead to the departure of some of the tourist capital has come into the space. But of course the big risk would be if you haven’t hedged yourself before rates began to rise and you’re running an open book, which, as you know, AerCap does not. We are always looking at allocation of capital. There are four avenues for us. We can do sale leasebacks in the markets, we can buy from the manufacturers, we can buy another company, we can buy ourselves. I am excluding repayment of debt, because we have de-levered quite a bit over the last few years. And so we’re always looking at what’s the most attractive alternative. If you just look out over the next 24 months to the end of 2019, in terms of the placement activity on an overall basis we’re 95pc placed. On the (Embraer) E2s, we’ve got either under lease contract or LOI
40pc of the E2 order book. There is quite a number of discussions going on out there around the world. I think it is clear that the recent acquisition, or the acquisition, that is in progress of Bombardier by Airbus validates the space and of course the public interest that Boeing has expressed in Embraer also validates the space. The E2-195 is where most of the activity is. And in a 2-class configuration, you’re in the mid-120s (for seats); and in a very dense configuration, you will get up to 144. So it’s not the 100-seat market. What we are seeing, of course, what is generating some interest in it is that Boeing and Airbus have left that market space sub-150 seats. And so we are seeing demand there and for customers who are looking at that 120 to 140 seat space, and it is a mixture of missions, some are connecting into a hub in a large domestic market, others are with the GTF engine on-board and the fuel burn that it brings are looking at some longer missions. So it is a mix.
AER LINGUS CATERING CRUX
ublin Airport Authority are to take back the Aer Lingus catering building this year as part of their grand plan, which leads to the
question as to what happens the catering department. Union sources claim Aer Lingus has been attempting to outsource catering
for years. Menzies are handling catering from IAG apart from Aer Lingus, Dnata have set up their operations there. It is a far
cry from 1996 when there were 300 staff producing 7,000 meals per day. Now Aer Lingus catering just looks after J class to the USA.
116678 ITTS 2018 FP.qxp_110960 ITITS - April 17 2/21/18 11:15 AM Page 1
Presented by
Venue
Timetable
RDS Hall 3, Ballsbridge Anglesea Road Dublin D04 AK83
Thursday April 12 • Trade Show: 2pm – 7pm • Networking Event: 7pm till late
Visit th
To pre-register for fast track entry and to find out more about the event log on to: www.irishtraveltradeshow.com
List of exhibitors waiting to welcome you include: Accident & General Aegean Airlines Aer Lingus Algarve Tourism Bureau Affordable Car Hire Air Arabia Air Canada Air France AirPlus International AMA Waterways Amadeus Marketing Ireland Andalucia Tourist Board Aqua Suites ASL Airlines France Atlantic City & Pennslyvania ATTS Travel Representation Solutions BEDSONLINE SLU Bookabed Cambrils Tourism Board Canary Islands Catalan Tourist Board Cathay Pacific Airways Celebrity Cruises China Airlines Cork Airport Costa Daurada Tourism Board
Costa Sal Villas and Suites Dawson Travel.ie DB / RailShop Delta Air Lines DoSomethingDifferent.com Dublin Airport East Cork Travel Emirates Etihad Airways Expedia TAAP Finnair Flexible Autos Fuerteventura Tourism Board Getabed.eu Globe Hotels Grenada Board of Tourism GTI - The Group Travel Specialists H10 Hotels Hahn Air Lines GmbH Happy Tours Headon Representation Hertz Rent-a-Car Holiday Taxis Holidayguru.ie Hotel Botanico & The Oriental Spa Garden Innstant Travel
Insight Vacations Ireland West Airport Knock Irish Ferries Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) Kew Green Hotels KLM Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Loro Parque Macau Government Tourism Office Madrid Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Nau Hotels & Resorts Algarve PARADORES Philadelphia CVB Philippines Dept of Tourism PortAventura World Qantas Airways Qatar Airways Riu Hotels & Resorts Riviera Travel Rotana Hotel Management Royal Caribbean International Rovos Rail Luxury Rail Tours Salou Tourism Board SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Siam Park
Silversea Cruises Spanish Tourism Board Stena Line Sunway Travel Tenerife Tourism Corporation The Travel Corporation Tourism Authority of Thailand Tourism South East England Travel & General Insurance Services Travel Focus Travelport Travel Solutions Travel Technology Systems Tunisian National Tourist Office Turismo De Galicia Turkish Airlines Universal Orlando Resort Uniworld Boutique River Cruises Viajes Euroamerica Vila-seca-La Pineda Tourism Board Visit Orlando VisitFLANDERS VisitPortugal Wallace Travel Group Wendy Wu Tours
MARCH 2018 PAGE 34
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
M 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
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 Costa Dorada. 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 Aoife Finneran “Miami So Ice”, The Sun, John Spollen of Cassidy Travel, sponsor, Eoghan Corry
All award winners
MARCH 2018 PAGE 35
Inside the Travel Business
GLOBAL VILLAGE BLUE INSURANCES Theresa Davey from Mackin Travel was the Blue Insurance car promotion January finalist. TRAVEL COUNSELLORS
annual conference on April 19th - 21st at the 5* Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow will be attended by 73 Travel Counsellors, their partners, head office team and guests, and 50 industry partners attending the Pow Wow sessions on Friday afternoon. Cathy Burke expects it to be the biggest and best Travel Counsellors conference in Ireland and places are now limited. The company celebrates 13 years in Ireland in 2018.
TRAVELGENIO signed a multiyear agreement with Travelport.
If a chargeback has already been raised do not process a refund, and never refund to a different card.
Fraud on the up
T
ITAA warn of telephone and credit card scams
he Irish Travel Agents’ Association advised vigilance following an increase in online and phone fraud activity, including an attempted credit card scam to purchase hotel rooms by phone followed up through email. The fraudsters attempted to extract confidential data and divert funds being sent from one person or organisation to another. Pat Dawson, CEO of the ITAA,
commented, “We are calling on our members, and all retailers, to be vigilant of any type of enquiry along these lines and to report to your credit card provider any suspicious activity or transactions.” In order to guard against such attacks, the ITAA is advising businesses to be on the lookout for unusual activity around transactions, ensure their email system is up to date and secure, and to use two-factor
authentication where possible. AIB Merchant Services warn agents that if a chargeback has already been raised do not process a refund, and never refund to a different card: “Analyse Chargebacks and fraud previously suffered. It will help to identify where your business is most at risk and how fraud can be prevented in future. Speak to AIB Merchant Services or your PSP (Payment Service Provider)”
MELINIS SUCCEED BY RUTH HILTON AT TTC
T
he Travel Corporation said Trafalgar and CostSaver sales and business development director Ruth Hilton is to replace Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold sales boss Paul Melinis in an expanded role. One of Melinis’s last acts in his role was to attend the Irish Travel
Industry Awards at the Mansion House, where sister company Uniworld Boutique River Cruises won the Best Specialist Cruise Company award. He is leaving the Travel Corporation to become regional managing director of Sydney-headquartered APT after 17 years with the
business. The Travel Corporation appointed Ruth Hilton as sales and business development director in Britain and Ireland across all four brands: Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Trafalgar and CostSaver. She will report into Gavin Tollman, chief executive
W
members and preferred trade partners for their annual conference. Worldchoice previously staged conferences in the Radisson in Galway in 2017, Seafield
AMADEUS appointed Claudio San-
tos as new Commercial Director for Ireland and Portugal. Claudio joined Amadeus last autumn after spending the last 15 years working for IBM in Latin America.
AMADEUS achieved PCI DSS Validation and compliancy in accordance to the list of security measures. During the validation process Amadeus had its security controls, policies, and procedures examined, measured and validated against a stringent set of PCI DSS requirements defined by PCI Security Standards Council.
QANTAS
is ramping up its work with the trade in advance of the launch of world’s third-longest route, from London to Perth, and the resumption of the London to Singapore service. The airline’s Meath native, Pauric Gallagher, and colleague Anthony Hall hosted the trade in Dublin to showcase the Australian airline’s connection options.
MARY McKENNA Tour Amer-
ican Managing Director Mary McKenna has on election to the council of the Dublin Chamber business association.
TRAVELPORT reported increases of 77pc in peak (one-day) shopping rate messages per second, 79pc in overall 24-hour message volumes in January 2018. Two year increases were 169pc and 161pc.
NAVAN Martin Skelly’s Navan Travel held their first ever holiday roadshow in the Newgrange hotel.
ITAA CONFERENCE Ruth Hilton
WORLDCHOICE FOR KILKENNY
orldchoice Ireland consortium, which recently sub aimed the Travelsavers Ireland members,announced that registration is now open for
TUI says Greece, Turkey and Cyprus are the top-rising choices of European holidaymakers this summer, as it revealed its latest financial figures.
near Gorey in 2016, Ashbourne in 2013, Mount Wolseley, Tullow in 2011, Dunboyne in 2009, Lyrath in Kilkenny in 2007 and Citywest in 2006 and 2002.
A planned 2014 conference was postponed when it clashed with two rival awards ceremonies.
Negotiations continue on the margins for the Irish Travel Agents Association conference 2018 with Philadelphia now the front runner for 2018 and Cordoba for 2019.
ITAA
quarterly survey indicates 85pc of travel agents surveyed by said that they were optimistic for an in-crease in turnover on 2017, with 5pc anticipating an increase of more than 20pc. Three out of four agents said turnover rose in 2017 Brian McCarthy’s Island Marketing was joined by hotel operators from the
MARCH 2018 PAGE 36
WINDOW SEAT Last month in numbers 128.77m Number of people who flew with
WHERE THREE CULTURES MEET
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sk any GAA supporter about the importance of a border, the stream, the 43.39m Number of people who travelled ditch, the hawthorn hedge that dethrough Irish airports in 2017. marcates loyalties. 31.4m Number of passengers Dublin airport Bulgarian-born writer and poet will have in 2018 if 6pc increase is sustained. Kapka Kassabova focuses on the of borders between Bul2,047,379 Number of Irish people who trav- triangle garia, Greece and Turkey for her elled to Spain in 2017, a record tale of rising nationalism. 1,135,845 Number of flights in Irish airspace Once “a forested Berlin Wall in 2017, up 2.5pc to another record darkened by the armies of three countries now she says it is “prickly i€100m Estimated cost to Ryanair for union with dread”. recognition. She starts in Bulgaria where, dur48 Number of airlines at Dublin airport with ar- ing her communist childhood, East rival of Croatia Airlines. Germans holidaying in Black Sea resorts unwittingly used deliber3pc Ryanair estimate on how fares will fall Ryanair in 2017, leaving it just behind Lufthansa
Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova (Granta) ately misleading maps to try to flee through the forest and beyond the iron curtain. Now she sees Syrian refugees heading from south to north: “This was a year when refugees still came across the border in twos, rather than in hundreds and thou-sands.” Driving through mountain villages, Kassabova encounters communities devastated by emigration, among them border guards whose job it had been to shoot escaping Czechs, Poles and East Germans.
After an unsettling experience in northern Greece, she admits she can no longer trust herself. “I was undergoing some kind of profound change,” she writes about halfway through. She never does explain. She present the histories of the many population ex-changes that have taken place since the collapse of the Ottoman empire, pre-empting more recent events. Kassabova claims the region she describes is “the last border of Europe.” It may also have been the first.
Pula in its prime and Lungo Mare beach
Busman’s holiday: Mitch Hawes
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s a family, our holidays up until my 13th birthday had been a collective of camping excursions to the Isle of Wight and Cornwall, which were more akin to an SAS survival story, with the classic British weather in full effect.
F
So that day when my mother came home with the news that she’d bought 5 tickets from Luton to Pula for a holiday in Yugoslavia! Where was this place? Time to buy the guide book.. Departure from Luton at the ungodly hour of 1am, we gathered with our back packs, tents n’all. Landing in Pula, still in darkness, we watched the masses depart on their tour buses, realising the
only way to the town was on a staff service bus. Arriving in the town at 6 am, we stood tired out looking for a bus to Medulin, one of the best campsites in Pula, that’s where we’re going. Camping’… this is it, we’re here, except the bus driver is laughing ‘camping nudo?’…er, non nudo please.. shattered, we throw down our bags and tents in the only available pitch, a dipped recess in the many cedar trees.. Only my father insists this isn’t a great idea, you know, if it rains.. so second night, we move.. and third night, after a storm, the new
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
or those old enough to remember when you could fly direct from Ireland to three destinations in North America, Boston, Chicago and New York, this is a remarkable time. And the party may only be beginning. The expansion of Aer Lingus after its takeover by IAG was something which could be anticipated. After all, Iceland, with a population one twentieth that of Ireland, was flying direct to more
North American airlines than Ireland in 2012, without the matching inbound tourism, the European connections or the pre-clearance IAG’s bounty was the speed with which extra wide bodied aircraft can be delivered to Aer Lingus. We will have three new trans-Atlantic routes in an eight month period, with three more due end 2018-9. Two new developments caught us unawares, the success of trans-Atlantic low cost with the ar-
rival of Norwegian, point to point trans-Atlantic, and the technology that will make A321neo and B737max flight possible to beyond Lake Michigan. The force should be unstoppable. But it may be about to be stopped. Pier congestion and unnecessary delays on restrictions on the parallel runway could bring all of this to a halt. It is time for leadership at the cabinet table. Over to you Shane.
occupants of the dip are floating. Yugoslavia was wild to us, very few English speakers, lots of new nationalities, Hungarian, German, Austrian, Italian, all enjoying the sun, the clear seas, the rocky beaches that cut our feet without jelly shoes which we couldn’t afford. The food, simple, the swimming great, the beauty of the place, incredible. But my favourite bit? The imprint that family holidays can be the most amazing adventure, that just being together without distractions is simply priceless.
IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: AIL EAN N SS SET ERRA 2019or online Available to Travel NY Agents IN DIT PHO W ME UBLIN M D SY E NE L IN A K H Y RO TIC T Y2017 BAC L 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: Mitch Hawes of Norwegian Air
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MARCH 2018 PAGE 37
Out and about with the Travel Trade
of and Blaithin O’Donnell Bernadette Goldsmith ck Holiday Show eri Lim Air Canada at the
Sara Zimmermann of the Teresa Gancedo of the Travel Department, Sp and Jim Vaughan of Jus anish Tourist Board tsplit
vel,Ed Finn travel writer Jeff Collins of Best4Tra of The Spanish Tourist ll and Kathryn MacDonne Board
Onur Basak and Sean nAlper Kanburoglu of Turkish Airlines at the Limerick Holiday Show itPortugal, Teresa IAntonio Padeira of Vis Spanish TB in Dublin the of Gancedo Director ll of The Spanish TB and Kathryn MacDonne
The Spanish Tourist Kathryn MacDonnell of rmott of Club Travel and Board, Samantha McDe Travel at the ITIAs dy John Spollen of Cassi
Fiona Noonan of Ameri can Airlines and Norm a Hogan of Limerick Tra vel at the Limerick sho w
Gopika Walia of Allways Travel, Ciara Lynch of WTC and Nivil Abraham of Confident Travel at the Know India tourism seminar at Ananda
MEETING PLACE
Alice Swords of Sunw ay Keller Travel at the ITI and Pearse Keller of As
O’Leary
Andrew Murphy MD of Shannon Airport, Mitchell Hawes of Norwegian and Will Hall of New York State at the Limerick Holiday Show
Focus and Trish Noel McAuliffe of Travel As ITI of Amadeus at the
Dacvid O’Connor, Marie McCarthy and Dermot Merrigan of Irish Ferries at the Limerick Holiday Show
Cora Munds of JustSp lit Tour America at the ITI and Lorna Murphy of As
ney
d Olwen McKin Susan Ryan, Maeve Docherty and Melanie Cahill Julie Hanna of Cliackandgo an As of Travel Counsellors at the Limerick Holiday of Amadeus at the ITI Show
Ivan Beacom of Aer Lingus, Barry Walsh of Con- Eimear Hannon of Eimear Hannon Tra vel and corde/Joe Walsh Tours, Tony Brazil of Limerick Dearbhla O’Brien of USIT at the ITIAs Travel at the Limerick Holiday Show
Ian McCarthy of Clickandgo, Martin Churchill of USIT and Erica Oglesby of MSC Cruises at the ITIAs
and Raya Santagati of Sh at Edina Torok of GTI an r ina sem rism tou ia Ind don Travel at the Know Ananda, Dublin,
MARCH 2018 PAGE 38
MEETING PLACE
Out and about with the Travel Trade
rtuguese TB, Teresa Antonio Padeira of Po TB and Celina Tavares Gancedo of the Spanish at the ITIA awards of the Portuguese TB
Carol Anne O’Neill of World Caitriona Toner of American Airlines and Isabel Teresa Murphy of Air Fra choice Ireland, nce/KLM and Decla Power of Shannon air Harrison of Shannon Airport at the ITIAs port at the Limerick Ho n liday Show
Melanie Cahill, Aideen Forbes, Claudia Lane and ya urism with Borja Bedo Noreen Lane of Travel Counsellors at the Natalia Bel of Salou To Tourist Board ish an Sp the of a gu Limerick Holiday Show and Elena Pania y Show at the Limerick Holida
Celina Tavares of Visit Po Gancedo of the Spanish rtugal and Teresa Tourist Board at the ITAA awards
Fiona Noonan of Ameri ee Desrochers of Orcan Airlines and Greg Evans of Philadelphia Peter Mackness and Jos at Belfast Holidayworld Steve williams and Antonio Paradiso of MSC at the Limerick Holida R cruises with Pamela Brownlee of Flyaway Travel NA y Show lando Attractions & and Giovanni Ponticelli of MSC Cruises
Greg Evans, Deborah Bates and Matt Bates at Belfast Holidayworld
Norma Hogan and Sheila Brazil of Limerick Travel with Lynda McCorry of Silversea Cruises at the Limerick Holiday Show
ckC cruises and Paul Ha Antonio Paradiso of MS As ITI ett of Clickandgo at the
Jennifer Callister and Michaela Banks of Royal Caribbean at Belfast Holidayworld
Jana Mannion of Anna car Shannon Ferry and Ma riga ,Imelda Meaney of ura Fay of Cliffs of Mo her at the Limerick Holida y Show
e
ona McDonald of Athlon Siobhan Regan and Tri yworld tourism at Belfast Holida
Alan Sparling of Airline Sales & Marketing/SA S, Dave Hayeems of Tra ilfinders and Ray Scully Travelopia of
Anthony McAuley of Giant’s Causeway, Liz Steele of Causeway Coastal Route, Ann Donaghy of Causeway Hotel and Mary O’Driscoll oif Rathlin island at the Limerick Holiday Show
d ckandgo, Will Walsh an Mairead Keegan of Cli ckandgo at the ITIAs Cli Rachel McAnaspie of
MARCH 2018 PAGE 39
MEETING PLACE
Out and about with the Travel Trade
and Andrew Murphy MD of Shannon Airport, Declan Gran Canaria Tourism at Power of Shannon airport and Brian Hughes of Ali Sheehan and Kristin Skinn Katerina Bomstein of er of American Holidays at the Limerick Ho Spanish Tourist Board United Airlines at the Limerick Holiday Show liday Show Teresa Gancedo of the the ITIAs
IMustafa Dogan and Ha san Mutlu of Turkish Air lines with Delia Aston of Clubworld travel at the panish Tourist Board eve nt in Belfast
Derek Keogh of GTI, Brendan Barry of Discover Travel andPhilip Airey of Sunway at the ITIAs
s
gu Ivan Beacom of Aer Lin Stephanie Nagle and ow y Sh at the Limerick Holida
Janice Healy and Ma rk Holiday homes Killarne Bowe of Castlerosse y at the Limerick Holida Show y
of Roberts and Ian Baillie Gethyn Owen, Llinos ow Holiday Sh Stena at the Limerick
Charlie McNally of Tra vel Day Promotion with Tra Corporation Valentine’s ilfinders, Kate Ahearne Niamh Buckley and De , nise McMurrow,
Shannon O’Dowd of Etihad and Tom Kiernan of Ask Susan at the Know India tourism seminar at Ananda, Dublin,
Air rry O’Kelly of Foynes Caroline Hogan and Ba Holiday Show ck Museum at the Limeri
Pet Reede ex United Air Cross of Las Vegas & lines and Tryphavana NY Limerick Holiday Show C & Company at the
Onur Gul of Turkish Airlines and Carol Anne O’Neill of Worldchoice Ireland at the ITIAs
ys, velopia/American Holida John Devereux of Tra nd of Bo lly Po d an s gu Lin r Ivan Beacom of Ae Tour America
Sharon Harney of Cassidy Travel, Dermot Lee of Aer LIngus and Geraldine McFadden of Costa Sal at the ITIAs
Siobhan Boskett McGu igan of Amadeus and Karen Ray of The Tra vel Broker
Sue Ellen McKenna and Katie Conroy of the McWlliam Park Hotel at the Limerick Holiday Show
Amaavel, Emma Holian of Colette McNally of Etr of Cassidy Travel atb the art Sm deus and Robbie use ITIAs in the Mansion Ho