Travel Extra January 2018

R U ITALY STILL NUMBER ONE FOR MOONS O Y DE RYANAIR NOT CHICKEN ABOUT KIEV A R R T PE ESCORTED TOURS WHAT’S NEW PA T3 locations at Dublin

Ethiopian new strategy for Dublin

Destination updates Pofr-

IRELAND'S PREMIER SOURCE OF TRAVEL INFORMATION Free

DECMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019

Brides Revisited

Weddings & Honeymoons 2019

VOLUME 24 NUMBER 1

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 3

NEWS

www.travelextra.ie

Israel v AirBnB

Home rental company to remove west bank listings

H

ome-rental company Airbnb announced is to remove its listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, prompting outrage from Israeli officials.

The company said it would take down some 200 listings and cease its operations in Israeli settlements “that are at the core of the dispute between the Israelis and Palestinians.” It was not immediately clear when the removal would take effect.

In response, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, who oversees Israel’s battle against a Palestinian-led boycott movement, called on Airbnb hosts affected by the decision to file lawsuits in accordance with Israel’s anti-boycott law and hit the company with high taxes.

NEW ZEALAND Tourists flying with Air New Zealand are being shown a twominute video urging visitors not to litter the scenic country.

PALAU is to ban most types of sunscreen in a bid to protect its coral reefs.

TURKEY is closing self-service e-visa

kiosks at its airports. Future visitors will have to apply for their e-visa in advance from the official e-visa portal,

Airbnb finds itself in a political storm

BEIJING Dublin 4w from

KIEV Dublin 2w seasonal with

PAPHOS: Dublin 2w from

Ryanair, joining Cobalt on Cyprus

PARIS: Cork 2w year round service from Air France.

Hainan, exciting new route.

Ryanair next summer.

BODRUM Dublin 2w sea-

LISBON TAP launches Dublin double daily, opening S America.

Aer `Lingus

CARLISLE Dublin 7w from Loganair scheduled for spring 2019.

MARRAKESH: Dublin

Arkia Israel

MINNESOTA Aer Lin-

Shannon 1w from Air Canada, opening Canada to the west.

Dublin 1w from Ryanair, new for 2018.

DALLAS

American will link Dublin daily to Texas next year.

HONG KONG Dublin 4w

from Cathay Pacific,

tember is down 0.9pc to 1.672.562, September was up 6.9pc to 237,398.

trict in Amsterdam is suffering from too many tourists. Now politicians want to move ladies of the night - who are angry, and aren’t taking the proposal lying down – out of the crowded city centre.

KEFLAVIK: Dublin service from Icelandair went daily from October, competing with Wow.

DALAMAN

SPAIN Irish visits to Spain to end of Sep-

AMSTERDAM The Red Light dis-

Shannon weekly from Ryanair, gateway to Daurada.

sonal with Ryanair next summer.

costing €376m to build. The 182m structure celebrates independence leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

OMAN and Uganda are new exhibitors at Holiday World 2018

DESTINATIONS TO WATCH

BARCELONA:

INDIA unveiled the world’s tallest statue,

2w resumed Ryanair route after short interruption. gus 2019 destination.

TEL AVIV: Dublin 1w from TORONTO:

VIENNA : Dublin 2w from Lauda, in competition with Aer Lingus.

MOSCOW: Pobedoa are listing a Sheremetyevo service.

ZAGREB

SAY ‘I DO’ IN CYPRUS – NEW FOR SUMMER 2019 Picturesque beaches, ancient temples and harbour-side nightspots. Paphos wedding and honeymoon packages available.

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

ROE & Co Distillery in Dublin and Tayto

Park’s new driving school are included in the list of top ten 2019 openings by Lonely Planet.

An Bord Pleanála’s has upSEATTLE : Dublin 4w from LIMERICK held the granting of planning permission for JP

MONTREAL: One of two

new 2019 Aer Lingus destinations.

THE VAULTS Paul Blanchfield & Gerald Heffernan opened a €5m immersive visitor attraction in Dublin’s Liberties.

Croatia Airlines

Dublin 2w from

McManus’s Rugby Experience in Limerick.

The sports interpretative centre on O’Connell Street has been promoted by local legend Paul O’Connell

INTER RAIL More free Inter Rail

passes are up for grabs with the European Commission making 12,000 more available for 18-year-olds under its Discover EU programme. The competition is from November 29- December 11. Successful applicants can use rail services between April 15 and October 31 2019.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 4

THE KNOWLEDGE Travel Extra Clownings, Straffan, Co Kildare (+3531) 2913707 Fax (+3531) 2957417 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 : Marie Carberry marie@travelextra.ie Carmel Higgins carmel@travelextra.ie Cauvery Madhavan cauvery@travelextra.ie Catherine Murphy cathmurph@yahoo.com Aileen O’Reilly aileencoreilly@gmail.com

Editor Emeitus: Gerry O’Hare 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.

www.travelextra.ie

CONTENTS

3 News Where to go, how much to pay 6 Hotels: News 8 Postcards: News from the trade

A

10 Birthplace of Silent Night 11 Escorted Tours: More than a coach 16 Weddings: Behind the veil 26 Afloat: Edge launches 28 Flying: Kiev surprise

33 Awards: Travel Extra writer 34 Global Village Inside the travel industry 44 Window seat: Our columnists 45 Pictures: Out and about

Selling weddings

round 4,000 Irish couples look abroad each year for their wedding arrangements. With an average cost of u8,000, a third of the u23,000 average they can spend on a wedding at home, it keeps costs down for the couple. It is also big business for the trade, with an average of 25 people attending a wedding abroad it means there is u50m worth of business out there for those selling flights, transfers and accommodation, not to mention a slice of the u32m spend on wedding packages.

There is commission to be made from wedding packages. Guest accommodation and travel, pre wedding and post wedding and guest activities, reconnaissance visits by the couple in advance and Wedmoons.

BUDGET It is all about budget. Within a few minutes of sitting down with your client you should have established how much they are willing to spend.

How many guests? Four star or five star? The average costs of a four star wedding abroad is u8,000 for the reception and for seven nights for bride and groom, but it can mount after that. If in doubt, sell from the top down. Your customers will soon tell you if that is not their budget.

KNOW your stuff.

Make sure your knowledge of the legals and documentation required is up to date. In France you have to be resident for 40 days, in Barbados you can arrive on the day of your wedding.

Photographing the big day

MAKE it easy

for the couple so you will get the bookings.

Packages and oddons are easier to sell.

Most packages include photography, ceremony, flowers, music, video editing and planning support. The extras can include cakes, more time on or off site for couple and guests, and transport.

CHANGE their thinking. Some brides are too cautious, they do not realise that five star luxury is only a few euro more. Pitch the romantic the sense of fairytale wedding created by an exotic venue and climate. Couples are looking for something different. Point out that getting married abroad invariably means less family politics, a more intimate ceremony and guaranteed weather.

gest number of enquiries are for Malta, followed

by Cyprus and Croatia.

Sunway says their most popular destinations are Egypt, the Caribbean, Las Vegas, New York and Mauritius. Generally weddings would be on a civil basis. Sunway’s Vegas product is very popular and very easy to organise. Couples get assistance with paper work and marriage registry. GET local expertise or outside help.

It is worth it. Selling a wedding can be a high maintenance operation.

The trade refers to controlling brides as Bridezilla, the ones who have high demands and tend to come back with complaints. In 80pc of cases the bride does all the planning but when the groom does the arrangements, the wish list can be even more taxing.

hire can SWITCH SELL: VENUE change the cost of the

Introduce destinations they never even thought about. Concorde’s big-

wedding dramatically.

Some hotels don’t charge extra for venue

hire, depending the number who are coming.

For instance they won’t charge for 60 guests, they will for 20 guests.

STRESS the value when wine is included.

Menus start at u15 but watch for the extras that come with u45-u50 menus, many Mediterranean hotels will provide beer and wine with the menu, with only spirits costing extra.

Planning an Irish wedding that could be a distinct advantage. Even if you do pay for wine, u5 a bottle is one third what they pay in Ireland.

CONFRONT

the negatives, that family may be unable to travel through old age or health (point out the convenience of direct flight destinations such as Malta), family traditions, the extra planning, the fact that couples feel it is too difficult and feel no control and wouldn’t know where to start. It is the agent’s job to brush over those obstacles and se-

cure the knowledge and contacts on the ground to reassure the couple.

Tempt them to talk and show evidence of your previous bookings through photos, videos and testimonials. Use social media and offer a clear uncomplicated package in your online material.

CRUISE Mention it is possible for captains to perform legal wedding ceremonies at sea sailing through international waters or on board a docked cruises ship in many venues. Cruise can offer the best value weddings and a ready made honeymoon.

STAY in touch.

Even if they don’t take a wedding package they may go on honeymoon with you. The point of contact is valuable. Of the 25,000 wedding a year in Ireland, 75pc of couples say they considered going abroad to go abroad and 48pc say they requested quotes.

UL Arena SATURDAY 16th & SUNDAY 17th FEBRUARY 2019 EXHIBITOR PROFILE • Adventure Travel

• Hotels

• Airlines

• National and Regional

• Airports

Tourist Organisations • Overseas Property

• Caravans & Motorhomes • International Camping Sites

• Weddings & Honeymoons

• Car Rental Companies

• Over 55’s Holidays

• Coach Tours

• Rail Holidays

• Cruise Companies

• Theme & Leisure Parks

• Ferries

• Travel Agents / Tour Operators

• Golf • Escorted Tours

• Travel Related Services

• Health Tourism

• Tourist Attractions

• Home Holidays

• Travel Accessories

BOOK YOUR STAND NOW! VENUE

2019 DATE AND TIMES

ORGANISERS

CONTACTS

UL Arena University of Limerick

Saturday February 16th 11.00am - 5.00pm

Maureen Ledwith - Sales Director t: +353 (0)1 291 3700 • e: maureen@bizex.ie

t: +353 (0)61 213 582 www.ulsport.ie

Sunday February 17th 11.00am - 5.00pm

Business Exhibitions 59 Rathfarnham Road Dublin, D6W AK70 t: +353 (0)1 295 7418

Paulette Moran - Sales Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3702 • e: paulette@bizex.ie Angela O’Rourke - Business Development Manager t: +353 (0)1 291 3705 • e: angela@bizex.ie

www.holidayshow.ie

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 6

HOTELS

www.travelextra.ie

GEORGE BEST HOTEL

opening in Belfast - which was expected in December, has been postponed till 2019.

BARNACLES hostels n Dublin’s Temple Bar area and Galway have been sold for over €12 million.

ORMOND Hotel’s new owner want to use its name as a brand for a new hotel chain, with hotels planned in Kuala Lumpur in 2019 and Melbourne in 2020.

DUBLIN’s five-star Conrad Hotel will go on sale for €120m in early 2019.

DALATA is to develop a four-star Maldron hotel with 140 bedrooms, four meeting rooms, a bar and restaurant. It will also build 69 homes and a basement car park on the Tara Towers site in Dublin. McAleer and Rushe have been appointed contractors and the overall estimated development cost is €51m.

POWERSCOURT Pre-tax profits at the firm operating the Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow rose 77pc to €1.98m last year.

SHEEN FALLS Ownership of Kenmare’s landmark Sheen Falls Lodge is to be passed to a group of Thai investors.

KILDARE House Hotel is on the mar-

ket for €1.1m.

EARLSFORT Centre Hotel Propri-

etors, which operates the Conrad Hotel in Dublin, pre-tax profits rose 25pc to €2.23m.

DALATA has successfully agreed a new €525m debt facility, completing the refinance of its existing debt facilities. Clayton Hotel Charlemont, is set to open its doors on the banks of Dublin’s Grand Canal this November.

Extension to the Merrion Hotel under construction

800 rooms on way C

End to Dublin hotel room shortage in sight

QUINN Hotels Group’s operating profits

ushman & Wakefield report that construction of hotels in Dublin is beginning to pick up, with 800 new hotel rooms coming on stream in the capital’s market during the first three quarters of 2018.

In addition 2,800 more hotel rooms were in the pipeline as of September 30, representing a 37pc up on last year.

STR reported that an under supply of hotel rooms combined with buoyant tourist numbers led to a 7.1pc

SLIEVE RUSSELL Pre-tax profits at Slieve Russell Hotel in Co Cavan increased from €332,000 to €854,000 last year following a rise in revenue from €14.6m to €14.8m.

S

GROSVENOR House Hotel- the setting for the annual Irish Post awards - has been bought by the Qatar’s Katara Hospitality, which already owns New York’s historic The Plaza hotel.

DEAN Irish hospitality group Press Up Entertainment, headed by Paddy McKillen Jr and Matt Ryan,is searching for locations to establish its Dean Hotel brand across Europe. rose to €2.5m on the back of a 7pc jump in revenue to €49.4m.

CLARENCE Profits doubled at

Dublin’s Clarence Hotel in 2017, rising from €498,807 in 2016 to €1m.

DOONBEG US President Donald Trump’s Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg in Co Clare is to invest €40m in the construction of a new ballroom, leisure centre and 250 new bedrooms.

JURYS INN

featured in TripAdvisor’s Global “Most Excellent” hotel chains.

rise in revenue per available room (RevPAR) in Dublin during the year to the end of October 2018.

The average daily room rate in Dublin rose 3pc during the 12 months, with the capital’s occupancy rate increasing 0.6pc..

RevPAR rose 10.3pc in the regions during the same period with the average daily room rate outside of Dublin rising 13.3pc and occupancy outside of the capital increasing 2.1pc.

Rooms in regional Ireland

cost€113.50 in October of this year compared to €146.11 in Dublin.

Cushman & Wakefield anticipates that the total value of hotel sales in 2018 will exceed €120 million, which is considerably less than the five-year average of more than €400m a year. They said transaction activity in the hotel sector has been limited this year, with the value of hotel sales during the first three quarters of 2018 down 10pc on the same period last year to €79.3m.

AVERAGE ROOM RATE UP 8pc

tatistics from STR have revealed that the average daily hotel room rate in Ireland was €147.85 in September, up 8.2pc on 2017.

STR’s data indicates that occupancy was 89.7pc in September just gone, down 0.2pc on September of last year, while revenue per available room (RevPAR)

was up 8pc at €132.66.

Occupancy rate for Dublin was 1pc lower than September of 2017 at 92.6pc while the capital’s average daily room rate

was 5.2pc higher than the same month last year at €162.65 and RevPAR was up 4.1pc at €150.56.

SLOW START TO K CLUB BIDDING

C

hairman of cable company Liberty Global and owner of Virgin Media John Malone is among several parties understood to have

been approached about the sale of Co. Kildare’s fivestar K Club hotel and golf resort.

Neither Malone nor MHL, the hotel group with

which he is associated, have submitted a bid for the property as of yet.

London-based Rocco Forte Hotels is said to be among the parties that

have expressed interest in acquiring the property thus far, but it is understood that the results of the first round of bidding is below expectations.

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JANUARY 2019 PAGE 8

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

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ryphavana Cross of Las Vegas CVA and Tara Magee of British Airways hosted key Irish travel trade, through the Clubworld Lounge at Heathrow and BA Clubworld Flight, Park MGM and Cosmopolitian Hotels, Grand Canyon with Maverick, lunch at Tropicana, dinner at Wynn and Magic Mike, Le Reve, a trip Downtown to the Golden Nugget and Machine Gun Vegas, breakfast at the wicked Spoon,

C

atherine Grennell Whyte, Linda Macken and team hosted a Flexible Autos breakfast product workshop in the trendy surroundings of Ivy on Dublin’s Nassau St. Irish Agents watched a presentation and live booking session with Flexible Autos and were offered bite sized tips and tricks on selling car hire made easy.

Flexible Autos initiatives in the Irish market include the Free Lunch

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eville’s reputation as a culinary destination was promoted by the tourist board on a recent media visit hosted by Sara Rivero of the Spanish Tourist Board and organised by Saida Segura.

Her itinerary included visits to iconic local restaurants, including El Rinconcillo, the oldest restaurant in town, Nati Mateos‘ Taberna del Alabardero, Javier Abascal’s Origen at the Hotel One

shopping at the Premium Outlets and lots of site visits.

Picture shows Bernie Burke of Travel Centres, Antoinette O’Connor of Travel Counsellors, Tara Magee of British Airways, Hazel Marshall of Sunway, Ciara Dunbar of Clickandgo, Rebecca Kearney of Club Travel, Tryphavana Cross of Las Vegas CVA, Sharon Harney of Cassidy Travel and Rebecca Kearney of Club Travel on their Maverick trip.

Friday over the summer period which awarded pizzas to travel agencies who had booked car hire. Winners included Limerick travel and Strand Travel in waterford.

Picture shows the session attendees at Ivy rooms in Dublin from Club Travel, Cassidy Travel, Best4Travel, Go Hop, Platinum and Donabate Travel and the Flexible Team in Dublin.

Shot, Jorge Manfredi’s Carniborrea and Ramon Lopez de Tejada’s Restaurant Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo as well as city sights, old and new and the year of Murillo exhibition.

Picture shows Ramon Lopez de Tejada owner of Restaurant Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo, with Aoife Carrigy, Mimi Murray, Fiona Kelly and Sara Rivero of the Spanish Tourist Board,

T

he newly appointed Maria Regina Rubinetti, Dublin representative of the Italian Tourist Board hosted the Italian ambassador and 30 key travel trade at an Italian food and wine event at Dunne & Crezenzi in Sandymount.

The ambassador spoke passionately about Italian food week and how important Italy’s gastronomy has become in delivering its tourism message around

P

at Slattery and Triona O’Mahony hosted members and guests at a Munster Vales conference and networking day at Cahir Castle to celebrate the marketing body’s first year.

It now has 170 local tourist interests in the largely inland areas of north Cork, south Limerick, west Waterford and Tipperary. An involved panel discussion teased out the difficulties faced by small businesses, featuring Eoghan Mc-

F

áilte Ireland’s new seasonality and regionality plans and the vexed question of Brexit dominated the Let’s Talk Tourism conference in Killarney.

Travel Extra’s editor Eoghan Corry spoke about Brexitunity, the chance for Irish tourism to refocus away from the dominant but unstable British market and increase market share elsewhere.

Howard Hastings noted that a move

the world.

Ireland provides 345,000 visits to Italy, our sixth biggest outbound market. Dublin airport had 110 weekly flights to Italy in 2018 and new routes from Cork and Dublin are due to commence in 2018.

Picture shows Michelle Anderson, Maurice Shiels and Shauna Kelly of Topflight, which is the largest tour operator bringing Irish visitors to Italy.

Carthy of Ballyhass, Trevor McCarthy of Kilmallock medieval tours, Mark Rylands of Knockmealdown Active, Aisling O’Callaghan of Longueville House, Éimhín Ní Conchubhair of West Waterford food trail which has 42 stakeholders and Alan Boardman of Blackwater eco tours. Picture shows Marie Phelan, Pat Slattery, Triona O’Mahony of Munster Vales and conference moderator Eoghan Corry of Travel Extra.

into Shenghen by Ireland could break up Tourism Ireland.

Mark Henry of Tourism Ireland said that tourist boards were increasingly moving form promoting tourism to managing tourism as different markets reacted to over tourism.

Picture shows Mark Henry of Tourism Ireland, Olivia O’Leary, Paul Kelly CEO of Fáilte Ireland and Eoghan O’Mara Walsh CEO of ITIC

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 9

POSTCARDS FROM THE TRAVEL SCENE

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ravel Centres will return to Killashee House in Naas for its 15th annual conference in 2019.

The conference was held there for three successive years, 2012-4 before moving on to Lyrath in Kilkenny in 2015, Mullingar Park for two years and Fota Island resort this year.

Owners and managers engaged in as frank exchange with suppliers on the Friday, followed by a cruise panel mod-

W

orld Travel Market in London brought out the usual coterie of tourism professionals pitching their wares to tour operators and buyers.

Some new slogans were unveiled for the first time (“Israel: where creation began,” proved much more attractive than the former “Size doesn’t matter”) and some of the offerings were on the far side of unusual: Ukraine offered

D

ublin’s newest visitor attraction Vaults Live opened immediately before Hallowe’en and the autumn mid term break.

It is an immersive theatre experience offers a combination of live performance enacting six scenes set in a stunningly-renovated Victorian schoolhouse in the Liberties.

They include an authentic apothecary of a Donegal medicine woman, a Crom-

erated by Travel Extra editor Eoghan Corry. Best4travel and Bowe travel won the agency awards at the Travel Centres awards and Sunway the supplier award during the Saturday night gala dinner, attended by 210 guests. The 248 attendees had a full day of workshops on Saturday. Picture shows Jocelyn, Bernie and Dominic Burke with the time clock counting down as the busy workshop sessions continue in the background.

post-nuclear tours of Chernobyl, complete with protective clothing.

Partners with Tourism Ireland on the Irish stand reported a brisk few days with an upbeat indication of bookings for 2019 and 2010. Picture shows Nora Costello of Irish Ferries, Joan O’Shaughnessy chair of Tourism Ireland, Niall Gibbons CEO of Tourism Ireland and Marie McCarthy of Irish Ferries

wellian torturer chamber and a Bandon courthouse with a particularly colourful judge.

Visitors experience Bram Stoker bringing Dracula to life and meet Ikea in Viking Dublin and what was once the most notorious red-light district in Europe, Dublin’s Monto. Picture shows torturer Joey O’Connor, Dave O’Connor, Helen Winterbotham, Niamh McGeachan and Ciara Winterbotham

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he beating hearts of the travel industry is how Air Canada’s Blaithin O’Donnell described the Worldchoice conference at Lyrath, Kilkenny.

The annual conference will take on a new format next year, according to Carol Anne O’Neill, after the group subsumed the former Travelsavers consortium, headed up by Mary King, bringing new agents like Paul Sexton’s

B

A launched its Heathrow to Durban route with a select band of tour operators and journalists on board, including Travel Extra.

The route has been long awaited by Durban and offers multiple connection options from Ireland. The group spent four days in Kwazulu Natal, staying at the Fairmont Kimbali and Red Carnation’s Oyster `Box hotels, hosted by Juan Giraldo of BA, Kgomotso Ramo-

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opflight hosted a series of nationwide ski roadshows combining comprehensive ski training with an entertaining evening.

Agents praised the interaction with the audience and the fact that ski was simplified for those who are not sure about the subject.

Marie Stoneham of Mackin Travel, Enniscorthy won a ski holiday for two, Lynne Casey of Fahy Travel won

Travelagent.ie and Richard Cullen’s Killiney travel to the event.

Worldchoice hosted 150 agents and 80 suppliers for its morning forum, afternoon workshop and gala evening dinner events. Fahy Travel and Arrow Tours won the agency awards and Sunway and Martin Penrose the supplier award. Picture shows Mary King, Worldchoice chair Martin Skelly and Carol Anne O’Neill.

thea of SA Tourism office in London, the effervescent Thoko Jili, Belinda Spence of Drakensberg Tourism and the teams at Durban and KZN tourism headed up by Aphelele Ntumbu and Nkosenhle Madlala. Activities included the Big Rush urban adrenaline bungee swing, Picture shows Juan Giraldo organising a group selfie at Howick falls, near the Mandela capture site and the Granny Mouse resort.

an ipad, Jessie Loonam of Mullingar Travel won the One4All voucher.

Topflight described the uptake on spaces for the training as “phenomenal,” with 200 agents attending the various events. Topflight thanked all the agents for participating in such huge numbers, the level of enthusiasm brought to each session, the quiz competitiveness, and the warm welcome throughout the country.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 10

DESTINATION AUSTRIA

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he poem came first. Then, two years later, the tune. It is exactly 200 years since the combination of words by priest Joseph Mohr and tune by organist Franz Gruber were sung together.

It happened after Christmas Eve Mass 1818 at a small crib at the back of the church the church, appropriately of St Nicholas, at Oberndorf. Mohr, the writer of the words, strummed the guitar.

Not so silent

Our favourite Christmas hymn celebrates 200 years

N

either would get credit for their masterpiece. In 1854 copies of the sheet music were sent to Berlin to clarify who had written the song. Mohr was eight years dead. Gruber’s claims were not noticed until he, too, had died.

The church perished too, in a flood. The Silent Night chapel in its place is a replica.

For a feel of how it may have sounded, we went instead to Gruber’s later posting in nearby Hallein, where a modern troubadress Martina

Site of the original Silent Night church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf Mathur sang the Irish translation, Oíche Chiúin for us, hauntingly beautiful, learned phonetically from the version by Roisín Elsafty, whose rendition she found much clearer than the famous Enya version.

It echoed through the nave in a slightly higher key and with a slightly different tune to that we know form Bing Cros-

THINGS TO DO

n Silent Night Museum in Hallein n Celtic Museum in Hallein with its 2500-year-old Celtic beaked jug. n Salzburg Christmas museum at Mozartplatz Square. n Meine Stille Nacht (in German) at the Horse Riding School Salzburg n Silent Night 200 The Story. The Message. The Present at the Salzburg Museum

by’s earworm 1939 version, the third most singular vinyl record of all time.

Salzburg is making a song about the anniversary. An exhibition in Gruber’s home in Hallein and a Silent Night museum in Salzburg. We called to see a nightly musical which premiered at the end of November at continued until March.

EAT AND STAY

n Delicacies from the Market like the Haunsberger, the Kaiserschmarren, and baked potatoes. n St Peter Stiftskulinarium, oldest restaurant in Europe dating back to 803 www.st.peter.at n Arcotel Castellani Salzburg, Alpenstrasse 6, in a former monastery , www.arcotelhotels.com/de/castellani_ hotel_salzburg/

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t was tough times in Salzburgerland 200 years ago. The province and its neighbours had just lost their autonomy to the Austrian empire in distant Vienna.

Napoleon had rolled over the countryside bringing war and destruction.

A volcanic eruption in Indonesia had thrown a record amount of ash into the sky for recorded history, causing the year without a summer in 1815. Heavy snows and the cold winter of 1817 added to their woes.

Prices spiralled, and local people were forced

to eat bread made of bran and flour dust made with roughly ground oats.

Even pulverised straw and fine sawdust was thrown into the bake.

How beautiful the sound of Stille Nacht must have sounded amid the apocalyptic fear.

What happened next was phenomenal. Karl Mauracher, an organ builder, took the song with him and it became part of the repertoire of Salzburg and Tirolian travelling minstrels, the Strassers and the Rainers, who included the tune in their shows. Within a

year it was performed for royalty, and, in 1839 in USA where our best known version, a translation by New York Ep0sicopalian priest John Young, emerged in 1859.

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t was in Ireland’s Own that I first found the treasured story about how a mouse chewed through the organ in St Nicholas and forced Mohr to use the guitar instead.

The story is a fiction, promulgated in the USA

by Vienna exile Hertha Pauli in her 1943 book Silent Night. A Story of a Song.

Silent Night’s historian Anna Holzner is in despair over that mouse.

‘What is it about newspapers and magazines?

They are perfectly accurate and factual for eleven months of the year. Then every Christmas they regurgitate the fairy story of the mouse.”

Michael Neureiter, a soft spoken man who grew up in Gruber’s former home in Hallein, is president of the Silent Night association. He says the success of the song is down to its enduring message of peace.

A trip through these plains to the nearby ski resorts should stop to listen.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Salzburg as a guest of Salzburg tourism n He stayed at the Arcotel Castellani Salzburg n Ryanair and Aer Lingus fly weekly to Salzburg n Aer Lingus fly double daily to Munich www.aerlingus.com n Information about Silent Night in English

Clockwise: Silent Night expert Michael Neureiter, Anna Holzner with Joseph Mohr’s guitar, grave of Franz Gruber in Hallein, Martina Mathur and Joseph Mohr’s guitar, portrait of Franz Xaver Gruber

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 11

WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS SPECIAL

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or richer or for poorer, the number of people getting married is not going to decline.

A total of 25,000 tie the knot each year, and according to research company Mintel, one in five couples are doing so abroad.

The prospect of spending the happiest day of their lives in a draughty church tempts couples to sunnier climes, but the fact that getting married abroad is just a third of the cost of getting married at home is even more appealing.

Up for the match

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he cost of a wedding abroad has risen and now costs just over €8,000.

This is still attractive compared with as an average €23,000 for an Irish-based ceremony.

This figure, importantly, does not include guest accommodation or flights.

Not that people want to go abroad for a cheap wedding. Nobody wants a cheap wedding. They still want a fairytale wedding and a happily every after. They want something special.

Wedding planners are increasing in number and expertise in the details of the wedding. The travel trade has the expertise to add the flights, transfers and accommodation, as well as taking over the hassle of dealing with the tricky business of the details of the wedding ceremony itself.

The average wedding abroad involves 25 people, so it is good business for the travel trade.

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Photographing the big occasion It enables the agent having a long term relationship with the customer.

Most of the serious discussion takes place between a year and two years ahead of the event.

Your clients are more needy than the average and a degree of counselling is helpful.

If you make it easy, you will get the bookings.

The packages available include photography, the ceremony itself, flowers, music wedding planning support, extras like cake and transport.

When they are thinking of getting married tempt them to talk. Use photos and videos in selling the product. Cite testimonials. eddings are well-suited for promotion

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on social media: 90pc of brides now research their wedding online. Offline as well as online, networking is huge. Every wedding guest is a potential customer or source of advice to another couple.

Communicate a clear package with a package price they can get their head around. If you don’t have a precise package to offer them the planning process gets stalled.

Once they have a package they can add on to that.

The commission from wedding packages is important but there are other commissionable elements, guest accommodation and travel, pre wedding and post wedding activities, and guest activities, reconnaissance visits in advance, and wedmoons.

Many consider getting married abroad: 75pc of couples say they looked at getting married away from home, and 48pc say they requested quotes. Even if they do not choose to get married abroad, many of these will be interested in using the travel trade for their honeymoon.

The overall resistance to the idea is declining, and the destination choice is expanding. They are not just interested in sun destinations, winter destinations feature too.

Point out that a wedding abroad has guaranteed weather, is more intimate and that there tends to be less family politics.

The couple really gets to know who their true friends are when they ask them to risk losing their

luggage and patience on a low-cost airline flight.

The cost of flights, hotel accommodation and the fact that there is no Barry’s Tea available may deter a few of the older, more distant relatives — which in some circumstances, might be an advantage.

The cons of a wedding abroad tend to be that a family member is unable to travel due to health, family traditions, it is too difficult, they feel they have no control, they wouldn’t know where to start, and it takes a lot more planning.

These fears are wellfounded; a surprising number of things may be beyond their control when they get married abroad.

AN u82m BUSINESS AND GROWING

our thousand Irish a year now choose to say “I do” on foreign soil.

Getting married abroad is big business. Weddings are a €32m business, not including flights and accommodation. With an average of 25 people travelling for 4,000 Irish weddings abroad the business is worth €82m.

Several of the travel industry’s big names produce dedicated brochures for the “cupid market”, as its called in the trade.

The general idea is to first choose the destination, and the hotel that offers the most attractive wedding package, and then check the full details of the holiday (including prices) in the

main brochure.

Charges for the wedding itself vary widely. In fact, in many cases, the ceremony and paperwork are thrown in free if the couple stays for a week or more.

That’s because wily companies are really interested in what they will spend on the honeymoon (understandably, as we all tend

to splash out here).

As well as the tempting brochures, most have a team of matrimonial experts to advise on the legal logistics and run through the options available at different hotels.

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he timing of the wedding, for example, often depends on the availability of a registrar (or similar), and therefore can often be confirmed only on arrival; the couple’s request for a particular time will be noted, but often no more.

Also note that most registrars, especially in the Caribbean, only work Monday to Friday, so they often won’t be able to have the traditional Saturday wedding.

Ireland’s favourite wedding abroad destination is Italy, followed by Malta.

Italy’s Tuscany and Sorrento offer gorgeous backdrops to the special day. You can get married and have your papal audience on Wednesday in Rome, which a lot of couples still do.

Malta is popular because it is English-speaking, there is no residency requirement, it has an attractive climate, direct flights and is groaning with churches.

Spain and France are next, with Cyprus, New York and Austria also in the hunt.

Florida, the Caribbean, Croatia, Prague, Greece and Turkey are all growing. Thomas Cook would bet that Cyprus and Lanzarote (Playa Blanca) are popular with their Irish customers.

Vegas is regarded as glitzy (rather than quickie) and relatively free of bureaucracy with some gorgeous honeymoon landscapes in the vicinity.

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outh Africa, St Lucia, Mauritius or Antigua (the most popular venues) can cost a lot less than at home, while Greece and Cyprus have a huge range of accommodation and getting married there is far less bureaucratic than other short haul destinations such as France and Spain.

The Caribbean remains

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 12

WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS SPECIAL one of the most popular long haul locations. A lot of European countries do not allow a beach wedding. In the Caribbean it has become the norm.

Over the past few years Mauritius, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles have been growing.

More unusual locations are now being chosen away from the beach, such as Lapland and Iceland.

Organising an overseas wedding can involve a lot of bureaucracy, and not all countries perform wedding ceremonies that are legally recognised here.

It is the couple’s responsibility to provide their operator with all the documentation, such as passports and birth certificates.

Be certain to address the document question early — at least three months before the date — and remember that they will often need to obtain local documents on arrival.

There will almost certainly be a fee for these.

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et the documents wrong at any stage of the hrudle race in this area and they won’t be getting married, whatever their destination.

Marry in St Lucia, for example, and the couple could need as many as nine different documents, more if either party has been divorced.

Getting the wedding of your dreams is enabled by good planning.

Requirements vary from country to country, but are broadly similar.

For a church ceremony, several months’ notice is often necessary. Civil weddings can usually be arranged at shorter notice.

Civil ceremonies are much easier to arrange than church weddings, but pretty much anything is possible if the couple has the patience and de-

They say their most popular places are Malcesine in Lake Garda ( and Scaliageri Castle), Sirmione, and of course Sorrento and Positano.

The bureaucracy of France, Italy and Spain has meant that the tiny island of Malta (you can fit two and half Maltas into Ireland’s smallest county, Louth) has been advancing rapidly up the aisle as the wedding destination of choice for hundreds of Irish couples each year.

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termination.

For most countries, the ground handler or wedding planner will require passport, original birth certificate, letters of freedom and proof of divorce or annulment, and a sworn affidavit, obtainable in Ireland, stating that both parties free to marry.

Stress that clients should follow the ground handler instructions, not those of the couple’s solicitor, who may claim that certain documents are not required in certain situations.

There may also be a certain length of time that the couple must reside in the country before a wedding can take place. Most famously, in France they have to be resident for least forty days prior to

the ceremony.

France demands a syphilis certificate (issued by a doctor practicing in France certifying that you have been examined “en vue de mariage”) and a certificate of celibacy (stating that you are indeed single or divorced and are legally able to marry).

According to French law, the Banns must be published at the mairie of the commune in which you will be married 10 days before the civil marriage takes place. You must prove residency for 30 days and a ten day stay after the ceremony.

Spanish authorities may take 30 to 45 days to approve a marriage application. Policies and procedures vary from region to region.

Spanish law appears to permit foreigners who are not Spanish legal residents to marry in Spain.

The different autonomous communities in Spain, however, interpret this law differently.

Outside Madrid, it may be required that one party be a citizen or resident of Spain.

In Italy, persons wishing to be married must appear with two witnesses and make a declaration of their intention to marry before the Ufficiale di Stato Civile (Civil Registrar) of the city or town where the marriage is to take place.

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ollowing the declaration it is usually necessary for banns, or marriage an-

nouncement, to be posted at the local comune (city hall) for two consecutive Sundays before the marriage occurs if one of the parties is Italian or if the Irish citizen is a resident of Italy.

Banns can be waived by the Ufficiale di Stato Civile if neither party to the marriage is Italian and neither is residing in Italy.

Local authorities require the presence of a translator if neither party speaks Italian.

Many couples get round this by having a small marriage ceremony in Ireland followed by a larger confirmation ceremony abroad.

Topflight have some enticing villa complexes in Tuscany, which also have churches on site.

alta has earned a steadily growing market share because of its easy bureaucracy residency stipulation of just three days, the close relationship between civil ceremony and church wedding, and the preponderance of churches and good hotels which offer a dazzling array of wedding options.

There are nearly 400 churches in Malta, one at every turn of the road, three times as many churches as pubs, the Irish eye will quickly gather. The most prominent building along the landscape is the parish church.

It has close cultural, economic and religious connections with Ireland: One of the oldest traditional wedding venue hotels, the Phoenician, is Irish-owned.

More importantly, a wedding in Malta will cost an average of €4,500, compared with the average of €23,000 at home. Plates for the wedding meal can come in at €15 with some good options at €30.

There are over 300 restaurants as well and everybody has decided to chase the wedding business. A couple can get married in a vineyard (Ta Mena Estate in Gozo), a historic palace (Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar) or even underwater (a Chinese couple did it at the Azure

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 13

WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS SPECIAL Window in Dwejra, an impressive natural arch standing some twenty metres high).

Keep a weather eye on those local church charges, which can mount very quickly. In Malta the average “donation” required by the church is €500.

In contrast to France and Spain’s long ‘residency’ stipulation, Greece, Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy are all becoming feasible choices.

Now you can get married anywhere in Austria and all the locals speak English. Austria offers some romantic settings such as Zell am See. In summer you can get married on Lake Zell.

In winter. they have the wonderful Sissi church right at 2,000 metres on top of the mountain.

Bad Gastein has

Gruner Baum hotel in the Hohe Tauern National Park – with its own church. St. Johann and Westendorf have also had Irish weddings. pain, France and Italy will all need someone to translate documents which

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adds expense and bureaucratic hurdles.

There are no residency requirements for getting married in Thailand; however the required paperwork will normally take at least two working days to complete before the marriage can be regis-

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Most Caribbean islands stipulate that couples must have been resident at least 24 hours before the wedding, though on Barbados couples may marry on the day that they arrive. On St Lucia, they must have been on

the island for at least two working days in advance.

In Mexico, blood tests for HIV are compulsory.

Turkey is big news too. This is an example of how booking a Turkish wedding works with Sunway: A travel agent rings with an enquiry for the end of August for 20 adults and 10 children.

First, Sunway check that the date the couple want is free with resort (as they only do one wedding a day on either Thursday or Friday).

Sunway go back to the agent and confirm the date is available and give them a rough idea of costs.

Sunway also give them a link so they can see the costs for everything.

The cost for a wedding reception for 20+10 is €1,300, including a four course meal, wedding

cake, table and chair decorations and live music.

The cost of arranging the civil marriage is €1,500. This is mandatory and includes arranging medicals and blood tests, obtaining necessary permission for the Turkish authorities, services of an official registrar, translation of documents, notary services and collection of documents etc.

Then of course you have optional extras, like flowers, video, photos, hair and makeup, which depends on a persons budget: n Flowers €400 n Video €300 n Photos €400 n Hair & make-up €100 So in total for this wedding, the cost is €2,800 + €1,200 for optional extras.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 14

WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS SPECIAL

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nce Sunway provide the agent with the initial information and availability, the client (not the agent) is then told to contact our wedding planner in resort and they deal directly with each other.

Sunway and the agent stay out of the wedding reception details.

Sunway only arrange weddings in conjunction with their programme, so this gives the added advantage of offering fantastic group rates for the bride and grooms family wanting to travel.

Sunway forwards sample wedding itineraries for each destination to the clients, this gives them an idea of the cost of a Wedding aboard and the link for what is required for Weddings aboard is also forwarded to the client.

The bride and groom are put in direct contact with the wedding co-ordinator once they decide to go ahead with their wedding aboard, and flights and accommodation are held until their

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wedding is confirmed.

Hair, makeup and the cost of the preparations have to be identified in advance.

The cake will generally be a plain one-tier sponge, unless stated.

Red carpets can be the biggest variable expense.

The price could turn out to be €200 as easily as it could be €100 with no discernible difference between the two, Couples may also be at the mercy of local florists for the bouquet. More importantly, they may not even be able to choose

the precise location of their wedding: some hotels have one spot, and one spot only, where they allow ceremonies.

Standards and reliability of photography and videos can vary: facilities and equipment abroad, especially on smaller and more remote islands, are often poor, and in the Caribbean and elsewhere DVD formats are US-friendly and will not work in Irish machines (though they can be converted).

It may also come as something of a shock for

the bride to discover that hairdressing and other grooming required for the big day may be hard to come by or a long way from a hotel — and that standards may not be what she is used to.

Couples should be wary of ‘free weddings’ tacked on to the cost of a honeymoon package.

These can sometimes translate into a swift exchange of vows witnessed by gawking hotel guests with inexpensive cake and sweet fizzy wine.

he simplest approach is to buy an add-on to their holiday from a tour operator that has a specialist wedding department. The cost is determined by location and exotic extras.

Options such as mariachi bands, helicopter rides and Balinese dancers send the price rocketing.

Before choosing a hotel, check the number of weddings it carries out.

Some resorts stage so many that newlyweds can find themselves sharing their special day with rather more people than they had intended.

Couples who decide not to bring any relatives may enjoy the camaraderie.

But those who want to avoid the risk of a ceremony conducted as the next party is lined up on the lawn would be well advised to select a hotel where weddings are not the main trade.

Watch out for the day pass feint. Friends who

DESERT NUPTIALS

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he licensing office in Las Vegas does not look very romantic: a square yellow slop-box of a building, plonked in the limbolands around the original Fremont Street city.

It stays open 16 of the 24 hours, so customers who arrive for a 4am wedding (as Britney Spears did) will need to be there by midnight.

Getting your license costs $55.

They don’t ask questions. There are no blood tests, no checks, no demands for divorce papers or proof that your bride isn’t your cousin.

The marriage still isn’t legal until you go to a minister and get it stamped by a licensed minister — and that’s where the fun begins.

Vegas will offer

any wedding experience you can think of.

They do 112,000 marriages a year, churning them like slot machines plays, theming and re-theming the event so that virtually every wedding angle you can think of has already been requested: At Excalibur they will supply a wizard to marry you.

At the Las Vegas Hilton you can get married on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise.

At the Venetian they have a wedding gondola where you can speak softly love while an All-American gon-

dolier sings O Solo Mio. At Treasure Island they will do a completely over the top Viva Las Vegas marriage ceremony.

You can buy a Weddings to Go package which will bring you out to the Grand Canyon or the Red River canyon to make your vows against spectacular desert landscapes.

You can get married at the top of the Stratosphere, the tallest building east of the Rockies.

If you want to go higher you can do it on a hot air balloon.

There are lots of drive through wedding chapels where

you don’t have to get out of the car.

And they will have every sort of chapel you can think of too. Big chapels, small chapels, labyrinthine buildings kitted out with a dozen chapels of various sizes, chapels that look like 1950s American diners, like forests and like caves.

They all offer a similar style standard product with live internet broadcasts, flowers, photos, and occasionally champagne and occasionally cake – city health regulators are more fussy than wedding license departments.

An average of

$330 will get you the flowers and video session.

Some of the wedding providers will package your hotel and reception for you, getting over the local oddities like the all-present tipping culture.

And you can have Elvis impersonators perform the ceremony. The most lookalike of the lookalike Elvises to be licensed as a minister, has retired.

But you can always have a ‘short back and sides’ version.

wish to stay in a less expensive hotel nearby may well have to buy a ‘day pass’ to the happy couple’s hotel for the ceremony.

Take care, too, for many resorts are ‘couples-only’ and children are not welcome.

Some companies offer discounts for friends, especially if there are 20 or more in the party.

Some hotels may not be able to offer a post-wedding reception at all, creating further complications.

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here are other potential downsides. In the most popular locations, brides in billowing white and over-hot grooms can find themselves caught in a traffic jam of twosomes waiting their turn at the wedding bower.

As a rule, a wedding package includes sorting out the legal administration, organising the bouquet, buttonholes, cake and a champagne reception.

Weddings abroad can be insured, although this is intended to supplement rather than replace travel insurance. Similarly, a ceremony overseas and a reception at home can be covered under one policy Blue Insurances’ Wedding Insurance starting from €39.99, covering cancellation and rearrangement, failure of suppliers, rings, gifts, bridal attire, personal liability and personal accident.

Making one member of the agency team a wedding specialist is a wise move for anyone who operates in this field.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 15

WEDDINGS & HONEYMOONS SPECIAL

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THE RISING TIDE OF OCEAN WEDDINGS

eddings at sea are usually held in one of the main public rooms or in the ship’s own chapel, if it has one. Some ships also have small deck areas that can be set aside for al-fresco ceremonies.

Weddings onboard cruises in the Caribbean are legally recognised by the Bahamas Marriage Act. The act allows for marriages in international waters, which is defined as outside the 12 mile limit of the territorial waters of any nation. The actual location of the ship when the marriage takes place is then recorded in the Marriage Record book of the Bahamas.

With the re-registration of Celebrity Cruises’ seven ships in Malta, it is now possible for captains to perform legal wedding ceremonies at sea sailing through international waters. In accordance with Maltese law, couples should allow for at least eight weeks land-based lead time in order to process the required legal documents.

Princess Cruises was the first cruise line to offer ship-based weddings conducted by the captain and it has since been followed by other lines including Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.

Couples booking 12 or more staterooms on a Royal Caribbean

International sailing receive a complimentary ‘Romance at Sea’ nuptial package, inclusive of the ceremony performed by the captain, photography and other extras.

As most meals on cruise ships are included in the price, the couple and their wedding party don’t need to pay pay extra for the traditional wedding breakfast, unless they opt for a speciality restaurant which carries a fee.

Royal Caribbean has wedding chapels on some of its fleet, but couples can also opt to say their vows at on-board attractions which, on its larger ships, include a surf simulator, rock-climbing

wall and an on-board ice rink.

With ceremonies starting at approximately €1,500, they are considerably less than land-based alternatives.

All weddings performed onboard the ship must be in conjunction with a cruise.

Upmarket specialist line Paul Gauguin, which cruises in the South Pacific, features a special ceremony that includes a Polynesian blessing while tall ship line Star Clippers will organise a sunset blessing for honeymooners aboard one of its masted sailing yachts, conducted by the captain and attended by uniformed crew.

Princess Cruises offers live “wedding cams” which allow absent parties to virtually attend the ceremony as live pictures can be beamed from the ship’s chapel and are accessible via its website.

Thomas Cook Cruise Ireland offer a Weddings at Sea package with Cunard.

They can also marry on board a docked Celebrity Cruises ship in the following ports: Aruba, Baltimore, Barbados, Catalina Island, Cozumel, Fort Lauderdale, Cabo San Lucas, Civitavecchia (Rome), Grand Cayman, Hawaii, Juneau, Ketchikan, Key West, Livorno (Florence), Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, New York, Jamaica, San Diego, San Francisco, Santorini, Seattle, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan, Tampa and Vancouver.

General packages include the services of a local marriage official, a bottle of champagne, wedding cake, floral arrangements and a wedding certificate.

Other cruise lines are not licensed to carry out seafaring weddings but can perform ceremonies when the ship is in port, either on-board the ship or ashore.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 16

ESCORTED TOURS

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oliday makers get it. A guided tour is the most effective way for customers to get the most value for their vacation in the limited time they have to go.

When people are on holiday, they want everything to be organised for them. They do NOT want to deal with all the backend logistics.

The guided tour offers the individual attention of a tailor-made package within a group tour.

When agents sell guided travel, their clients get the experience of the operators, the local connections, the access they can’t get on their own, security and knowledge.

The escorted tour offers better hotels, flexibility over meals and excursions, and more inclusions. It takes the pressure off of the planning and let’s customers focus on enjoying their holiday. Customers save money and travel with professionals that get them into signature sites without having to queue, offering more time to see what each destination has to offer.

A customer who usually books a cruise is a good choice. Escorted tours are a daily staple of the cruise industry and many customers tend to cruise only every other

Vroom with a view

The ins and outs of escorted tours year. The in-between years are good to sell an escorted land holiday.

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he appetite for comfort tours is greater than ever, sand the escorted coach tour is where an growing number of holiday makers are looking.

To catch the trend, agents need to modernise their language and abandon old fashioned ideas about how the industry works.

Travel agents who aren’t selling what once were known as coach tours are missing out on sales and profits.

Long ago holiday makers got on a bus.

Nowadays a bus is a business-class experience.

Travel agents need to emphasise that when you travel with an escorted tour, you are not on the coach, you are in a destination on a guided holiday. The coach is just the vehicle that gets you from one destination to another.

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Morning in the mountains

any holiday makers always longed to travel but did not know where to start. That’s where a tour operator in whose safe hands they can trust their precious holiday comes in.

When it comes to visas, insurance and all that boring stuff, which can make or break a holiday, they not only need expert guidance – they MUST get it.

Escorted tours are normally conducted by a tour director who takes

care of all services from beginning to end of the tour.

They normally include flights, hotels, transportation, transfers to the airport/hotel, most meals and sightseeing.

They are typically conducted by motor coach.

They can be fastpaced, with no more than two nights spent in each location, or more leisurely, with more time spent overnight at each locale.

There is a difference between escorted, when guests are met at arrival and accompanied to departure, and a tour that leaves clients on their own with transfer reps and tours.

Escorted tours are available on every continent in the world, from budget to luxury, leisurely to fast-paced.

They range anywhere from 6 to 34 days.

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he market is growing and changing.

As with land based holiday destinations and tour operators they are beginning to see cruise ships as their biggest competition.

Escorted tour operators in the Irish market include: n Colette Vacations n Contiki Holidays – youth market n Cosmos n Exodus n Explore n G Adventures n Globus n GTI n Insight Vacations n PAB n Riviera n Trafalgar tours n Travel Department Travel Department are the brand leader out of Ireland, having made a huge success out of the so-called grey market.

CIE Tours International and Brendan Vacations are Irish connected and offer tours worldwide.

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ESCORTED TOURS Globus, Cosmos, Contiki, Insight, Riviera Travel, Trafalgar, Collette Vacations, GTI, Explore and Exodus are all big international brands.

Contiki targets the younger traveller, up to age 35. Globus and Trafalgar operate around the same price points while Cosmos is a less expensive Globus brand.

Intrepid and Imaginative Traveller target smaller and younger groups. Explore and Exodus have loyal travellers who have stuck with them, often since the companies were founded in the 1980s. Their demographic seems to have grown older with the companies. “Age appropriate sales,” is the phrase that is increasingly used by tour companies.

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emember that not all escorted tours are created equal.

They are typically conducted by motorcoach but some have more adventurous options on part of the journey along the way.

They can be fastpaced, with no more than two nights spent in each location, or more leisurely, with more time spent overnight at each locale.

It is not just about itineraries. Some include flights, hotels, transportation, transfers to the airport/hotel, most meals and sightseeing. Others exclude some of the key items.

Tours will sometimes vary the standard of hotels, with three stars in the rural parts and five star in the city.

It can be a scramble for hotels on the most popular itineraries.

Around Lake Garda, Como and Maggiore there are six or seven hotels around each lake to choose from, with the tour operators offering strikingly similar itineraries Most escorting touring companies have 52-seater coaches. Leg room on

Old towns, big vehicles board, the use of city centre hotels versus suburban hotels, functional extras such as free wifi and charge points and the itineraries are all differentiators.

Some pack their buses, some deal with smaller groups of less than twenty. Some switch between the two, while some dealing with small groups use local transport rather than a chartered coach.

Some may stay in one city for several nights while taking day trips through the local countryside, or use a leisurely itinerary that may cover a few different cities in one area of the world.

Then there are fastpaced tours that give you a great overview of many countries in Europe, several states in the USA or many regions of Australia.

There are budget and first class options, independent travel packages and sometimes river cruise options.

Some offer family travel, youth travel for 18 to 35 year-olds, faith

based and small group travel (for no more than 26 guests, for those that want a more personalised experience.

Some companies include gratuities, others do not.

The real difference comes in itineraries, and that is where a travel agent can excel in helping customers understand what is and isn’t included in the price, as well as compare optional excursion costs and the location of the hotels.

Some companies include local dining experiences on tour, an opportunity to get to know the locals and regions better.

Others offer the option to dine with local families in their homes, learn how to cook regional dishes and share a glass with winemakers at their vineyards.

Some companies offer dinners with wine and live entertainment.

Escorted rail tours are growing in popularity.

Some companies offer journeys by heritage transport

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ccommodation can vary significantly, and is often at local guesthouses and pensions. In general, most escorted tour companies choose hotels in suburbs as opposed to city centre locations as it keep the price point lower.

Sometimes you’ll have an amazing room, other times you’ll be in a small room sharing a bath down the hall.

Look out for unique authentic accommodations or hotels locations in the major city centres.

It is a matter of taste.

Does the customer prefer a hotel that is centrally located so that they can walk out of the hotel room and be in the heart of the city, or do you prefer perhaps a nicer, more unique hotel outside of the city centre. Some companies offer stays in villas. Many companies offer a mix of each.

This is a great opportunity for your travel agent who gets to know the customer’s likes and dislikes, and what they

are hoping for out of their holiday.

On many escorted tours only a small number of meals might be included and these can be group meals.

Most escorted touring company’s prices do not include excursions and entries to tourist sights/ attractions and guests are asked while on tour by the Tour Guides/Managers to pay for this, so it is an additional cost on top of the price paid for the tour.

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here is a difference in terms of what is offered between brands who are targeting the traditional escorted tour clients and the youth market.

The perception of escorted tours is beginning to change amongst the younger generation, with the likes of Contiki and G Adventures becoming stronger in the Irish market place.

Both companies offer escorted group travel to the youth market, with Contiki specifically tar-

geting young travellers between 18-35 only while G Adventures also caters for older more adventurous traveller and families also.

Escorted travel is the perfect way for young solo individuals to travel who are seeking the company of like-minded people and, of course, the security of travelling with others in an organised group.

In some cases young travellers will look to their travel agent for advice on solo travelling and they are presented with group holiday travel, such as Contiki.

Due to the nature of it being a youth product one can expect the product offering to be different to that of Insight Vacations, Trafalgar, Travel Department who would be more appealing to more mature age categories.

Contiki’s trips tend to be more high energy (with plenty of outdoor activities on offer), sociable and geared towards making friends.

Accommodation on offer ranges from camping to hostels and hotels. There are plenty of room share options, so this eliminates single room supplements, and of course younger travellers tend to have less problems with sharing rooms than more mature travellers.

R

iviera Travel won three awards by London based consumer body Which in 2017, including Travel Brand of the Year 2017.

Riviera Travel staff undergo resort-based annual training and build knowledge so they can advise about the holiday based on their own experience.

Their Tour Managers have a tradition of long service, 16 of them now for over twenty years and that staff are selected for organisational ability. knowledge and are multilingual.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 19

ESCORTED TOURS Riviera say that since their inception 30 years ago, they’ve never levied a surcharge – even when currency and fuel mitigate against them.

Stephen Sands of Riviera says “what sets us apart are the outstanding quality and value of our holidays, and our commitment to the customer experience.

“We aim to make each trip memorable. Our holidays bring the heartbeat of our destinations closer, as each place we visit is brought to life by expert guides whose knowledge and passion are unmatched.

We plan each holiday around our customers, including the essentials and leaving out the unnecessary, so exceptional travel experiences need not cost the earth.

Every tour includes: n Visits and guided tours covering a destination’s must-see highlights and lesser-known gems Red Rocks Colorado n Return flights plus hotel transfers nsight offers n Hand-picked accom40-seater coaches, modation others tend to have 52 n Meals included vary seats.

Insight purchases by tour – generally daily breakfast is included on brand new top of the range coaches and reconour European tours n The services of a Rivi- figures them to 40-seater coaches thus offering era Travel tour manager “All our holidays are business class legroom.

All coaches have free competitively priced and Wi-Fi and charge points offer fantastic value for money. We guarantee for phones and iPads. there are no hidden sur- Each coach is in opercharges, no extras and ation for only five years.

They say their preno fees to be added later.

We do not inflate our mium status comes from prices or offer artificial hotels, food inclusions, VIP entries to sites, more discounts.

“Our holidays are spe- inclusions and seat pitch. cially designed with our They sit at the 4/5 star discerning customers level.

Insight say their hotels in mind. Every detail is considered and verified are hand-picked in the by a member of our team more desirable locations.

– from our selection of he GTI team in tour highlights to our Ireland is headed hand-picked hotels. up by Derek Riviera Travel offers 80 group tours across Keogh. .

It organises itinerEurope and the world, aries in six categories, led by tour managers and expert guides. Many of Worldwide, European, these thave departures for battlefield, cooking, cycling and a specialist agrisolo travellers. cultural section, which

I

T

will visit the Basque country next year.

GTI have 58 tours in all in 2018 including nine battlefield tours, five of them to Flanders and the Somme where they visit sites of relevance to the Irish such as the graves of Willie Redmond and Francis Ledwidge.

E

ach of the companies highlights its offering for solo travellers.

Escorted tours have always been popular with solo travellers, who are used to being penalised for chosing to travel alone. Now they are witnessing a new development, the wannabe solo travellers who leaves friends and family to join a group tour to satisfy a personal ambition or bucket list item Intrepid Travel has seen a 38pc growth in solo travellers over the past five years. In one year one of the solo travel specialists saw a rise of

34pc.

Wendy Wu Tours has seen a 13pc increase in the number of 50-plus solo female travellers over the past three years, compared with an 8pc increase among men the same age, and women are opting for longer and more adventurous tours to boot. Single travellers make up 18oc of Wendy Wu’s customer base.

Wendy Wu expanded their portfolio in experiential travel with the launch of ‘Immerse Yourself’, a collection of holidays offering cultural experiences and active adventures and off the beaten track travel to China, Southeast Asia, India and Japan.

They offer four-wheel drives through the sand dunes of The Gobi Desert, hiking to see sunrise over the Himalayas, cycling in Udaipur, exploring Saigon on a Vespa to meditating with a Taoist priest on Weibaoshan mountain

A

n obvious trend is the growth in active tours which is accelerating and expanding beyond the obvious destinations and clientele.

Cycling is becoming more popular as people look for new ways to explore a destination rather than simply view it through a window.

Ebikes are ubiquitous in tourist destinations and have made the uphill climbs more manageable.

“Hike, Bike and Kayak” tours are appearing on more itineraries. Some companies offer white-water rafting and sailing.

Even companies targeted towards an older audience, has brought in walking holidays to Switzerland and Austria where, of season, ski gondolas do most of the work for you bringing you to within a short hike of the mountain peaks.

John Grehan heads up the G Adventures offering in Ireland and has

increased the group’s activities with the trade,including a recent fam to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Recently, G Adventures has rebranded its ‘Yolo’ programme of tours for younger travellers to ‘18-to-Thirtysomethings’. xplore escorted tours launched 80 new tours its 2014/15 collection with over 80 new tours on offer in destinations including Guinea Bissau in West Africa, Taiwan and Colombia’s Lost City, in addition to a new range of ‘food and drink’ tours.

E I

n the modern age Customers are choosing to holiday in seemingly safer destinations, such as Spain and Italy, or opting for the convenience and organisation of an escorted tour, allowing scope for sightseeing, cultural interaction and adventure, but with the guidance and support of an accompanying tour leader.

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JANUARY 2019 PAGE 22

DESTINATION SPAIN

F

or an old city with a star studded past, Seville can reinvent itself with alacrity. The latest addition to its repertoire is an aged palace, which remained hidden form the street for centuries.

Now the 15th century Palacio de las Dueñas is open to the public. The Duchess María of Alba, who died in 2014, held it as a private residence, and the tour of the house is illuminated with references to her life and relationships with Europe’s royal families.

An ancestor James FitzJames fought at the Boyne and Aughrim and was present at the Siege of Limerick, before dispersing with his faded claims on the English throne.

The private chapel, collection of 1,425 artefacts including One of the best tapestries in the world, Willem Pannemaker , open courtyards, furnishing, and cloistered opulence are a reminder that life in this history-saturated city is not all Mudéjar memories.

In its day it was home to the poet Antonio

Tapas Dance Eoghan Corry finds food for thought in Seville

Seville cathedral, relic of a golden age Machado, the man who advised us not to try to rush things: “for the cup to run over, it must first be filled.”

T

he cup in Seville filled for centuries and for two hundred hears it over floweth. Between January 20th, 1503 , three years before the death of Christopher Columbus, and 1717, it was the monopoly port for Spanish gold. When the mouth of the Guadalquivir silted,

THINGS TO DO

n Cathedral with the special exhibition on the Year of Murillo www.murilloysevilla.org n Cycling tours of Seville seebybike.com n Museo y Flamenco show, Calle.

Manuel Rojas Marcos, 3. 41004 +34 954 34 03 11 www.museoflamenco.com

the monopoly moved to Cadiz.

Twice a year, in April and September the convoy of ships with gold from America arrived and departed to ringing church bells and cheering crowds.

“Christopher Columbus did not discover America. He created a motorway and here in Seville was the toll,” historian Ana María Calderón says.

For a picture of what the glory days of Seville

STAY AND EAT n Restaurant Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo. Teodosio, +34 954 38 00 67 n El Rinconcillo, the oldest restaurant in town. +34 954 22 31 83 n Taberna del Alabardero, Calle Zaragoza, n Carniborrea, Alameda de Hércules, +34 954 90 43 14 carniborea.com n Origen, Hotel One Shot Conde de Torrejón 09, Calle Conde de Torrejón, 9 Tel: +34 854 56 58 54

may have been like, we stopped in to the Torro del Oro. The tower looks out at the river and a naval exhibition evokes memories of the empire on which the sun never set, Magellan and Vespucci and other celebrity seamen of their era. by 1600 the city was the largest in Spain and wealthiest in Europe. We watched one of the 45 brotherhoods of the city pass in procession, and got a sense of what it must have been like.

N

owadays new riches are to be found spread on the tables of the city, salads, hams, cheese, beef and wine.

Seville tourists are duty bound to call to the Alcazar, with its layer cake of architectural history, in brick, marble, tile, wood and iron (“the Gothic palace is actually baroque” Ana points out), and the cathedral, with its iconic tomb of Columbus, but real treasures are the restaurants of the backstreet bars balconied with legs of ham or the modern culinary chapels on the broad squares.

Even in November the tables hummed with outdoor conversation, the clink of endless plates of tapas and glasses filled with wine, parrilla de verdure, salmojero (the ham of the sea), papatatero.

Restaurateur Ramón López de Tejada de-

clared: “uva y queso saben a beso,” (grapes and cheese taste like a kiss).

T

he best way to see Seville of all may be by bicycle. We cannot be sure, because it rained so heavily on the day that Justo Lora came to accompany us that we wondered whether there was any truth in that old ditty about the rain in Spain.

“Seville without sun is like dinner without salt,” Justo commented. Instead we moved indoors to see the expansive Plaza de España where Spain celebrated its former American empire with a major exhibition in 1929. Now the area is a park and botanical garden, with a museum showcasing the artistic history of the city back to its days when nearby Italica was the birthplace of Hadrian and Trajan.

The 1992 Expo transformed Seville’s modern history, bringing five new bridges and a surge of artistic and commercial energy that can still be felt today.

In the evening we climbed on Jüggen Mayer’s wooden structure, the largest in the world, the mushroom to look back on the city. The gold convoy ain’t coming back soon. Something more amazing calls by instead.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Seville as a guest of the Spanish Tourist Board.

Ryanair fly to Seville 3w year round

Clockwise: Grave of Columbus, Plaza de España, Las Setas, Espacio Metropol Parasol, , Ramon Lopez de Tejada owner of Restaurant Antigua Abacería de San Lorenzo, Saida Segura of Seville Tourism and Sara Rivero of the Spanish Tourist Board,

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JANUARY 2019 PAGE 24

DESTINATION USA

A

sk Brian Friel.

Philadelphia was always a favourite amongst Irish visitors.

It has just become more affordable and accessible.

Two competing airlines on the direct route from Dublin (with Shannon also served), hotel and restaurant prices that sit below the median for the region, and the treasury of local attractions have created a new air of excitement about Philadelphia among the Irish travel trade.

Irish history sits lightly over the birthplace of the United States: Wolfe Tone’s house, John Barry’s statue and William Penn, who grew up in Co Cork and had his moment of inspiration there, looking whimsically over it all from atop the city hall.

Even the baptismal font of Christ Church, where seven of ASmerica’s founding fathers are buried, came from Co Cork.

Apt then, that this is where the Irish Travel Agents Association chose to hold their first conference in the USA. .

T

he city has sometimes been sidelined on the tourist trail by its neighbours.

It was long the least wealthy of the big five US cities. As luck would

Philadelphia, host of ITAA conference

Bells on it

City Hall at night, a once-Corkman sits atop the budiling have it, its most famous fictional character became a metaphor for an underdog or an everyman rising to a challenge.

The theme music of the city, for the past few decades at least, comes from the 1976 Rocky film.

Tour guides will tell you that Sly Stallone could not be b othered running up all of the 72 steps, he claimed he had an injury and a double did the rest for him.

The statue of Rocky where tourists now pose is discreetly positioned away from the steps and the museum which once deprecated the artistic

merit of a statue of a fictional character blemishing its premises.

With good reason.

Philadelphia’s wealth meant that it could purchase an enormous amount of classic and impressionist European art. Each room of the museum is like a wave of grandeur, celebrity canvasses familiar from popular and academic culture.

The numbers game is even more apparent in the modern building built specially to house the collection of the Barnes foundation, the most recent addition to the

treasury of Philadelphia attractions, the Picassos, Monets and Van Goghs are arranged without guide cards and explanations, decked on the walls at three levels, occasionally with counterpointing curios.

We were told there are 4,000 objects, including 900 paintings, estimated to be worth about $25bn, 181 by Renoir, 69 by Cezanne, 59 by Matisse, 46 by Picasso and seven by van Gogh. The move to Downtown Philadelphia has been like lifting a veil off the treasury.

Rocky would understand.

T

he most interesting bits of Philadelphia are probably the least known.

The city is supposed to span out from the City Hall, equidistant from the river and the sea. But it is at the edges that you find the heart of the city, not the heart.

The makes sense in Philadelphia.

The Mutter Museum, with its vast collection of medical and anatomical oddities, may be the most interesting in all of North America. It is an eerie place, skulls piled on each other with notes of their diseases..

As Philadelphia grew from shipping the Naval Museum and its floating exhibits are worth the journey from Ireland, let alone from New York.

Washington or any of the other cities in the playground that is almost north-east United States.

You can clamber through a submarine, first conceived by a Liscannor man, or the ship form which the attack on Havana was launched.

The city sits between two rivers. The sea is closer than you think.

Clockwise: Christ Church where seven of America’s founding fathers are buried, the Eastern State cells and cell b locks appear like they have just been abandoned, Joan of Arc, affectionately known as Joanie and her pony, Marriott Downtown, venue for ITAA Conference,

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 25

DESTINATION USA

T

he Independence tourist centre is a blend of architectural contradictions, the ugly stomping wherever it can on the quaint.

The president’s house is brick, with plans you can view through a glass wall as you queue to enter the buildings. The signage acknowledged, belatedly, African Americans and their role in the country’s history.

The glass is faded a bit like the South County Dublin had galloped its way over it. The little rolling hill between the Liberty Bell centre, all glass and red-bricked corners, to the national convention centre.

Red brick, white windows, 12 panels on each window, wrought iron and heritage in brick, with horrible stuff behind in broad glass 1960s windows and Wells Fargo plastered.

Even worse, someone

W

Sme of the most famous paintings in the world are to be seen in Philadelphia art museum planted a square block of a building right opposite the Liberty Bell Centre which looks like a car

GOING UP

n One Liberty Observation Deck, 1650 Market Street. Philadelphia’s first high rise attraction with 360 degree views! n Locatedonthe57thfloorofPhiladelphia’siconicOneLibertyPlace–the first skyscraper to surpass William Penn’s hat atop City Hall• n Total Floor Capacity of 300 people• Amazing 360° view n Engaging Philadelphia experience from first floor to 57th n Interactive technology in foreign languages n ConnectedtoTheShopsatLiberty-

park.

It is all a far cry from the splendid Second Empire architecture that you

EAT AND SLEEP

n Hampton Inn Center City, 1301 Race Street, within walking distance of the city’s best restaurants, attractions and shopping n El Rey, 1311 Sansom St, n Reading Terminal Market, 51 North 12th Street, great place to graze and pick up the locally produced food n City Tap House2 Logan Square Yards Brewing Company 500 Spring Garden St. Great beer (Tour the brewery) and great food n Campo’s 214 Market Street, best to Go Cheesesteaks in town

find around City Hall although there is a couple of buildings which lend themselves that way. On the whole, WC Fields allegedly said when he was dying, I would rather be in Philadelphia.

E

astern State Penitentiary has been a long time in the renovation, to the extent that carefully signed walkways and restored rooms (Al Capone’s cell amongst them), stand side by side with abandoned cells that look

like they have been untouched since the prison closed.

The prison with its famous isolationist policy was built between 1822 to 1829, with capacity for 250 prisoners.

It ended up housing 1800 at peak, and clearly never served its purpose. Then guided tour with Damon McCool was stimulating and thought provoking about prison systems then and now. Even as a tourist, it is a good feeling to get out into the daylight.

here to go to cheer up? The laden table of course. Philadelphia prides itself as a pioneer of the culinary revolution in America, with celebrity chefs, celebrity restaurants and celebrity ale-houses.

At Yards brewhouse, Mike Hans brought our group into the brewing area and declared: “This is what it looks like when you die and you have been good.”

Mike conducts his tour like a comedian, through a boutique restaurant and brewhouse selling boutique beer. Beer is important in a city where the Declaration of Independence was discussed and drafted, appropriately, in a tavern.

The city’s love affair with food can be explored at Reading Terminal Market. It is like a throwback to a previous age, with immigrant artisans, suited gentlemen and students queuing for crab, cheese steaks, and wholesome Amish grows from Lancaster county.

P

hiladelphia is also in a cluster of amazing locations, New York, Baltimore and Washington DC. But that is a story for another issue of Travel Extra.

n Eoghan Corry travelled to Philadelphia as a guest of Visit USA n Aer Lingus fly daily to Philadelphia

Clockwise: Eastern State penitentiary, Anne Robinson conducts a tour of the Barnes Foundation, Ben’s head at the top of One Liberty Observation deck, fam trip at the Philadelphia art museum, Danielle O’Keeffe of Shandon Travel, Tara Povey of Where is Tara, Caroline Gallagher of Travel Department, Jenny Rafter of Aer Lingus, Laura Jean Tyrrell of Bookabed, Linda Collins of American Holidays, Wendy McCartney of Clickandgo, Cheryl Cleworth of Tropical Sky, Tony Lane of Visit USA front Eoghan Corry and Jacinta McGlyn

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 26

AFLOAT TURKU Construction has begun in Turku on Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship, which will be the largest in the fleet with 6,600 passenger capacity, and which launches in 2020.

Dubai is to open two cruise terminals in 2020 to accommodate up to three ships at a time as it expects to attract 1m passengers a year

CORK The Port of Cork is looking for

interested parties to construct and/or operate a new cruise facility after a record year of ship visits. Full story here.

VIKING Ocean Cruises is returning to Turkey in 2021, with a stop in the Irish favourite of Kusadasi.

NORWEGIAN Jewel has emerged

from dry dock with new and redesigned cabins, venues and entertainment.

MARELLA Cruises’ summer 2020 programme will feature six cruises from England, to a mix of Iceland, Norwegian Fjords and Baltic itineraries. Two new fly cruises include the seven-night Aegean Explorer and the seven-night Mediterranean Secrets.

CELEBRITY Cruises’ Celebrity Flora, designed specifically for Galapagos Islands expeditions is to feature glamping under the stars at sea on the top deck of the small-scale ship when it launches in 2019.

VIRGIN Voyages’ Scarlet Lady features 20 food venues, all opening late, and without surcharges, the company said.

MSC Cruises’ private Ocean Cay island in the Bahamas will open in November 2019.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN’s Navigator of the Seas will feature two new-design water slides, Caribbean-inspired pool deck, new bar and dining areas after its $115m Royal Amplified refurbishment in February 2019.

NCL is set to follow the likes of MSC for

Me and Caribbean Princess’s Ocean Medallion with wearable tech to guide passengers around Norwegian Bliss in late 2018.

CELEBRITY Eclipse- which

homeported in Dublin this year will be based in Melbourne for 2020/2021 summer season.

STENA Line cabin assistant Sarah Scow-

croft was invited on board the hospital ship Africa Mercy in Guinea, after she and a team of colleagues on the Stena Superfast X (which operates on the Dublin to Holyhead route) raised £7,414.96 by organising a 34-mile charity walk around the Scottish Lakes – a figure that was then doubled by Stena Line Chairman Dan Sten Olsson.

HURTIGRUTEN has ordered a

third hybrid-powered expedition cruise ship to be delivered in the second quarter of 2021.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN’s Anthem of the Seas is returning to Southampton after five years’ absence in 2020, with bookings open from November 2-0.9.

LONDON Plans for a cruise ship terminal in south-east London have been withdrawn by developers.

Signature Magic Carpet on Celebrity Edge

Edge’s US arrival

T

Celebrity flagship moves to Europe in summer

he 2,900-passenger Celebrity Edge,- previewed last month in Travel Extra,- has been delivered to the line at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in SaintNazaire, France and undertaken its trans-Atlantic sailing in anticipation of its launch in Miami.

Celebrity Edge signatures include a “floating” deck called the Magic Carpet, which can double as a tender station or restaurant/bar depending on where it’s located; “Infinite Verandah” cabins that can be either an outdoor space or provide more room indoors with the touch of a button; six new-to-Celebrity restaurants; and the largest spa in the fleet.

Edge docked at Port Everglades’ Terminal 25 -- Celebrity Cruises’ brand-new terminal. The ship executed a 360-degree turn while sounding its horn as it approached the dock.

“This is a pretty special day for Celebrity Cruises,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises, who was among those onboard the ship as it arrived.

“After four years in the making and thousands of people working on this project, I didn’t think it could get any better. I’ve seen the photos with rainbows. It is a magical day.”

Celebrity Edge will be the first of four ships in the new Edge class. It is Celebrity Cruises’ first-in-class ship since 2007, when Celebrity Solstice debuted.

Terminal 25, which underwent a $120m renovation that required the demolition of two smaller terminals to increase square footage, is the first Celebrity Cruises-branded terminal in Port Everglades.

It was designed specifically for Celebrity Edge but also will be used by other Celebrity ships including Celebrity Reflection, Celebrity Silhouette and Celebrity Infinity. The expanded space is projected to boost passenger traffic to the port.

“The investment in this innovative terminal is going to allow us to grow,” said Steven Cernak, Port Everglades’ chief executive and port director.

“Historically, Port Everglades handles 335,000 Celebrity passengers annually, representing about 9pc of overall passenger traffic. With the completion of this terminal, we anticipate that Celebrity will generate approximately 500,000 guests -representing 14 percent of the port’s projected passenger traffic.”

Terminal 25 was given a Scandinavian-inspired design reflective of Celebrity Edge, an interactive wall art installation, and a separate screening area and rooftop terrace for suite passengers.

It was opened three weeks after Celebrity Cruises’ sister brand, Royal Caribbean, unveiled its new Terminal A in Port Miami.

After the Caribbean, Edge will reposition to the Mediterranean, offering cruises out of Barcelona and Rome; it also will sail a two-night mini-cruise out of Southampton, England.

CARNIVAL RETURNS TO EUROPE

C

arnival Cruise Line is to return to Europe in 2020 following the $200m drydock of Carnival Radiance in late April 2020.

The ship, currently sailing as Carnival Victory, will come out of the

10-day drydock in Cadiz, Spain, with a 10-day Mediterranean sailing from Barcelona.

This will be followed by nine- and 12-day departures visiting top destinations through Italy, France, Croatia, Greece, Malta and

Spain. The ship will then embark on a 13-day transatlantic crossing from Barcelona to New York from 11th to 24th June 2020 for its inaugural season in New York for a series of four- and six-night Bermuda cruises; eight-night

Eastern Caribbean sailings; and a number of Canada/ New England cruises in the autumn.

The ship will reposition to Port Canaveral, for a winter season of six- to eight-night Caribbean and Cuba cruises.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 27

AFLOAT PRINCESS Cruises will deploy a

record five ships in Europe in 2020 – three of them in Southampton. Regal Princess may call at Irish ports as part of her itinerary.

MARELLA Cruises’ adultsonly Marella Explorer 2, which debuts in May 2019, will feature a Prosecco and Champagne bar called Flutes, and The Beach Cove that will take on a beach-barbecue theme. Other venues include a pizzeria and 19th Hole bar with golfbuggy-style seating and two golf simulators.

MSC Cruises has opened sales for MSC Grandiosa- its first Meraviglia-Plus class ship exclusively for Voyagers Club members until October 21, going on general sale a day later.

Cruise panelists from nine major cruise lines shared a platform at the Travel Centres conference in Fota

CLIA’s Ireland plan Lobby for CLIA move to boost Irish cruise market

A

ndy Harmer, who heads of the Cruise Line International Association in London, is being lobbied to start a CLIA initiative in Ireland.

Speaking to Travel Extra in the margins of the Worldchoice and Travel Centres conferences during November, Michael English of Celebrity Cruises said the plan would

be to organise an event for the Irish travel trade which could then be used to gauge the interest in cross-brand promotions to stimulate the Irish market.

CLIA last stripped out figures for the Irish market in 2015 when the Irish cruise uptake was up 14pc to 35,972 The Mediterranean accounted for 60pc of the Irish market in 2015,

21,475 passengers (up 28pc) ahead of the Caribbean 8,022 (up 3pc), Baltic/Scandinavia 2,389 (down 11pc), Greenland/Iceland 1,278 (down 14pc), Middle East 1,186 down 6pc, Alaska 535 down 14pc, Far East/ Australia 464 down 25pc, Britain 441 and Panama 262.

The Irish cruise market peaked at 41,780 and may have rebounded..

ROYAL OPENS MIAMI TERMINAL

R

oyal Caribbean have opened their new Terminal A at Port Miami, the largest cruise terminal in the US by passenger numbers.

The port was previously unable to accommodate the 5,500-passenger Oasis class ships, will host Ovation of the Seas.

It will provide what the line calls a “frictionless boarding process,” through technology like facial recognition that will expedite the embarkation process, and a faster luggage trans-

portation system.

Cruisers now have the facility to upload a selfie with their passport information, which allows Customs and Border Patrol to expedite their process by eliminating additional screening time.

Royal Caribbean aims to trim down the boarding time to about 10 minutes; a total of eight minutes from portside to the ship was achieved during a test run with Mariner of the Seas’ passengers.

In addition to improving the passenger experience, Terminal A boasts a sleek, modern design inside and out reflecting the work of Singaporean architectural firm, Broadway Malayan.

Indoors, 30-foot-,high ceilings and walls of windows flood the space with natural light, while all eyes are drawn toward two massive golden propeller blades rotating in the air, on the second level.

“When you look at the ships, design and the way we manage space, and the

way we create experiences, a natural extension of that would be the boarding experience,” said Royal Caribbean’s CEO, Michael Bayley. ”Technology plays a huge part in our everyday existence,. You need to start building the technology into the experience.

It’s happening with the airlines, it’s happening with the cruise lines; it is an inevitable journey we’re all on, and we obviously want to be the innovators at the front of that.”

HOLLAND AMERICA RAISES GRA-

H

olland America Line will charge $1 more per person, per day, for service charges regardless of what type of cabin is booked, on all sailings on or after December 1, 2018, The gratuity for inside,

ocean-view and balcony cabins rises to $14.50 per person, per day, while that in suites rises be $16.

Passengers on the 2019 Grand World and the 2019 Grand South America Antarctica voyages will be grandfathered in to the

lower gratuity levels.

According to Holland America, the daily service charge is entirely paid to the crew members and is split between those who work with passengers directly (dining room wait staff and room stewards),

as well as those in support roles (galley and laundry staff).

Passengers may adjust their gratuities if they feel the service they have received has exceeded or failed to meet their expectations.

VIRGIN Voyages and shipbuilders Fincantieri have signed a €700m contract for a fourth 2,700-passenger ship, to launch at the end of 2023.

LOUGH SWILLY Ferry service connecting Rathmullan and Buncrana carried 26,000 foot passengers and over 6,000 vehicles to date this year.

MSC are to enter the ultra luxury market with four ships, first to be delivered in 2023.

UNIWORLD

ordered four new river ships for the Nile, Douro, Mekong & Volga

STENA Line reports that it has carried

Chinese visitors on Irish Sea vessels this year having become the “first passenger ferry company in Europe to be awarded the Chinese Tourist Welcome certification for ex-Belfast routes last year.”

ROYAL CARIBBEAN’s Ovation of the Seas will be based in Alaska in 2020, for the second year running.

BRITTANY Ferries reported Cork to Roscoff is its strongest performing route.

BELFAST hosted 115 ships and 185,000 cruise passengers since March, below the 117 projected earlier this year by Cruise Belfast.

ROYAL Caribbean appointed Shilpa Saulto head up PR and social to lead the brand’s communications strategy reporting to Ben Bouldin.

CARNIVAL Horizon and Carnival Vista will feature pizza delivery onboard via Carnival’s app. The service costs $5, charged to cut down on waste and stop passengers from sending pizzas as a joke.

CUNARD Line has brought in

Adam Tihany as the Creative Director of its 2022 build, ex Seabourn, Costa Cruises and Holland America Line, as well as The Beverly Hills Hotel and Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice.

SILVERSEA Cruises ordered three new ships, two in new Evolution class.

MSC will phase out of all single use plastic straws by December 2018 and pledged to remove virtually all single-use plastics across the fleet by March 2019.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 28

THE FLYING COLUMN AERCAP reported 2018 Q3 net income of US$263.4m, with total revenues down 8pc to $1.1 bn. The Board approved a new share repurchase program authorising total repurchases of up to $200m of AerCap ordinary shares through 31Mar19. As of 30 Sep18, AerCap’s portfolio consisted of 1,457 aircraft that were owned, on order or managed.

OAG data shows that Ryanair is about to

offer its largest winter programme with available seats up 12.7pc versus winter 2017/2018, based on planned schedules, the highest rate of year-on-year seasonal growth since summer 2016 and second largest winter capacity rise this decade.

OMNISERV (operating as Blue Handling) will provide all of Ryanair’s check-in, baggage and ground operations handling at Stanstedfrom February FINNAIR completed the sale of 60pc of its regional operation – Nordic Regional Airlines to Danish Air Transport, after securing competition clearance for the deal.

RYANAIR unveiled its 2019 summer

flight schedule for Germany with 24 new routes. In total, Ryanair offers more than 280 routes, connects 27 countries and transports 20m passengers pa from the 14 German Ryanair airports.

AIR FRANCE-KLM passengers car-

ried in Q3 were 28.5m, up 2.3pc. New CEO Ben Smith says the airline has 50pc too many managers and the Group needs to concentrate on developing its two core brands. Joon, Transavia and Hop are all confusing the brand for customers. He said CDG is not operationally efficient or productive and was “too peaky during the day.”

ALITALIA has received three takeover

offers as part of its latest rescue efforts, according to a company statement. The offers will be examined by Alitalia’s external administrators before being passed on to Italy’s ministry of economic development.

IAG‘s Willie Walsh said there was nothing new to report re its minority holding in Norwegian. “It’s not going to continue forever If we haven’t concluded arrangements by, certainly,

by August of next year, and probably before, we will not keep those shares.

AIR CANADA’s Toronto to Mumbai route will be closed at the end of the winter schedule.

MEXICO voted to scrap a partially-built

US$13bn new airport for Mexico City. 70pc of those who voted were against the New Mexico City Airport, but just 1.2pc of registered voters turned out for the referendum.

WESTJET CEO Ed Sims said the airline had returned to profitability in the third quarter despite continued downward pressure from the dramatic increases in fuel price and competitive capacity, and looked forward to the delivery of our first B787-9 Dreamliner in late January, and direct services in spring 19 from Calgary to Gatwick, Paris, and Dublin.

Ukraine tourism minister Volodymyr Omelyan and David O’Brien of Ryanair

Chic’n Kiev

Another Ryanair surprise route emerges for 2019

R

yanair has announced a new route from Dublin to Kiev, with a twice-weekly service commencing May 2 2019, as part of Ryanair’s Summer 19 schedule.

Ryanair’s Dublin summer schedule now includes 99 routes in total, with 11 new routes to Bodrum, Bordeaux, Bournemouth, Cagliari, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Kiev, London Southend, Lourdes, Luxembourg and Thessaloniki, which it believes will deliver over 16.4m customers through Dublin Airport next year.

It is the latest route between Ireland and the east, with Aeroflot re-

T

commencing direct services between Dublin and Moscow. Ryanair will operate to the city’s Boryspil International Airport.

Ryanair plans to invest $1.5bn in Ukraine in three to five years, expanding its fleet to 15 planes and passenger traffic to 5m people, Ryanair Chief Commercial Officer David O’Brien said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday. In the summer of 2019, we will open 22 routes from Ukraine.

There will be 11 countries, including four new ones,” Mr O’Brien said. As

well as Dublin, new routes include Manchester, Sofia and Paphos.

Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison said: “With a population of more than 2.8 million, Kiev is a major city in eastern Europe with an abundance of culture and history.

The new route will boost trade and tourism between Ireland and Ukraine and I have no doubt it will be popular route in both directions. We will work closely with Ryanair and its management team to promote this new route.”

CORK’S IMMIGRATION CRUNCH

he DTTAS Oxford Economics review of Irish airports says Cork needs improvements in immigration arrangements right away.

It says security queueing

will become an issue from the mid-2020s.

At Shannon, stand capacity is seen as becoming short between 2030 and 2035.

Space in the hall used

for passenger security screening is likely to be a constraint to adding additional x-ray lanes and may be already be causing capacity constraints from a crowding perspective.

The capacity of the reclaim belts will likely be exceeded by 2020.

DTTAS Oxford notes that these airports are open to more dramatic scale developments than Dublin.

RYANAIR GROWTH BACK TO 11pc

R

yanair reported 12.6m passengers on its own routes in October (up 7pc) plus 0.5m on Laudamotion, Group total 13.1m, up 11pc, with a seat factor of

96pc on Ryanair and 89pc on Lauda.

“During October, we were forced to cancel just over 300 flights because of a five day airport handler strike at Brussels Zaven-

tem, some adverse weather (winter storms) and continuing ATC staff shortages in the UK, Germany and France.

We operated over 71,400 scheduled flights

with over 80pc of these flights arriving on time, as Ryanair continues to deliver the lowest fares, with the best punctuality of any major EU airline.”

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 29

THE FLYING COLUMN AIR CANADA’s ex-Singapore A330-

300 aircraft will operate Montreal-Dublin route from 1June 15 2019, replacing a 737 MAX 8, with frequency reduced from 4w to 3w, with the prospect of a later starting date to the season. In the GDS, Lufthansa indicates codeshare partner Air Canada will operate A330300 on Vancouver-Dublin in summer 2019 season, replacing Rouge B767.

AERCAP CEO Aengus Kelly said We have now placed over 90pc of our order book to 2020. The three major markets of Europe, North America and China continue to perform well. Whilst there have been a number of smaller bankruptcy events in the last couple of months, such as Primera and Small Planet, these cases have been small in nature and reflect individual issues.

IAG CEO Willie Walsh has criticised gov-

Happier times: Sukhoi arrives in May 2016

Farewell Sukhoi

Cityjet plans to replace its Russian tech-plagued jet

C

ityJet and Brussels Airlines signed an agreement for early replacement of four Sukhoi Superjet 100 aircraft.

The Sukhoi SuperJet’s are being replaced by Canadair CRJ-900 and CRJ-1000 aircraft from Air Nostrum.

The aircraft will be on wet lease from CityJet until March 19, with four Bombardier CRJ900/1000 aircraft.

The first CRJ1000 aircraft was introduced on Brussels–Nantes service on November 1

In July 2018, Air Nostrum and CityJet announced to have signed a Heads of Terms with the aim to bring about closer co-operation between the two airlines under the umbrella of a new holding company. .

The remaining three will be introduced temporarily over winter 2018/19, with all SSJ100 aircraft to be phased out by end March.

A new two year Request for Proposals launched for wet leasing aircraft for Brussels Airlines’ regional routes is ongoing and is expected to

enter into effect from March 31.

In recent weeks, Brussels Airlines was forced to cancel a series of flights operated by ACMI-partner Cityjet as four of Cityjet’s six Sukhoi Superjet 100s were grounded at the same time.

The aircraft were flown to Venice, where the European base of Sukhoi is located. Sukhoi has very few spare parts available in Europe, which means that aircraft can remain AOG (Aircraft On Ground) for a long time.

IRISH SEA NEXT FOR HIGH FLYERS

T

he Irish Wingsuit Team was awarded the FAI “Group Diploma of Honour” for outstanding achievement in aviation sport.

Brothers Stephen and David Duffy from Rathcoffey, Co. Kildare and Marc Daly of Armagh were presented with Dip-

lomas.

The award was in recognition of their high altitude project during which they broke four World, three European and 23 National Records in April 2017. from an altitude of 34,400ft. Wearing custom made wingsuits and life support systems the team

reached speeds of 411.1 km/h and endured temperatures of -58°C, -115°C including wind chill.

The team are delighted that their success has been recognised at such a high level and to receive such a momentous award.

The team has also announced their intention to

glide from Ireland to England. They will attempt cross the sea in free fall alone using their wingsuits once again creating aviation history.

The team are currently actively seeking a commercial partner for this project

A

and T2 at Pier 5, catering/ cargo area with additional remote stands.

Some of these are west of the crosswind runway, reached by an underpass from the end of what used be Pier D. Daa has awarded the main construction con-

tract for Dublin Airport’s new north runway to a joint venture comprising Limerick-based Irish firm Roadbridge and Spanish infrastructure company FCC Construcción. The contract is for the design and construction of the new 3.1 km north runway

SMBC Aviation Capital announced that it

has established an operating company in Hong Kong, SMBC Aviation Capital Hong Kong Ltd. The aircraft leasing group has previously had a presence in the region through an affiliated company. “We remain fully committed to Ireland and maintaining our principal presence in Dublin which continues to serve our business and the industry extremely well, with a strong ecosystem, treaty network and other government support.”

APD The Westminster government announced another increase in its Air Passenger Duty a departure tax on the same day the country’s transport minister emphasised how important airports are to the nation’s future prosperity. APD for economy-class seats on long-haul flights—more than 2,000 miles—rise by £2 to £80 and on premium cabin by £4 to £176. The new rates take effect in spring 2020.

APD for short-haul flights will be frozen. APD is estimated to add £3.5 bn annually to the government’s coffers.

LITHUANIA-based Small Planet Airlines followed its German and Polish subsidiaries in filing for insolvency. Small Planet, based in Vilnius, claimed it recorded “a successful and profitable operational performance” this year.

CELLO Aviation ceased trading.

It had been operating a B737-300 out of Dublin for Topflight and TUI during the summer season.

It also operated an Avro RJ100 on behalf of at Dublin Airport.

Preparatory site works Air France regional operator Hop, It operated will begin immediately, the ex-Aer Lingus Commuter BAe146-200 and groundworks will start used for Britain Royal Visit to Ireland in 2011. in January. Construction of is to fly from East Midlands the new runway is due to RYANAIR to Shannon 2w seasonal from April 2019 be completed in early 2021 and commissioning will NOEL HANLON, former Board then take place.

Member of Aer Lingus and later Chairman of Aer Rianta, died in South Africa.

DUBLIN PLANS REMOTE STANDS

er Lingus told IAG Capital Markets day that the airline has a constructive engagement with daa which plans €1.7bn infrastructure development 2010-2024.

A Dublin Airport layout shows an extension to T1 in the older hangars area

ernment plans for a T3 at Dublin Airport, saying it is unrealistic to expect airlines to pay for something that is not needed. There is plenty of opportunity to exploit existing terminal facilities at Dublin Airport.The relationship between DAA, and Aer Lingus has been strong recently. There is a common agenda there.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 30

THE FLYING COLUMN SUBSIDIES The French department of Charente in western France ordered bailiffs to seize a London-bound Ryanair plane on the tarmac at Bordeaux airport in a legacy argument over repayment of state aid. Ryanair reportedly owes €525,000 to the department of Charente, a debt that dates back to the subsidies paid to Ryanair to provide flights from Angouleme airport to London in 2008 and 2009. Those subsidies were judged illegal by the European Commission in 2014. Ryanair was ordered by court to repay the €965,000 subsidies it received but had only stumped up around half the money.

QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce says the airline will choose between the A350-1000 and B777X within the next 12 months as partners for its non-stop Project Sunrise flights to London and New York. Regardless of the jet chosen to make 18-20 hour journeys, there is no longer an expectation that it will carry the airline’s previously-stated goal of 300+ passengers across four classes. “Our belief is [ultra-long-haul flights are] not going to be full passenger payload and freight, but there is sufficient capability to make it commercially viable.”

AER LINGUS

passenger traffic in Oct18 was 9.4pc up on Oct17 with passenger load factor 80.7pc, down 0.6 points. Cargo carried was up 35.7pc. For IAG as a whole, passenger traffic was up 6.6pc with a 6.2pc increase on International European routes and an 8.0pc increase on North American routes.

Group passenger load factor was 83.4pc, down 0.1 points.

QATAR IAG CEO Willie Walsh says

there is a real likelihood that the Qatar Airways’ CEO will follow up on his public statements and take the Doha-based carrier out of the oneworld global alliance. Walsh said that Al Baker has assured him that any changes in oneworld membership would not impact the relationship between IAG and Qatar Airways.

Under this relationship, IAG has sourced aircraft from the Qatar Airways fleet. Walsh said the two companies would continue to explore new ways of working together, regardless of alliance partnership or whether Qatar Airways continues to hold a stake in IAG.

EMIRATES reported 30.1m passengers, up 3pc and a drop of 86pc to $62m in profits for the first half of the 2018-2019 financial year, blaming higher fuel costs and currency fluctuations.

NORWEGIAN said it has carried

more than 100,000 passengers between Shannon Airport and the US since July 2017.

LAUDAMOTION

Technik, Vienna, received approval to offer B737 maintenance. It expects to get some work on Ryanair aircraft

AERCLUB A Dublin woman was named as the millionth AerClub member.

GAINJET Shannon-based GainJet is to add three more executive jet aircraft by yearend.

Bombardier CS300 at Dublin, by Michael Kelly

Northern woes

Belfast suffers as Bombardier 5-year plan goes awry

B

ombardier announced it is cutting its Irish workforce by 490 jobs in Belfast in a move to cut costs and improve efficiency as it tries to return the CRJ to profitability.

It said the move was to help ensure its long-term competitiveness.

The move is part of a previously announced overhaul that includes the sale of non-core assets and strategic actions to streamline the company and drive productivity n The sale of the Q400 Series aircraft programme and de Havilland trademark to a wholly owned subsidiary of Longview Aviation Capital Corp. for approximately CA$300m; and n The sale of Business Aircraft’s flight and technical training activities to CAE and the monetisation of royalties for approximately $800m.

Concurrently with the sale, Bombardier and CAE entered into an agreement to extend their Authorised Training Provider relationship whereby CAE will prepay all royalties under the agreement. Combined, the total value of both transactions is $800m, including $645m for the

sale of the training activities. Bombardier expects that these and other actions will result in a reduction of approximately 5,000 positions across the organisation over the next 12 to 18 months, The move and a drastic cut to Bombardier’s cash-flow forecast sparked Canada’s biggest sell-off in shares and bonds and undermined confidence in Bellemare’s five-year turnaround plan, which is more than halfway done and supposed to be entering a “deleveraging phase.”

Bombardier announced that Michael Ryan, who was previously Vice President and General Manager of Bombardier’s Belfast Aerostructures facility, will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer for Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering Services.

In a statement, Bombardier Northern Ireland said: “Following the global workforce adjustments announced by Bombardier Inc on 8 November 2018, we have reviewed our manpower requirements in Belfast and regret to confirm that we must reduce our workforce across the

company by 490 employees. We acknowledge the impact this will have on our workforce and their families and we continue to explore opportunities to help mitigate the number of compulsory redundancies. However, we need to continue to cut costs and improve the efficiency of our operations to help ensure our long-term competitiveness.”

Following the closing of the Airbus partnership on the CSeries aircraft program earlier this year, and the agreement to sell the Q400 program announced on 07Nov18, Bombardier says its full attention is turning to the CRJ program. Its focus is on reducing cost and increasing volumes while optimising the aftermarket for the approximately 1,500 CRJs in service around the world today. As it looks to return the CRJ to profitability, it will also explore strategic options for the programme, prompting speculation on another sale.

Bombardier has been away from commercial planes and placing its future emphasis on private jets and trains.

STOBART TO OPERATE CITYFLYER

S

tobart Air is leasing two additional, preowned Embraer 190s from Nordic Aviation Capital for three years to cover a new wet-lease contract with BA CityFlyer.

It replaces English regional carrier, Eastern

Airways, whose contract to operate several London City services for British Airways’ regional subsidiary has just ended. Stobart said this is a €36m investment in its fleet [!]. The aircraft will operate in BA CityFlyer colours, with

Stobart cabin crew in BA uniforms.

A BA CityFlyer spokeswoman said the first E190 would operate until the end of summer 2019 and the second would arrive in Jan19. “That provides capacity for us in advance

of us taking delivery of our additional four aircraft that will arrive next year,” she said. The carrier has four E190s scheduled to join the fleet in 2019, taking the total to 26 members of the Embraer E-Jet family.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 31

THE FLYING COLUMN ORIX

Aviation Systems announced that James Meyler will become the CEO of the Group succeeding David Power who is to become Chairman of ORIX Aviation Hong Kong and also join the Board of Avolon (Ireland).

CFO Marie-Louise Kelly will join the main board, and Paul O’Dwyer will be promoted to Chief Commercial Officer.

FLYBE reported seat capacity reduced by

Wow air at Keflavik, will its Airbus fleet now become Icelandair?

The Kef question

Iceland has 60 more T/A flights a week than Dublin

D

ublin’s trans-Atlantic offering may surpass Keflavik in summer 2019 as a result of the proposed takeover of Wow by Icelandair.

Departing transatlantic flights and seats for the week commencing July 31 were Dublin 238 flights 60,991 seats and Keflavik 298 flights 65,879 seats. Two-way transatlantic seats week from all Dublin carriers were Aer Lingus 61,500, Icelandair 60,900, WOW 48,000 Norwegian 125,000.

I

That week 3.35m seats were available between these regions, 5.9% more than during the equivalent week in S17. Delta Air Lines will offer the most departing seats by airline, while London Heathrow tops the airport rankings. Heathrow to New York JFK is the largest route based on available seats.

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines) occupy three of the top four spots in the transatlantic airline rankings. Between them they accounted for 23pc of all weekly

seats in this market during S18.

Delta is the single largest transatlantic carrier, accounting for 8.6% of the available weekly seats on its own. In all, five of the top 20 airlines.

Of the top 20 airlines in this market, six are members of the Star Alliance, five are members of Skyteam, three are members of oneworld and six remain unaffiliated (Norwegian, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Air Transat, Aer Lingus, Icelandair, and WOW air).

equivalent of 5.4pc of Icelandair Group‘s shares after the transaction, or more or less depending on performance. No cash payment.

While Icelandair concentrate on Boeing Wow concentrates on Airbus: n Icelandair: 4 B767300ER, 2 B757-300, 25 B757-200 passenger + 2 cargo, 3 B737-8 MAX. Mostly owned.

n WOW: 3 A320, 14 A321, 3 A330-300. On order 2 A330-900. All leased, main lessors: ALC, Avolon All of the sellers’ shares in Icelandair Group will be subject to restrictive covenants for 6 months and half of the shares will be subject to restrictive covenants to further six months. Both companies will continue to operate

under separate brands.

Their combined market share on the transatlantic market is around 3.8pc.

Icelandair Group‘s will hold a shareholders’ meeting on 30Nov seeking approval of the acquisition and the issue of shares for it and for Board authority to issue further shares in Icelandair.

DUBLIN AIRPORT SET FOR 31.38m

D

ublin Airport are on course for 31.38m passengers in 2018, up 6pc in the year to date after a record October, up 9pc to 2.8m, with trans Atlantic up 17pc, Europe up 9pc, Britain up 4pc, Africa/Asia up 19pc.

Of these 877,000 travelled on cross-channel routes, a 4pc increase, almost 1.5m on Continental Europe routes, up 8pc, almost 390,000 on transatlantic routes, up 17pc, and almost 83,000, up 19pc, on other inter-

national routes, Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific regions. More than 9,600 passengers travelled on domestic routes, a 21pc increase.

Dublin Airport has handled 27m passengers in the first 10 months of the

ISLE OF MAN The European Commission has launched infringement proceedings against the Isle of Man over what it says are illegal tax breaks given to some of the world’s wealthiest people over their purchases of private jets.

RYANAIR announced Berlin Schönefeld-Brno and Malta-Amman, both 2w from Apr19.

AER LINGUS cargo has grown

strongly in the recent months, although it is still much smaller relative to passenger traffic than is the case for BA or Iberia

AUSTRIAN Airlines will deploy four additional 76-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft at Vienna to strengthen its own route network.

NORDICA is to cease routes that the

ICELANDAIR’S WOW PLANS

celandair Group has entered into a share purchase agreement to purchase all shares in the airline WOW air.

The agreement is subject to approval by Icelandair Group‘s shareholders and the Icelandic competition authorities and a due diligence.

The shareholders of WOW air will, subject to conditions, receive the

9.0pc in the half year to September, delivering 5.24m passengers, an 8.0 points improvement in load factor to 84.0pc and a 7.2pc increase in revenue per seat to $60.18. Group revenue was down 2.4pc to £409.2m with adjusted profit before tax (excluding the revaluation effect of USD loans) up by £4.6m to £7.4m. The fleet at 30Sep was 54 Bombardier Q400, 11 Embraer E175, 8 Embraer E195 (of which 2 dry leased to Stobart Air) and 5 ATR 72 (wet-leased to SAS), total 78 of which 51 were on leases and 27 owned, partially funded by bank debt.

year, a 6pc increase. So far this year, the number of passengers connecting through Dublin Airport to another destination has increased by 18pc, with 1.6m sectors (800,000 passengers) generated between January and October.

current competition conditions render economically unviable

PORTUGAL approved a new model

for managing the allocation of slots at airports and thus hopes to avoid sanctions for violation of EU standards.

SWISS is to expand its partnership with

Helvetic Airways, and will deploy 8 Helvetic Airways Embraer E190-E2 aircraft or similar equipment on its route network from 2019 onwards under wet-lease arrangements.

TURKISH

Airlines in 2018 Q3 increased revenue by 9pc to US$3.9 bn with operating profit up 0.9pc to $896m. Passenger revenue per ASK was up 5pc (+14pc transatlantic, 7pc Europe, 17pc Africa, minus 12pc domestic). Cost per ASK was up 11pc (3pc excl fuel).

RYANAIR is again offering its B737700 with 60 seats for private charter.

FLYNAS (Saudi Arabia) CEO Paul

Byrne announced the end of his contract, effective 01 Nov18, and returned to consulting.

STANSTED Airport has been given

the go-ahead by the local council to raise the limit on passenger numbers from 35m to 43m.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 32

THE FLYING COLUMN AIRBUS is looking at taking the maximum take-off weight of the A321neo above 100t in order to extend its range beyond that of the new A321LR by another 700nm for an A321XLR, which might be just enough for Dublin-Seattle. It is at a technical studies stage rather than a business case. Lufthansa have led the feedback seeking the increase.

AER LINGUS v RYANAIR

Wilie Walsh told the IAG markets day that Aer Lingus with 32pc of passenger share at Dublin takes 31pc of Dublin revenue, Ryanair with 46pc of passengers and 27pc of revenue, others 22pc and 42pc.

LUFTHANSA is to add a third Munich-Dublin flight Mon-Fri next summer. It will night stop in Dublin.

RYANAIR is to fly a seasonal Dublin-Bodrum, 2w from May 4 2019 under the Turkey Ireland bi-lateral as it extends into the traditional charter territory. Ryanair fly Dalaman 1w and Aer Lingus fly Izmir 3w. At peak 114,000 Irish visited Turkey.

Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines: LA route likely to go through Lagos instead

Addis change

STOBART Group legal board room

battle began in London High Court. Stobart Air has carried 10m passengers on the Aer Lingus Regional service since it launched in 2010.

The Stobart Air franchise agreement with Aer Lingus expires in 2022. It has been seeking to have that contract extended to about 2025.

RYANAIR is to bring back four routes to Glasgow Airport. Services to Alicante, Brussels-Charleroi, Malaga and Warsaw will begin in April.

UNITED

Airlines will operate its newest B787-10 on six transatlantic routes from its New York/Newark hub: Frankfurt and Tel Aviv from 30Mar19, Paris CDG and Barcelona from 29Apr, Brussels & Dublin from 22 May. United’s 787-10 features 44 United Polaris business class seats, 21 United Premium Plus seats, 54 Economy Plus seats and 199 standard Economy seats.

ATLANTIC Aviation Group (Shannon) CAMO and Technical Services was granted ATR 42/72 approval from the IAA.

BREXIT Ryanair, IAG and EasyJet have asked the EU for a one-year moratorium on ownership rules that otherwise will force them to buy back shares held by English investors after Brexit.

ABL Aviation (Dublin) and SBI Group (Japan) signed exclusive partnership to offer aircraft investment opportunities to the Japanese investor market using JOL and JOLCO structures. SBI Group and ABL assume to raise this business to US$1 bn scale within two years. This new venture will focus on new and mid-life aircraft, both passenger and freighter.

RYANAIR is to open its first Spanish C-check maintenance hangar in Seville by end 2018.

JET Airways plans to sell 6 B777s in a sale and leaseback deal with aircraft lessors.

Ethiopian looks south as it drops Dublin-LA service

E

thiopian says that Dublin passengers to Addis and key onwards connections such as Cape Town, Johannesburg and Nairobi will not notice that the aircraft has a none hour stopover in Madrid.

Ethiopian’s Ireland manager Meseret Tekalign says connection times to destinations in johannesburg are improved by the new rout-

I

ing, which means Ethiopian will no longer serve Dublin to Loa Angeles.

Previous 50pc of the passengers on the trans-Atlantic route originated in Dublin.

From December 17, Ethiopian Airlines will operate Addis AbabaLomé-Los Angeles route, including 5th freedom traffic rights on LoméLos Angeles sector, the first non-stop

US West Coast link from Togo. The airline has its eye on the more lucrative Lagos-LA market.

This is over 1,000 st miles farther than via Dublin which will be replaced by Addis Ababa-Madrid-Dublin. Ethiopian’s Addis Ababa – Lome sector will increase from 4 to 7 weekly, including 4 weekly Addis Ababa – Lome – Newark route.

AER LINGUS A ‘VALUE CARRIER’

AG categorises Iberia & BA as full service carriers, Aer Lingus and Iberia Express as value carriers and Vueling and LEVEL as low cost carriers.

The group said Aer Lingus competes in a in frugal space in the US with a front cabin matches Norwegian. .

Stephen Kavanagh told

IAG Capital Markets Day that Aer Lingus’s additional A330s would be -300 size and expressed interest in a potential A32XLR. He did not indicate if the A330 would be new or used, owned or leased, neo or current models.

Aer Lingus overall fleet plans to grow from 55 aircraft to 66 in 2023. The

current fleet is 17 longhaul plus 37 A320/321, 2 Avro RJ85 and about 12 ATR 42/72.

Wlilie Walsh told IAG Capital Markets Day he was increasing longterm planning goals for 2019-2023 (previously 2018-2022): EBITDAR (operating cash generation) approx €7.2bn average pa (previously €6.5bn); aver-

age net capex €2.6bn pa (previously €2.1bn); ASK growth approx 6pc per annum (previously 5pc).

He said Vueling costs are 5-10pc less than Aer Lingus which is about the same as Iberia and BA; easyJet is a little below Vueling, Wizz 10-15pc higher than Ryanair.

DAA PROPOSES 3 T3 LOCATIONS

A

DAA review has identified three possible locations for a 20m passenger 60,000 sq metre T3 for passenger handling and aircraft stands and lists advantages and disadvantages of each: n Location 1: North-East of T1, currently occupied by maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities.

n Location 2: North-West of T1, a site which is also (relatively) straightforward to integrate with the rest of the airport but does not make an overall addition to stand capacity without the closure of the crosswind runway. Additionally, it has the complexity of taking account of the listed infrastructure in the area

and retaining T1 capacity with a T3 under construction n Location 3: West of the crosswind runway between the north and south runways. This is an unconstrained site where it would be easier, cheaper and less complicated to develop the core terminal and stands, assuming land

is made available.

Integration of T3 with the rest of the airport, roads for surface access, and MetroLink access would all be additional costs/challenges. The Review notes that closing the crosswind runway would help these issues but might incur other costs.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 33

TRAVEL WRITER AWARDS 2019

2002 winner Cleo Murphy with and Gerry O”Hare of Travel Extra

2003 winner Pól Ó Conghaile with tourism minister Seamus Brennan who presented the award

2004 winner Pól Ó Conghaile with Gerry O’Hare, Seamus Brennan and Michael Doorley

2005 winner Kathryn Thomas with Gerry O’Hare and James Malone

T

Getyourentryin forwriter awards

he Travel Extra Travel Writer of the year awards are now open for entries.

There are eleven categories and entries are invited to: Travel Extra Travel Writer awards, Limelight Communications, 60 Grand Canal Street Upper, Dublin 4.

Articles should be printed out in hard copy with contact details for the entrant. Final date is Friday January 4 2019.

The awards will be presented at a function in Thomas Prior House on Friday January 25 2019, during the Holiday World Show at RDS Simmonscourt.

Best Newcomer Journalist

sponsored by TUI Best Digital Media sponsored

by ClickandGo Best Broadcasting sponsored

by Insight Vacations/ Best Northern Ireland sponsored by Tourism Northern Ireland.

Home market (Ireland) story sponsored by Fáilte Ireland.

Best Adventure sponsored by UWalk.ie.

Best Skiing sponsored by Topflight & Gastein Tourist Board Austria Best Short Haul: sponsored by Sunway.

Best Long Haul sponsored by

Cassidy Travel.

Travel Extra Travel Writer of the Year (overall) sponsored by the Spanish Tourism Office (Ireland.

Previous winners of the overall award were: Previous winners of the overall award were: 2002 Cleo Murphy, 2003-4 Pól Ó Conghaile, 2005 Kathryn Thomas, 2006 Muriel Bolger, 2007 Philip Nolan, 2008 Pól Ó Conghaile, 2009 Mark Evans, 2010 Philip Nolan 2011 Isabel Conway 2012 Sue Morris, 2013, 14, 15 Pól Ó Conghaile, 2016 Isabel Conway, 2017 Yvonne Gordon, 2018 Mal Rogers

2006 winner Muriel Bolger with Stephen Rea who presented the awards 2011 winner Isabel Conway with Alex Incorvaja and Gerry O’Hare

2015 award winner Isabel Conway with Sharon Jordan of TTC

2007 winner Philip Nolan with Gerry O’Hare, James Malone and Alex Incorvaja

2012 winner Sue Morrell with Eoghan Corry, Gonzalo Ceballos and Alex Incorvaja

2016 winner Isabel Conway

2008 winner Pol O Conghaile with Gerry O’Hare

2009 winner Mark Evans with Eoghan Corry and Gerry O’Hare

2010 winner Philip Nolan with Lorraine Keane, Maureen Ledwith and Eoghan Corry

2013 winner Pól Ó Conghaile with Heidi Drummond of the Maltese Tourist Board

2017 winner Yvonne Gordon

2014 winner Pól Ó Conghaile with Victor Bonett of the Maltese Tourist Board

2018 winner Mal Rogers

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 34

GLOBAL VILLAGE SOUTH AFRICA Tolene Van Der Merwe director of South African tourism in London describes her commitment to the Irish travel trade in an interview at WTM, including more fam trips for agents.

CORDOBA is being tipped as the venue for the 2019 ITAA conference.

HAIKIKI in northern Greece is planning a fam for Irish agents on the back of the new 2w Ryanair route to Thessaloniki next spring. Halkidiki Tourism Organisation President Grigoris Tasios said at WTM: “A major interest for Halkidiki has been expressed here at the WTM expo from the Irish travel market.”

Thailand announced a waiver on the $60 visa-on-arrival fee from December 1 to January 31, for visitors from 21 countries.

FRANK TULLY the founder of Tully’s travel died last Saturday. Martin Skelly paid tribute to Frank Tully at the Worldchoice conference.

Dave Conlon of Travelport is to join WTC in January.

TURKISH Ireland’s senior Men’s team sponsor Turkish Airlines hosted the seventh annual Cricket Ireland awards at the No 6 Kildare Street College of Physicians. Ireland General Manager Hasan Mutlu said he was delighted to be handing over the prize for the men’s international player of the year to Tim Murtagh. Women’s winner Laura Delany will captain her team at the upcoming ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies TRAVELPORT became the first

GDS to offer NDC content on October 19 with a transaction made by an English agency, Meon Valley Travel, for a short-haul low-cost flight from London to Milan issued by a major European carrier. Travelport published a Roadmap for its initial range of NDC products in February, having been the first GDS operator in December 2017 to acquire Level 3 certification from IATA as an aggregator.

Inside the Travel Business

102 licenses

November licensing round sees foreign entities exit

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he Commission of Aviation Regulation says that 41 Entities exited the market in the November licensing round, which may be the last under current regulations.

Of the 112 which applied in the November round, 102 entities had received licences at the time of going to press. The Commission said 92pc of licenses were issued within two weeks.

The licenses were granted in a rapidly changing environment. Ireland is one of just two countries which has not yet signed the statutory instrument to bring the Package Holiday directive into effect. The directive was supposed to have been signed on July 1.

Transitional arrangement directive will apply from when the statutory instrument issues for new applicants and from the May 2019 round.

Already, of the entities established outside Ireland, 39 licenses were terminated or expired. Entities selling ex-Ireland must provide evidence of protection. Entities established in Ireland are given insolvency protection

Josephine O’Reilly and Gavin Lyons of the Commission of Aviation for any packages originating in other member states when they receive their license.

Jennifer O’Reilly and Gavin Lyons updated travel trade on developments at the Worldchoice Conference in Lyrath, Kilkenny.

Gavin Lyons outlined common mistakes in the licensing procedure: Management Accounts received with the application must be from date of last annual accounts to four

months prior to licence date, year end December n management accounts Jan to June. n capital injection ‘What if’ scenario n Borrowings all details and copies of letters from providers, overdraft, n loans must be provided. n Incomplete declaration sheet.

A question about whether the agent previously held a licence was found to be confusing and is being reviewed.

LISA HAMMOND will join Aer Lingus as business development manager within the leisure sales team on November 12, to work alongside Ivan Beacom to manage strategic trade partners, reporting into Andrea Hunter, Manager Leisure Sales. Lisa worked with both BMI and Etihad for many years.

NI AWARDS Donna Rooney from

TUI won the travel agent of the year award at the NI Travel Industry Awards in Newcastle, Co Down. Terra Travel won the Northern Ireland Travel Agent of the Year and Brenda Morgan won the overall award. Dougie Muirof Stewart Travel, Alyson McIlroy of Oasis Travel and Kerry Morrow of Thomas Cook were shortlisted in the travel agent category.

TOUR AMERICA Mary McKenna

of Tour America said getting to the Entrepreneur of the Year finals has helped put the travel trade on the map. Wife Stephanie Frame and Mary McKenna celebrate at the awards with Evelyn and Mary McKenna, sisters of the Tour America MD’s late father. Back row, Mary’s sister Geraldine Saunders, who is Tour Amer-

LEE TRAVEL SAVE HEFFERNAN’S

H

effernan’s Travel name is to continue its 90 year tradition of serving travel from Cork. Lee Travel are taking over the bookings of Heffernans Travel which ceased trading on Wednesday October 3 and reopened the business, after the creditor’s meeting has taken place.

Lee Travel have retained the staff at Heffernan’s including former manager Kieran Collins.

Suppliers have been asked to compile a listing of imminent bookings travelling in the coming weeks and for whom you have not received full payment as of yet so that Lee Travel can prioritise the administration of those bookings in order to minimise any disruption caused.

They have been asked to hold off cancelling any forward bookings unilaterally and if you absolutely have to, at least provide Lee

Travel with a grace period of a few days to facilitate them prioritizing the taking over of those same bookings.

Declan O’Connell, managing director of Lee Travel said: I have met with the liquidator and the staff and that went very well. The liquidator confirmed that I could not reopen the office until after the creditors meeting which is 18 Oct “I had a call with Cathy

Mannion in CAR last week and she is happy for me to continue with reference to the bond but I need to speak to them again today to clarify where I am with taking on forward bookings. My intention is to pay/charge all appropriate suppliers once I get the form signed. The Heffernans staff are preparing these files so I will know the extent of the situation.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 35

Inside the Travel Business

GLOBAL VILLAGE GLOBE Hotels in association with

United Airlines first three winners of a place on our Fam Trip to New York on 7th March 2019, Martin Dempsey of Dempsey Travel, Trim, Dympna Crowley of Lee Travel, Ballincollig and Gerald Rowland of Kilkelly Travel, Castlebar.

AWARDS Voting has opened for the

Irish Travel industry awards on January 24 at the Mansion House, Dublin..

CANTABRIA Teresa Gancedo Nieto,

Brian Ormond, Mary King, Carol Ann e O’Neill and Worldchoice chair Martin Skelly

Tale of a big year Worldchoice agents now have turnover of €300m

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ast month’s Worldchoice conference in Lyrath, Kilkenny was the consortium’s first major event since Worldchoice united with Travel savers last January.

Carol Anne O’Neil told the attendance of 150 delegates and 80 suppliers that Worldchoice now has a presence in 68 locations and employs 550 people. Turnover is in excess of €300m.

“We have seen overrides to members increase, Worldchoice saw strong growth in cruise, traditional tour operating and accommodation only.”

“But 2018 was not without its challenges. January and February were strong booking months. The snow came in March and the country went into lockdown with airports closed for days on end, causing major disruption to your customers. . back to

back bank holidays at St Patrick’s Day and Easter took us into May. and in June the sun came out and the sun never came in. Ryanair strikes and ATC strikes caused further disruption but what has been clearly visible is the reliance of everyone in this room.”

Worldchoice already had the highest turnover of an agency consortium thanks to the membership of Ireland’s largest travel agency, Club Travel.

NICOLA CHURCHILL INTO WIN-A-CAR FINAL

N

icola Churchill from Best4travel was the September finalist in the Blue Insurance car competition. She is now in with a chance to win a Toyota Yaris hybrid from Toyota Sandyford.

She follows previous finalists Margaret Kilduff of Joe Walsh

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Tours, Toni Fennell of Abbey Travel, Karen Thornton of KT Travel Dundalk, Theresa Davey from Mackin Travel Wexford, Sharon Fleming from Thomson Travel Lurgan, Elaine Harding of the Garda Holiday Club, Douglas Hastings of Travel Counsellors,

Yvonne O’Donohue from O’Donohue Travel Gorey, Catherine O’Dwyer from Michael Bowe Travel and Lisa Sprake from Oasis Travel.

Every Blue Insurances policy sold each month automatically generates an entry in the monthly draw.

Fund is complete.

They say stage two will commence when the Statutory Instrument is issued and will focus on the detail of the specific scheme to

CROATIA Tours hosted 40 trade and

media to a 2019 brochure night - with the lure of Croatian wine. Croatia Tours’ Sharon Wall said there’s lots of flexibility for holidaymakers, with the option of flying in via its dedicated service to Split, and out of Zagreb with Croatia Airlines, creating longer or shorter trip durations. City breaks to the capital are also on offer, along with exclusive, smallsized cruise trips.

WENDY WU’s John Booty flew a trade group via Dubai with Emirates to Beijing. They have already taken in the key sites of the Chinese capital, visiting the likes of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China itself, where the group were pictured this week.

AER LINGUS named the winners

of its trip or treat agent-booking competition. Josie Carrigy of Arrow Tours won the trip prize - two seats to anywhere on the airline’s European Network. Aer Lingus deckchairs were won by Lisa Warren, Killiney Travel; Darren Yeates, Midland Travel; and Yvonne Larkin from Strand Travel.

PATA Following a successful series of roadshows in Ireland, the Pacific Area Travel Association is considering launching an Irish chapter.

CLASSIC COLLECTION

Nicola Churchill

TRAVEL PROTECTION OPTIONS

he Commission of Aviation Regulation says that stage one of the review of bonding arrangements and the Travellers’ Protection

director of the Spanish Tourist Board in Dublin, hosted a pipe band and representatives from Cantabria to Dublin, in association with Ryanair, now flying year-round to Santander.

The Managing Director of the Cantabria Tourism Board, Eva Bartolomé, told the trade and media that although it occupies just 1pc of Spain’s land mass, it is a region of mountains, two Camino trails and ancient cave art. It is also the birthplace of Spanish tourism, with the country’s royal family kicking off the boom by taking their holidays in Santander.

be implemented.

Next step is to n decide between business specific and risk assessed bonds, n finalise a definition of

licensable turnover n Introduce a levy or use the Travellers’ Protection Fund to purchase insurance against failures

Niall McDonnell’s Classic Collection has released its Italy 2019 brochure. It is also launched a competition to win a place on the VIP fam trip to Lisbon on March 31, to celebrate the launch of the TAP service from Dublin to the Portuguese capital. Each month from November to March 2019 one agent will be selected to join the trip, which will feature five-star hotel accommodation from the Classic Collection. Agents who make a Classic Collection Holidays booking will be automatically entered into the monthly draw.

TOPFLIGHT launched its group ski trips, with a series of trips for January-March, including a Patrick’s Day party on the slopes.

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 36

WINDOW SEAT

Rising high in Scotland and a hot spring in Rotorua, two favourite destinations for Simon Eaton, Ireland country manager of TUI

Busman’s holiday: Simon Eaton Every month we ask a leading travel professional to write about their personal holiday experience. This month: Simon Eaton the new country manager for Ireland of TUI.

I

grew up in the North of England and my earliest holiday memories are with my parents and siblings putting all our camping equipment in the car and driving up to Scotland .

We would spend the drive reading through the campsite guide trying to decide where to go - of course the usual lively debates as we all disagreed as to what we needed in any given location.

Scotland has amazing countryside, beautiful lochs and some rugged mountains. I remember walking up Ben Nevis and constantly thinking that at each turn we would be at the top.

It feels like we explored lots of the lowlands and some of the highlands of Scotland all 5 of us in a fairly standard ridge tent with myself or my sister in the bell-end of the tent sleeping around the pole because we were the shortest.

The smell of cooking on camping gas still evokes strong memories of happy times playing outdoors, freedom and the fun that comes with camping when you are young. Being able to help out cooking because it was more accessible (ie

T

lower) than our cooker at home and even washing up and using the toilet block all seem glamorous when you are young.

My first overseas holiday was to France and we sometimes camped there, We also stayed in a gite, once.

This particular gite was a very odd shape, almost pyramidal which made for some bizarre room layouts. I loved walking to the shop, practising my French and enjoying the simple pleasures of French bread and cheese to help replace the energy that we used up playing every sport going.

These holidays are probably what instilled my love of France and I ended up living in the French Alps for 16 years. I loved walking and running in the mountains, pushing myself until I could run up further and further -if not necessarily faster and faster - where the air is clean and the stars shine brightly.

It felt like just being there made me healthier and happier and I must admit that I still miss the mountains now that I have left them behind for a more urban life.

Before my daughter came along a holiday was very much about getting a flight to somewhere with everything I needed in my rucksack, just travelling

around on local buses each day to get to, well wherever really, and then looking for a hostel, hotel or even just a horizontal surface to sleep on (sand, concrete, wood it feels like I tested my sleep mat on all of them).

However that less structured approach doesn’t work so well with a family so more recently we have spent time exploring the TUI Sensatori range of hotels. Our favourite is the Sensatori in Tenerife. My daughter loves the Playhouse live entertainment each evening, whilst I sit at the back of the theatre enjoying a drink and my book or just laughing at all the fun and energy going on at the front. She also loves all the various pools and given her way would spend all of the day in any/all of them until she turns as blue as the skies above us.

We also make sure that we get a family ski holiday each year especially since leaving the mountains I think I have fallen even more in love with skiing.

I am quite competitive and when living abroad always wanted to be as good as the locals. I know now it’s clearly silly and I have accepted that I am not brilliant which means I can enjoy what I can do (including falling over) rather than worrying about what I can’t.

I equally don’t worry about which run I do because at its heart skiing does a good job of getting the adrenalin going and making you smile no matter what

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

he financing and leasing of aircraft is a peculiarly Irish business largely invented

by Tony Ryan. It was he who, in the 1970s sent an Aer Lingus 747 to Air Siam during the lean winter seasons.

Irish firms manage in excess of 5,000 commercial aircraft, worth over $130bn, half of all leased planes and a quarter of global fleet.

Lessors were once thought to be used by struggling African airlines

unable to get bank loans, now virtually everyone leases planes.

Previously, airlines owned all their aircraft. Leasing allows them to expand or contract fleets without taking on debt. Only 2pc of aircraft were leased in 1980. Now over 40pc are All but one of the world’s 15 largest aircraft lessors have operations here. The question for 2019 is whetehr we can keep that lead. .

Michael O’Leary calls it the

bullsh*ers Ball, but even he must be impressed by the turnout, with 4,500 airheads, lessors and bankers. They will hear about Dublin’s advantages.

Dublin has a ready supply of workers already trained to manage and finance aircraft. It is home to the international registrar of aircraft that enables owners to gain swift repossession of their aircraft if an airline defaults. Leasing ain’t mocving anytime soon.

level you are at. My daughter loves skiing as well and has inherited my competitive gene so watching her try to better the others in her class can be most insightful.

As I have skied in many of the resorts in France it can be hard not to go back to what you know, but last year we stayed in the Hotel Jaegerwirt in Kitzbuhel over New Year and went to the resort’s big New Year event including a torchlight descent and firework display.

Over the week we also saw the stands being set up for the World Cup race down the Hahnenkamm and made sure to enjoy racing down the same piste if at slightly slower speeds than the racers do.

But the favourite place I have ever visited was New Zealand. I loved its mountains and countryside of course. I loved the easy way it is to travel there, to explore each new town and spending time in its vibrant, clean cities.

I loved the hot spas in Roturua and the pies in many locations that sustain you through your day and I love the people, so friendly and yet so competitive because they love their sport which leads to many lively conversations when out and about.

New Zealand is a land of so much variety that it almost reminds me of many of the places I have lived, visited or stayed in all wrapped up in one country.

IN YOUR NEXT TRAVEL EXTRA: Available to Travel Agents or online January 14 2019

HOLIDAY WORLD ISSUE WHERE WE WILL GO IN 2019 ROUTES AND OPTIONS

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 37

MEETING PLACE

h ife Gregg of United wit Martina Coogan and Ao Canada, Worldchoice Air Blaithin O’Donnell of Lyrath, Kilkenny Ireland Conference at

Ciara Mooney and Ela ine Travel , at Travel Centr O’Hagan of Freedom es conference in Fota

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Helena Croiwley of Heffernan’s Travel, Emma Dinan of Douglas Travel and Marike Nolan of Douglas Travel at Travel Centres conference

John Spollen of Cassidy Travel president of the nette Taylor of SunITAA, Pat Dawson CEO of the ITAA, Martin Skelly Tom Bell of Bedsonline, Jea ice Bedsonline, Worldcho of Navan Travel, Worldchoice Conference way, Robbie Smart of ny ken Kil , ath Lyr at ce Ireland Conferen

and Frances Leahy of Michaela Cullen and Jean Cusack of Icon Travel Emma McHale of Hertz Ireland Conference at at Travel Centres ice cho rld Wo , vel Tra ller Ke Lyrath, Kilkenny

John Booty of Wendy Wu Travel Centres and Pa ,, Dominic Burke of ul Travel Centres confer Manning of Hertz, at ence in Fota, Cork

Leila McCabe of TUI/M are Markey of Crystal, at Tra lla Cruises and Orla vel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Noel Kavanagh of Accident & General,Michelle Ryan of Royal Caribbean and Katie Noviss of Seabourn at Travel Centres conference in Fota

Shane Coburn and Da vid Travel, Worldchoice Ire O’Hagan of Donabate land Conference at Lyr Kilkenny ath,

d Travel Corporation an nCharlie McNally of The Co d lan Ire ice cho rld Wo Alanna Byrne of MSC, ny ference at Lyrath, Kilken

Sinead Murphy of Hertz Luke Clarke of Silversea and Craig Donnelly of andon Travel and Maura and Stephen Sands Michael Doorley of Sh rldchoice Ireland Confer- Accident & General at Travel Centres conference Riviera Travel at Tra vel Centres conference of Fahy of Fahy Travel, Wo in Fo ta, Co in Fota, Cork rk ny ence at Lyrath, Kilken

Kathryn MacDonnell of The Spanish Tourist Board and Alexis Bull of James Villas at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Audrey Headon of Headon Representation, Richard Cooper and Sarah redman of Carefree Travel Worldchoice Ireland Conference

rey, O’Donohue Travel Go of n Yvonne O’Donohue of nto De ry Ma Travel and Pearse Keller of Keller land Conference Ire Sunway, Worldchoice

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 38

MEETING PLACE

Out and about with the Travel Trade

Travel and Karen Thorn Pamela Brownlee of Flyaway Travel, Andrew Darina McKeown of KT Centres conference in Lynch of Travel Advisors and Ciara Mooney of vel ton of KT Travel at Tra Freedom Travel, at Travel Centres conference rk Co ta, Fo

Dawn Nolan of O’Leary The Travel Corporation Travel, Brian Hynes of and Jane Nevin of Arr ow Tours, Worldchoice Ire land Conference

and Abbey Travel Killarney Kate McGillycuddy of Travel Naas, Worldy Fiona Cluskey of Abbe ce at Lyrath, Kilkenny ren nfe Co d lan Ire ice cho

Eileen Penrose of APG Air Martin Penrose of Ifonly line Business and , at Travel Centres con ence in Fota fer-

Mark and Donna O Gorman with Brigid and Paddy Hayes of Bowe Travel, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork

Airura Maloney of Dublin Brenda Thoms and Ma Conference at Lyrath, d lan port, Worldchoice Ire Kilkenny

Fiona Flaherty and Ca rol Noel Kavanagh of Accident & General,Lorcan Travel, Worldchoice Ire ine O’Toole of Fahy land Conference at Lyr keegan and Faye Barzou of Ethiopian Airlines nd Kil ath, kenny Ian Manto of Harvey Travel, at Travel Centre

Dermot Merrigan of Irish Ferries, Pat Dawson CEO of the ITAA, Olwen McKinney of Amadeus, Ciaran Mulligan of Blue Insurances,

an Bowe and Catherine Ry Catherine and MIhcael Centres conference in vel Carol Anne O’Neill of Worldchoice, Dermot Merof Bowe Travel, at Tra rigan of Irish Ferries, Olwen McKinney of AmaFota, Cork deus, Teresa Gancedo of the Spanish TB

Sinead Davy and Paul Hartnoll of Icon Travel , at Travel Centres confer ence in Fota, Cork

Maura Doran, Dawn No lan and Linda Kehoe of O’Leary Travel, World choice Ireland Conferen at Lyrath, Kilkenny ce

Amanda Neeson of O’Hanrahan Travel, Graham Hennessy of DSD and Mark Clifford of O’Hanrahan Travel at Travel Centres conference

and Margaret Roper of ce Carrie Day of Intrepid choice Ireland Conferen Grenham Travel, World at Lyrath, Kilkenny

John Barrett of Magic Va Crowley and Rosemary cations with Dympna at Travel Centres confer O’Connell of Lee Travel ence in Fota

ht, Ivan Beacom of Maurice Sheils of Topflig Ireland Conference at Aer Lingus, Worldchoice Lyrath, Kilkenny

JANUARY 2019 PAGE 39

Out and about with the Travel Trade

rke Strand Travel, Nicola Yo Thomas O’Donohue of Strand Travel, Shannon Valentina D’INgiani of at ce ren nfe Co Ireland O’Dowd of Etihad, Marek Maslowiec of Classic of Justsplit, Worldchoice Resorts, Worldchoice Ireland Conference Lyrath, Kilkenny

Emma McHale and Pa ul Manning of Hertz, at Travel Centres confer ence in Fota, Cork

ay, David O’Hagan of Jeanette Taylor of Sunw e McFadden of Costa din Donabate Travel, Geral Conference at Lyrath, d Sal, Worldchoice Irelan

Michelle Ryan of Royal Ca Brownlee of Flyaway Tra ribbean and Pamela vel, at Travel Centres conference in Fota

and ms, Siobhan Dinneen Kerry McCarthy-Willia Travel, Travel Centres e Le Declan O’Connell of rk conference in Fota, Co

Michelle Cullen of Icon Tra of Airline Sales & Marke vel and Alan Sparling tres conference in Fota, ting/SAS, at Travel CenCork

Joanne Madden and Riona McGrath of Travelport, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath, Kilkenny

MEETING PLACE

Ger Dinan and Marike No at Travel Centres confer lan of Douglas Travel, ence in Fota, Cork

bed and Ciara Manning Lee Osborne of Booka Centres conference in vel of Best4Travel, at Tra Fota, Cork

James Moore and Angela Day of Affordable Car Alan Sparling of Airline Sales & Marketing/SA Hire, at Travel Centres conference in Fota, Cork Valerie Murphy of Celebrity Cruises and Mic S, hael English of Celebrity Cru ises at Worldchoice

Linda Kehoe, Maura Doran and Janet Cahill of O’Leary Travel, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath, Kilkenny

land LIngus, Worldchoice Ire Andrea Hunter of Aer Kilkenny Conference at Lyrath,

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eeny Tours and Deirdre Sw Ben Greene of Arrow ce at ren nfe Ian Collins and Thomas O’Donohue of Strand Co d lan Ire ice Worldcho Travel, Worldchoice Ireland Conference at Lyrath, of Sunway, ny Lyrath, Kilken Kilkenny