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Carnival Corp maintaining commission tiers
Carnival Corp’s North American brands to maintain commission tiers through 2023
MIAMI — To wish travel advisors a very merry holiday season, Carnival Corporation has announced that it will maintain current commission tiers earned through 2023.
The offer applies to the company’s five North American brands: Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn. All five lines had previously announced that commission tiers would be maintained through 2022.
Commissions are typically commensurate with sailed booking volumes per line. With this new announcement, the five brands are ensuring that travel advisors continue to earn commission at their current rates for the next two years, without their commission percentage changing.
“The Carnival Corporation family of great cruise lines stands together in our commitment to support our travel advisor partners as our industry progresses to the full return to guest service,” said Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation. “In honour of the holiday season where we take the opportunity to think about all that we’re grateful for, I speak on behalf of each of our entire team when I say that we truly appreciate our continued partnership with the travel advisor community.
“We are maintaining commission tiers through 2023 as one more way to thank them for their support over this last year, by providing peace of mind and confidence knowing their efforts will be compensated at the rate they have worked so hard to earn.”
WestJet’s new Calgary-London (Heathrow) route starts March 26, 2022
CALGARY — WestJet has more route details about its new nonstop service to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) from Calgary.
Flights on the new route, first announced last month, are set to operate four times weekly starting March 26, 2022. Tickets are now available for sale.
Heathrow-bound flights from Calgary will operate Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from March 26 - Oct. 28, 2022.
On the return leg, flights will depart Heathrow on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, from March 27 - Oct. 29, 2022.
Katina Athanasiou is Silversea’s new Senior VP of Sales
Silversea Cruises has announced Katina Athanasiou as its new Senior Vice President of Sales, effective Dec. 1. With cruise industry experience that spans 21 years, Athanasiou most recently served as Chief Sales Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line where she developed, implemented and led profitable business development strategies. At Silversea, she will report directly to Mark Conroy, Managing Director, The Americas. “I am delighted to join Silversea Cruises during this exciting period as we optimize all channels towards te company’s long-term growth,” says Athanasiou. “With its aggressive shipbuilding program and leadership position in luxury and expedition cruising, this is an incredible time for our guests and travel advisor partners. I am thrilled to return to the luxury cruise space and look forward to engaging with all internal and external stakeholders to deliver and unlock deep, meaningful experiences in luxury travel.”
With the addition of Heathrow to WestJet’s network this spring, WestJet will connect Calgary to 77 nonstop destinations throughout the year.
WestJet will also continue to offer nonstop flights between Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax to London, Gatwick.
“As the airline with the most flights from Alberta, this is an important recovery milestone as we forge new connections between Canada and one of the world’s most sought-after global hubs,” said John Weatherill, WestJet Chief Commercial Officer.
“We continue to strengthen our network, offering more options for business and leisure travellers and these investments will expedite our industry’s recovery while ensuring Western Canada builds back from the pandemic more connected than ever before,” he added.
The route will operate on the airline’s 787 Dreamliner. WestJet’s 787 service features the airline’s Business Cabin including lie-flat pods, dining on demand and elevated Premium and Economy Cabin options.
SVG welcomes back Canadians
TORONTO — St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) has welcomed back Canadians with the resumption of nonstop flights from Toronto with Air Canada.
The flight service, which kicked off Dec. 6, will operate weekly and depart Mondays onboard Air Canada’s mainline 737Max.
“We are very excited to welcome back our Canadian friends after such an extended absence and are delighted with the return of Air Canada’s nonstop service from Toronto to St. Vincent,” said Glen Beache, CEO of the St. Vincent and the Grenadine Tourism Authority (SVGTA). “Air Canada was the fi rst North American carrier to operate fl ights here and they will once again be instrumental in increasing visitation.”
In other news, SVGTA recently relaunched its website, which now features a completely revamped look, feel and functionality designed to enhance the user experience.
NEW ENTRY PROTOCOLS In preparation of the return of tourists, the government of SVG has released updated COVID-19 protocols. Fully vaccinated travellers must arrive with proof of vaccination and a negative PCR test completed no more than 72 hours, or three days before arrival. These travellers will not be retested during their stay, now will they have to complete any mandatory quarantine upon arrival. Those arriving via cruise ship are subject to separate protocols. Go to DiscoverSVG.com for more information.
NEW YORK — American Express Global Business Travel is going public via combination with Apollo Strategic Growth Capital.
The combination of GBT, the world’s leading B2B travel platform, and APSG is expected to create the world’s largest publicly traded B2B travel platform, which will list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Becoming a public company positions GBT to accelerate its existing growth strategy, while providing additional investment capacity and fl exibility to create more value and choice for customers, according to the company.
“Becoming a public company will be a historic milestone on GBT’s growth journey,” says Paul Abbott, GBT’s CEO. “Commitments from new investors like Zoom, Sabre, Apollo, Ares and HG Vora are a huge vote of confi dence in our business and the future of business travel, and meetings and events. We expect that becoming a listed company will give us the additional investment capacity to strengthen our commitment to providing unrivaled value, choice and experiences to our customers and partners.”
Communications platform Zoom and GDS Sabre are among the investors. Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg said: “We are thrilled to invest in GBT and look forward to working with their talented team as they strive to deliver innovative and engaging virtual, face-to-face, and hybrid meeting and event experiences. Companies are increasingly looking for experts and best-in-class technology solutions for meetings and events in the new hybrid world, as evidenced by the demand for Zoom Events.”
“Our companies share a relentless focus on the customer experience, and we are excited to leverage our Zoom Events solution to collaborate with GBT to bring unmatched meeting services to businesses of all sizes around the world,” she added.
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