Top Headlines

TUI Travel expects online to account for half of 2014 bookings, to generate £1.8 billion in turnover

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 10 April 2014 10 April 2014

TUI Travel, the London based tour operator, expects online sales will hit 50% of total sales this year, worth £1.8 billion in turnover, Travel Weekly reports in a daily newsletter.

The company is a major retailer of cruises and owns Thomson Cruises that operates five ships on the British market.

A quarter its bookings in the first quarter of this year came via tablets or smartphones, the company has revealed. This represents a 78% increase in bookings made from mobile devices between January and March last year. In the same period, 49% of total web traffic came through smartphones.

TUI UK and Ireland managing director Dave Burling said: "This shows the investment we have made in these devices. Customers want to research these holidays on the devices of their choice."

Burling added: "We have got a huge online business. This January we had half a million browsers of our hotel videos on our website; this gives you an indication of the scale of the business.

“The biggest trend online has been the move towards developing sites which can work not just on desktops but on tablets and smartphones. We are continually looking at investing in this business and in terms of the quality and service we give,” he was quoted as saying.

Explorer to join Voyager and Radiance of the Seas in Australia and South Pacific for winter 2015-16 season

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 08 April 2014 08 April 2014

Royal Caribbean International today announced that Explorer of the Seas will join Voyager of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas for the winter 2015-16 season at Sydney. Royal Caribbean’s winter 2015-16 Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific season will open for reservations on April 29, 2014.

From November 2015 through April 2016, Explorer of the Seas will primarily sail 11- and 14-night New Zealand cruises, with up to seven ports of call in the South Pacific country, while Voyager of the Seas will sail 8- to 12-night South Pacific and Fiji cruises, all round-trip from Sydney.

During its inaugural Australia season, Explorer of the Seas also will offer 3- and 4-night cruises in November 2015 and in February and March 2016 for vacationers to sample one of the world’s largest and most innovative cruise ships. During its third consecutive winter season, Voyager of the Seas also will sail a 13-night South Pacific and New Zealand cruise on Nov. 5, 2015, which will call at Bay of Islands and Auckland in New Zealand, as well as a 7-night Tasmania cruise on Nov. 28, which will feature an overnight at Hobart, as well as call at Melbourne, Australia.

For its part, Radiance of the Seas will offer vacationers a variety of itineraries to the South Pacific and Fiji, New Zealand, and throughout Australia. Vacationers can choose eight- to 14-night South Pacific itineraries from Dec. 2015 through Jan. 2016, or circumnavigate Australia in November 2015 and from late-February through March, 2016 – each comprising a 16-night New Zealand and southern Australia sailing from Sydney to Perth (Fremantle), followed by a 16-night northern Australia and Bali cruise back to Sydney. Radiance of the Seas also will sail four- to seven-night Tasmania cruises, departing Dec. 11, 2015, and Feb. 18 and Mar. 28, 2016, and a 10-night Queensland cruise, departing Feb. 8, 2016.

Vacationers also can chose among a wide variety of sailings that span distant regions as part of each ship’s repositioning. Explorer of the Seas will take guests on a 10-night Singapore to Perth itinerary, departing Nov. 3, 2015, followed by a 16-night southern Australia and New Zealand cruise that arrives in Sydney on Nov. 29 for an overnight stay. The ship reverses these itineraries at the end of the season, departing from Sydney on Apr. 12 and from Perth (Fremantle) to Singapore in late April. Voyager of the Seas also will reposition between Singapore and Sydney on 14-night northern Australia itineraries on Oct. 22, 2015, and April 16, 2016, with the former featuring an overnight in Singapore.

Alternatively, Radiance of the Seas’ trans-Pacific crossing will combine Hawaii with Australia or Canada on a 10-night Hawaii cruise from Vancouver, B.C. and subsequent 18-night, trans-Pacific itinerary to Sydney, departing Sept. 11 and 21, 2015, respectively. A return trans-Pacific cruise will sail from Sydney to Hawaii on Apr. 3, 2016, followed by an 11-night Vancouver-bound sailing on Apr. 20.

AIDAprima delivery to be delayed

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 08 April 2014 08 April 2014

The delivery of AIDAprima, the first of two 124,500 gross ton cruise ships AIDA cruises in Germany has on order at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, will be delayed, AIDA Cruises said in a statement.

“Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) asked us for more time to complete the construction of AIDAprima. Although we regret these circumstances they are nothing unusual for the construction of prototypes. With AIDAprima we will receive something very special – the prototype of a whole new AIDA generation,” AIDA said.

"Our highest aim is to build a ship that will delight our guests with its product innovation, a top quality and more service, even if we will receive it now later than originally planned. We have informed all guests who have already booked a trip with AIDAprima in the premiere season, and of course offered them attractive alternatives."

The ship was due to enter service in June 2015.

“Our highest aim is to build a ship that will delight our guests with its product innovation, a top quality and more service, even if we will receive it now later than originally planned. We have informed all guests who have already booked a trip with AIDAprima in the premiere season, and of course offered them attractive alternative,” the company said.

AIDA Cruises is part of Carnival Corp & plc group.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. promotes Adam Goldstein to President and COO

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 07 April 2014 07 April 2014

Adam Goldstein has been named president and chief operating officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., the company announced today.

Goldstein, a 25-year company veteran, had spent the previous 12 years as president and CEO of the company's largest cruise line, Royal Caribbean International.

"Adam has played a key role in growing Royal Caribbean International, step by step, into a global leader. In the course of doing so, he has become an impressive leader in his own right," said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "In this new role, Adam will be able to put his broad worldview and strategic insights to use leading our varied cross-functional teams."

As well as working with Fain on the company's strategic direction, Goldstein's portfolio will include Human Resources, Information Technology, Supply Chain, Corporate Communications, Safety & Environment, Government Relations, Guest Port Operations and Commercial Development. "We believe that it's important for our brands to have their own personalities and business plans," Fain said. "But it's also important to pursue best practices, and to make sure that the insights we learn within individual lines can be applied to the entire company's benefit. When we do that, we are a stronger business," Fain said.

Goldstein said he was looking forward to the challenge.

"Royal Caribbean was a five-ship company when I arrived here, and today we are many times larger than that," Goldstein said. "We now have more than 60,000 employees taking our guests to every continent of the world, as well as the most technologically advanced ships at sea. The opportunity we have is to take even greater advantage of our global scale and knowledge, while delivering the guest satisfaction that helped us grow to where we are today."

Goldstein begins his new responsibilities immediately, Fain said. A search for a new leader for the Royal Caribbean International line is underway. In the meantime, Goldstein will assist with transition while he also takes up his new responsibilities.

"Today's announcement underscores the strength and stability of our company and its depth of leadership talent," Fain said. "We believe our strategy of appealing to vacationers around the world, matched with our commitment to innovation, safety and sensible growth, positions us well for the future. I am pleased to have Adam bring his skills to bear on bringing this strategy to life."

Goldstein joined the company in 1988, and served in a number of positions before taking the helm of Royal Caribbean International, including Senior Vice President, Total Guest Satisfaction; Senior Vice President, Marketing; and Corporate Secretary to the company's Board of Directors.

Goldstein is a member of the Washington-based Energy Security Leadership Council. He served on the board of the Travel Industry Association of America (now the U.S. Travel Association) from 1993 to 2012, and is a member of the advisory board for Our Kids, which is engaged in foster care and related services for Florida youth.

Goldstein graduated with honors from Princeton University. He also has a law degree from Harvard University and an MBA with distinction from the French business school INSEAD. Goldstein and his wife have two children and live in Coral Gables, FL.

UPDATED: Scanship Holding to go public in Oslo, raise at least NOK80 million

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 02 April 2014 02 April 2014

On 8 April, Scanship said it had sold 26.0 million shares at NOK3.20 each. Trading in them would start on the Oslo Axess market on 11 april.

Scanship Holding ASA plans to list its shares on the Oslo Axess market and raise at least NOK80 million by selling 31.25 new shares to investors.

The Norwegian waste processing and water purification specialist said in a statement its current shareholders have agreed to sell another 31.25 million shares in the company in the offer, which it expects to be priced in the bracket of NOK3.20 to NOK4.00 per share. The current shareholders can sell a further 15% of the number of new shares in case there is strong demand for the offer.

The company expects trading in its shares to commence on or about 11 April.