Cruise agency claims rise in post-ash crisis bookings
Tuesday, 29 Apr, 2010
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Independent cruise agency Cruise118 claims to have seen a 200% rise in bookings in one week since the volcanic ash cloud that left hundreds of thousands of travellers stranded.
The company saw a “high surge” in bookings in the days after aircraft were grounded, 85% of them through ex-UK cruise brand, sailfromuk.com.
Company director Mal Barritt, who was stranded in Portugal with his family for more than a week, said: “I’ve definitely got mixed feelings about the ash chaos – personally it was a nightmare. But as a business, we’ve really been able to turn the negatives into positives.
“Feedback from customers has been that holidays are so precious, especially with the economy in the state it is, that they really don’t want to risk anything ruining their one break of the year.
“Even as the dust settles and things get back to normal with flights, there are still a lot of unsettled travellers out there who don’t want to risk getting stranded again.”
He added: “Since we launched Cruise118 in 2008 we have realised that being able to take situations and find a positive is the key to surviving difficult times.”
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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