News in brief
News in brief:
MSC Cruises executive chairman Pierfrancesco Vago is to speak at the CLIA Conference, which will take place in Southampton in April. Vago will join Holland America Line president Orlando Ashford and Steve Born, chief marketing officer at Group Voyagers, which markets Globus brands such as Avalon Waterways.
The Lufthansa Group and Amadeus have renewed and expanded their longstanding technology partnership. Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines and Air Dolomiti will continue to use the Altéa Passenger Service System (PSS) to manage reservation, inventory, ticketing, disruption management at the airport and departure control.
Red Funnel Ferries has appointed Leanna Lakes as operations director with immediate effect. She joins from Condor Ferries where she was head of safety and compliance for the last three years.
Emerald Waterways has removed the single supplement on five cabins on six sailings in Europe, which will save solo travellers up to £2,670. The offer applies to selected ships and sailings throughout the rest of 2020.
The River Cruise Line has been re-named and re-branded as Arena River Cruises, bringing it into line with the rest of parent company Arena Travel’s portfolio, ahead of the start of the 2020 cruising season. The move comes almost exactly three years after the river cruising specialist was acquired by Ipswich-based Arena Travel.
Research carried out on behalf of ABTA shows that 83% of managers think that membership of the travel association is important when they select a travel management company. Companies with an annual turnover of £50-99.99 million especially value ABTA membership, 92% stating that membership was very important or important when selecting a TMC. Some 86% of managers at larger companies said ABTA membership was important.
Research from Expedia Group revealed that more than two million UK holidaymakers plan to take a wellness trip over the next 12 months. Wellness tourism is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 7.5% over the next two years, considerably faster than the 6.4% growth estimated for overall tourism. By that date, it is predicted that 1.2 billion wellness trips will be taken annually.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airbnb eyes a loyalty program but details remain under wraps
Air Mauritius reduces frequencies to Europe and Asia for the holiday season
Major rail disruptions around and in Berlin until early 2026