Viking^® has revealed plans to add 10 new Viking Longships to its river fleet. Eight of these vessels will navigate the popular routes along the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers, while two will join the Seine River. This expansion includes a Longship for the Seine, announced in February 2023.

The construction of Read the rest of this entry »

Scott Austin had been with his host agency for only six months when things started to go wrong. A former hospital CFO, he signed up with Pinnacle Travel in 2022, and immediately immersed himself in learning about the industry first-hand. He traveled extensively with Pinnacle owner Annaliza Proctor to places like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, and quickly came to consider her a “very, very good friend.”

When his first commission check failed to appear, he let it be. The second time, though, he called the supplier—and was told they had sent the money to Pinnacle 45 days earlier Read the rest of this entry »

Travelers knew Wednesday was going to be a mess at the airport—but they didn’t plan on the extra stress of pro-Palestine protesters blocking the access roads as well.

More than 60 protesters were arrested after two separate demonstrations closed roads leading to JFK and LAX airports, backing up traffic and forcing some travelers to get out of their Ubers and walk to the terminals.

No flights were delayed at either airport.

In New York, Port Authority Police officers arrested about 25 demonstrators who blocked traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway near the Terminal 4 exit for about 20 minutes at 11 am, and about 35 protesters who tried to block Century Boulevard near LAX with traffic cones, trash bins, scooters and debris, at about 9:30.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey dispatched two buses offering rides to travelers involved in the backup to allow them to reach the airport safely.

A few days earlier, a multi-car caravan blocked roads to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago.

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department accused protesters of throwing a police officer to the ground and “attacking uninvolved passerbys in their vehicles,” without providing further details about either incident. Traffic was impacted for about two hours.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, protests have broken out in cities across the United States. In New York, pro-Palestinian organizers protested events, including the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the annual tree-lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center.

At a news conference on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “I don’t believe that people should be able to just take over our streets and march in our streets. I don’t believe people should be able to take over our bridges. I just don’t believe you can run a city this complex where people can just do whatever they want.”

American Cruise Lines is pleased to announce that it has five more new ships under construction, all scheduled for delivery over the next two years. These are in addition to the three ships the Line took delivery of this year. All five ships will be for the U.S. market and will include a mix of American Riverboats and Coastal Cats. The new ships will further American’s expansion on the coasts and renew its focus on the Mississippi and Columbia Rivers, where the Line’s acclaimed modern riverboats lead the U.S. market.

American Cruise Lines has specialized in river and small ship cruising for over 50 years and has ordered the vast majority of all American-built cruise ships during that time. The company operates the only fleet of 100% U.S. registered riverboats and cruise ships in the world.

“The new contract is an exciting expansion of the American Cruise Lines fleet,” said Charles B. Robertson, President & CEO of American Cruise Lines. “After several years building the coastal fleet, we are once again ready to begin building out the U.S. River cruise capacity.”
The new ships will be built by Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, MD; more details, including schedules, will be available in Q1 of 2024.

About American Cruise Lines:
American Cruise Lines is the largest small ship and river cruise operator in the U.S.A. The company’s award-winning ships offer luxury experiences in 35 states that explore the history, spirit, and culture of the United States. The Line’s rapid introduction of new ships has led to an innovative array of new itineraries, amenities, and experiences. In 2024, American will operate 19 ships, each accommodating just 90-180 passengers, which cruise more than 50 domestic itineraries.

To blatantly state the blinding flash of the obvious, another year has come and is nearly gone. What you did or did not accomplish in the year 2023 is now yesterday’s news. I’m sure you have a few things you can be proud of… and a few more things you wish you had addressed.

But as the British duo Chad and Jeremy reminded us in song back in 1964, Yesterday’s Gone, “But that was yesterday, and yesterday’s gone.” Read the rest of this entry »

Always have a Plan B, travel advisors say. Pack your patience—and when you’re sailing the Atlantic in December, bring along some Dramamine too. But no amount of planning would have been enough to make my ill-fated cruise on MSC Meraviglia work last week. In the end, it was travel insurance that saved the day for me.

Keith Baron, former president of Abercrombie & Kent, joined Perillo Tours as chief operating officer a little over a month ago. Baron will lead the day-to-day operations from the home office in Saddle River, N.J., and report directly to Steve Perillo, the president and owner of Perillo Tours. Baron was in his first month at Perillo when I ran into him and Stephen Perillo at the USTOA conference this month.

Stephen Perillo seemed almost giddy with Baron joining Perillo. “The spiritual part is changed instantly,” he said, “the feeling. And he’s a hit in the office. You’d never know because there are 50 people in the office. You bring in someone new, and you don’t know who’s going to like whom. But everyone loves Keith. Everyone.” Read the rest of this entry »

MSC Cruises today welcomed its fifth US-based ship, the Fantasia-class MSC Divina, to her new homeport in Miami.

Beginning this weekend, MSC Divina will sail a variety of itineraries to the Caribbean, Central America—and Mexico—including 3-day trips to Nassau and MSC’s private island at Ocean Cay; 7-night trips that include Isla de Roatan (Honduras), Belize City (Belize), Costa Maya and Cozumel (Mexico), George Town (Cayman Islands), Ocho Rios (Jamaica), Nassau and Ocean Cay; and 11-night voyages that include Montego Bay (Jamaica), Cartagena (Colombia), Puerto Limon (Costa Rica), Isla de Roatan (Honduras), Oranjestad (Aruba), Cozumel and Ocean Cay.

A limited-time flash sale this weekend will give potential sailors a chance to try the ship, or any MSC ship sailing from Miami or Orlando, at reduced prices starting at $109. Trips must be booked by December 18.

Introduced in 2012, MSC can hold up to 4,345 passengers and 1,388 crew members. There’s a 4-D theater and four pool areas, including a 22,507-square-foot Aqua Park, as well as eight restaurants, 12 bars and lounges, an MSC Yacht Club with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a Thermal Suite.

Also sailing the Caribbean will be MSC Seascape, Seashore, Seaside, Meraviglia and Magnifica.

South America also will have six ships this winter: MSC Grandiosa, Seaview, Preziosa, Musica, Lirica and Armonia, sailing a series of itineraries to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

MSC also will have a winter presence in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, North Europe, Asia, and South Africa.

The Lufthansa Group will be among the first carriers to return to Israel, with fights resuming on Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, Brussels and Eurowings airlines beginning January 8, 2024, the company announced on Friday. Bookings are available beginning today.

But US-based Delta Air Lines extended its suspension of flights to Tel Aviv through March 29 at the earliest.

The carriers halted service due to the Israel-Hamas war, which began October 8th. Delta previously flew to Ben Gurion Airport from Atlanta, New York and Boston.

“Delta is continuously monitoring the rapidly evolving security environment and assessing our operations based on security guidance and intelligence reports, including the most recent U.S. State Department travel advisory,” the airline said in a statement. “Our hearts are with all who are impacted as our people work to find safe alternatives for customers.”

Lufthansa will return to Tel Aviv on January 8, 2024, with four flights a week from Frankfurt and three from Munich, and Austrian and Swiss will provide 13 weekly connections.

“Safety is always the top priority for the Lufthansa Group airlines,” the company’s statement said. “The Lufthansa Group continues to closely monitor the situation in Israel and is in close contact with local and international authorities. Possible flight-plan adjustments must be expected as conditions change.”

Since the war began, almost all flights in and out of Israel have been on Israeli carriers El Al Israel Airlines, Arkia and Israir.

Last month, Delta and El Al requested authorization to extend their codeshare services beyond the United States and Israel, to include destinations like Sharm El-Sheikh, Frankfurt and London.

Lufthansa, Swiss and Eurowings also last week resumed flights to Beirut, Lebanon. Meanwhile, Etihad and Fly Dubai fly daily to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

• Flights to Beirut, which had also been suspended, were resumed on Friday by Lufthansa, Swiss Airlines and Eurowings, the airline added in a statement.
• Flights to Israel will be available for booking starting on Monday, Dec. 18, Lufthansa said.
• Air France-KLM, British Airways owner IAG , Ryanair and EasyJet did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on whether they would also resume flying to Israel. (Reporting by Paolo Laudani and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Sarah Marsh and Jan Harvey)

I want to end this year by thanking our readers and sponsors for their support with one of my favorite columns.

Raise your right hand if you have ever had a problem client, the type of individual that made you reconsider your entire career as a travel professional. Keep your hands raised. Now, raise your left hand if you currently have a problem client. Even at this distance, I can see most of you have both hands in the air. Go ahead and lower your hands, you are going to need them to assist some of these clients to the door. Read the rest of this entry »

When developing a game plan for growing your business, it is only natural to begin looking for new prospects in new opportunities.

The truth of the matter—you already have a boatload of names for you to begin reestablishing a relationship with at once. I’m talking about former clients who you are no longer doing business with.

The reason you don’t try to approach these former clients usually has something to do with the fact that you think you did something wrong along the way Read the rest of this entry »

You don’t necessarily have to love a niche to build a great business around it, says Corey Hargarther of Dream Vacations. You just need a great group leader and a unique spin that differentiates you from the competition.

That’s been Hargarther’s plan for his board gaming cruise group, and it’s working. Meeples at Sea, which began with 20 inside cabins on a four-night Carnival cruise out of Jacksonville, has grown to 60, mostly in balcony rooms, on Celebrity Apex.

“It’s not as much about finding a niche that appeals to the masses as it is finding some sort of differentiator Read the rest of this entry »

Britton has been learning quite a bit about trip insurance. You’ll find her articles at this link. I recently reached out to Suzanne Morrow, Senior Vice President for InsureMyTrip.com to ask a couple of questions.

1. What are the top three coverages that a U.S. traveler to Europe would want in trip insurance?

Travel insurance isn’t one-size-fits-all. Every trip is different, and every traveler has different needs and concerns. With that said – if an American is traveling out of the country, we recommend they consider emergency medical and evacuation coverage. Most domestic health insurance, including Medicare, will not cover medical bills overseas. Read the rest of this entry »

Kathmandu is a word that is almost synonymous with “exotic.” Part of that sense of exoticism comes from the mystery of being so far away, and largely unexplored by Americans. I count myself in that group. And yet the sound of that word “Kathmandu” is so enchanting, it seems to beckon one to come find out what it’s all about Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a crazy December for travel advisor Debbie Sebastian, with sales up 30% over last year in what typically is a slow month. So, when a client demanded an immediate answer to her request for an Iceland itinerary, Sebastian turned to her new assistant, Toby, for help.

“Toby, I need you to write me an itinerary for Iceland that involves less than three hours of driving each day and includes the following list of activities and sites,” she said. In 30 seconds, it was done; Sabastian double-checked it for accuracy, found “it was nearly perfect,” and sent it off to the client.

To Sebastian, in that moment, the fact that TobyAI isn’t human mattered not one bit. The travel-industry-specific version of ChatGPT does what she asks, when she asks for it—and in many cases, better than Sebastian could do it herself.

After a year or so in development at a sister company to Travel Research Online, Arqiteqt Software, Toby AI made a big leap this week when it was chosen by Travel Leaders Network to be offered to its 5,700 agency locations across the United States and Canada. A version of ChatGPT designed specifically to support travel advisors, it can craft itineraries, draft bios for agent profiles, compose letters and emails for clients, create engaging social media posts, and generate travel images through DALL-E 3.

“We’re very, very busy, but I don’t want my social media algorithms to fall off, so I utilize Toby a lot for posts,” Sebastian said. On a recent Virgin Voyages trip, she told Toby, “I swam with sharks and had Virgin’s great food,” and Toby created an amazing post. “I tweaked it, added some personal touches, and in 10 minutes it was post-ready.” She’s also using it to create customized “bumpers” that add the agency’s information to the beginning and the end of the videos in the Content Portal’s library.

Toby’s also a big help for writing quick emails and ad taglines, she says. “We all can use the ads from suppliers, but they all look the same. Toby gives it a personal perspective – you can set the settings on the tone to humorous or diplomatic; I just asked it to write some ‘humorous, casual and inspiring’ tag lines about escaping winter—and in 30 seconds, it came back with six lines like, ‘Turn winter blues into ocean hues with Thomas Travel Inc., let’s plan your sunshine getaway.’”

For Travel Leaders, “AI is not a fad; it’s a huge opportunity to help our members jump-start their marketing and be more efficient,” says VP of Loyalty Marketing Jim Nathan. “It will take a lot less time to do social media and itineraries—and allowing travel advisors to spend more time selling to prospective clients and servicing existing clients means ultimately they will sell more of our preferred suppliers, so all of us will benefit.”

Travel Leaders research found that less than 20% of travel advisors are using the new crop of artificial intelligence tools at all, Nathan said. And TobyAI is backed by live support from Voyager Social, TRO’s AI company.

“As far as we know, no one in our competitive space is doing this,” he said.

From a tech perspective, Toby AI “pulls on multiple large language models provided by the big players like Open AI, but we’ve trained it with additional knowledge and fine-tuned it specifically to help travel advisors in a wide array of tasks,” says Toby’s developer Ryan Earls. “And over time, we are increasing that to include doing proactive things for you on the Internet at large. We’ll slowly add services like posting on social media, sending an email, or building a full itinerary with photography and videos. So basically, we provide structure for the different tasks a travel advisor would want to do. Toby AI pulls information from approved sources we’ve set up and goes out to the larger Internet if needed.”

Because it can handle multi-step tasks, you could tell it to write a blog post, generate some hashtags, and write a short snippet to publicize your blog post on social media, all branded to your agency. The system also has access to AI-generated images like the ones on this page.

Travel Research Online has been creating tech tools and websites for travel advisors for more than a decade and closely monitors what

they need and want, he said. About a year ago, he and Voyager Social president Richard Earls decided AI was “functionally useful and economically available” enough to integrate into a product to simplify the workflows of travel advisors. “Toby is not ChatGPT,” said Richard Earls. “Toby is trained in travel, remembers the brand voice of the agency, and there is ongoing training and support. Our support team is on hand to assist with any problems. In addition, we have no fewer than 3 different AI models, including Open AI, Anthropic’s Claude2, and Google’s Palm.”

No one gets into the business of selling travel because they love posting on Facebook,” Ryan Earls says. “We wanted to remove the boring parts of running a travel business and let advisors get back to the parts they love.”

Rather than AI bringing more power to the big players like Expedia, Toby AI allows smaller agencies to compete on a new level “because now they can generate content and interact with a multitude of different platforms at the speed of a large company, and still retain the personal connections they have. It makes them more powerful than ever,” he said.

About 700 Travel Leaders advisors attended a three-hour live training session on Toby AI earlier this month; that content is still available in the TL training library, along with a 102-page guide.

Travel Leaders is offering TobyAI to its members at a discounted price; normally, it’s $450 a year or $45 a month, but there are promo codes available from existing subscribers that bring those rates down, basically providing a month for free along with a 7-day Free Trial.

Travel Leaders Network advisors will soon be getting a travel-oriented version of  Artificial Intelligence, thanks to a new collaboration with Travel Research Online (TRO).

Travel Leaders’ parent company, Internova Travel Group, is a “big believer that Artificial Intelligence can be helpful when creating marketing materials and can improve efficiencies for members so they can concentrate on selling and serving clients,” Internova’s chief partner marketing officer Stephen McGillivray said in a press release announcing the partnership.

While nothing will ever replace the human expertise of travel advisors, AI can streamline work and help advisors run their agencies, McGillivray said. “We’re always looking for ways to innovate, and this tool does exactly that.”

An industry first, Travel Research Online’s “TobyAI” is a revolutionary artificial intelligence engine TRO designed specifically to support travel advisors. It allows travel advisors to easily craft itineraries, draft bios for agent profiles, compose letters and emails for clients, create engaging social media posts, and generate travel images through DALL-E 3.

“TobyAI is my new best friend,” said Debbie Sebastian, a Travel Leaders Network member who has been beta-testing the product. “TobyAI can take care of tedious tasks and frees me up to spend time on building my business. As a travel advisor, it is my role to build rapport with clients, understand their unique preferences, and provide thoughtful recommendations.”

Using TobyAI enables travel advisors to spend more quality time with clients and access resources to create custom travel experiences, she said.

While TobyAI rolls out across the 5,700 Travel Leaders travel agency locations across the United States and Canada in the next few weeks, Voyager Social, the TRO division behind Toby, trained three Large Language Models supporting the artificial intelligence resident in the system in the travel industry. TRO’s artificial intelligence engineering team is headed by Ryan Earls.

TRO president Richard Earls says the company is already working to expand its capabilities and integrate new features that will further streamline the travel advisors’ daily workflow.

Watch for updates on the technology and the people behind it here on TRO.

As a nation, we are a jaded lot. From Willy Loman to the used-auto hucksters in countless movies, the public in general holds sales people rather low on the scale of esteem. Indeed, most of the people you encounter are so afraid of being “sold” something that they refuse to speak with salespeople when they enter a store or walk onto a car lot. “I’m just looking” is used as the warding spell against the salesperson, and woe to the one who persists beyond that point.

Most travel consultants share this cultural bias against “sales.” Ironic, isn’t it?

Read the rest of this entry »

Looking back over the past few months, I find myself smiling at the many household accomplishments I have made. I will be quick to admit that many of these have spent a long time in the “incubation” stage much to the chagrin of my wife.

It seems I can overlook things needing attention far faster than my wife. I trust I am not the only husband who can identify with this apparent “flaw.” In any event, the summer of 2023 was the year I scratched off a slew of items from my “To-Do List.” Read the rest of this entry »

Guess what time it is, folks? Drumroll, please! It’s that magical time of the year when I officially declare a ceasefire against my overflowing inbox and chaotic calendar. After a year of sprinting ahead like a caffeinated squirrel, it’s finally time to hit the brakes. Some say there’s no such thing as a vacation in our industry, but I call their bluff! I’m outta here! Read the rest of this entry »

Coming summer 2025, Royal Caribbean’s third-in-line new ship, Star of the Seas, today is officially on sale. Bookings are expected to break records, as did those of Icon of the Seas when it went on sale in 2022.

The icon-class beauty will sail seven-night itineraries from Port Canaveral (Orlando) alternating to the eastern and western Caribbean—including Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis; Cozumel, Mexico; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; Roatan, Honduras; and San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a stop at Perfect Day at CocoCay Its inaugural cruise will sail on August 24, 2025.

By the time the ship sails, CocoCay will offer its newest attraction, its first adults-only oasis, Hideaway Beach (opening January 2024), with a private beach, pools and cabanas.
The first Icon-class ship, Icon of the Seas, will debut in January 2024. In a hint at what’s to come on Star of the Seas, Royal Caribbean said there will be a beach retreat, a resort escape and a theme park adventure, across eight neighborhoods including Thrill Island, Chill Island, AquaDome and the popular open-air Central Park. There also will be four signature stages – air, ice, water and theater – and a lineup of activities for adults, kids, and teens.

There also will be cutting-edge entertainment, including a towering waterfall in the AquaDome, skaters performing against a digital backdrop in Absolute Zero, and Broadway shows on the main stage.

Other Icon-Class highlights on Star will be the Category 6 waterpark, with six waterslides, and Crown’s Edge “part skywalk, part ropes course and part thrill ride.” There will be seven pools, including a swim-up bar and a one-of-a-kind infinity pool suspended 135 feet above the ocean. The Surfside neighborhood is being designed for young families, with “new experiences that will be revealed at a later date.”

As far as design, Star of the Seas is expected to look much like its sister, Icon of the Seas—currently the largest cruise ship in the world. With 20 decks and 2,805 staterooms, it holds 7,600 guests and 2,305 crew. Star’s Orlando-based itineraries will provide an alternative to Miami-based Icon.

It was a Latin-style celebration in Miami last week, as travel partners, travel press and the greater Norwegian Cruise Line family—including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. president and CEO Harry Sommer, NCL CEO David Herrera and new SVP of North America Sales John Chernesky, who joined the team in April—gathered for the official christening of Norwegian Viva.