The American Economic Liberties Project released its white paper on how to fix the airline industry in late January. It was co-written by Ganesh Sitaraman of Vanderbilt University, author of Why Flying is Miserable and How to Fix It, and William McGee, author of Attention All Passengers: The Airlines’ Dangerous Descent and How to Reclaim Our Skies.

The paper is called “Economic Liberties and Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator Release Blueprint to Fix the Airline Industry.”

I was able to talk to William McGee recently, and that’s an accomplishment itself, because it seems lately that nearly everyone wants to hear what he has to say about the airline industry. And that fact itself points to a sea change Read the rest of this entry »

“We see the future and we think this is the right focus—and obviously, we want to secure the spots before our competition does,” Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. president and CEO Harry Sommer told investors on a call announcing the biggest ship order in its history this morning.

Betting big on the next decade of big-ship cruising, NCLH announced orders for eight new ships across its Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, plus the construction of a multi-ship pier at Great Stirrup Cay. The new build order will add nearly 25,000 berths and new classes of ships for each brand over the next decade. Beginning in 2026, NCL will add four Prima-Plus class ships, each holding about 5,000 guests; Oceania Cruises will add two Allura Class ships holding 1,450 guests, and  Regent Seven Seas Cruises will add two Explorer Class ships, each holding 850.

By 2036, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. plans to grow its fleet by more than 40%, from the current 32 ships, with approximately 66,500 berths, to 45 ships with more than 100,000 berths.

“This strategic new-ship order across all three of our award-winning brands provides for the steady introduction of cutting-edge vessels into our fleet and solidifies our long-term growth. It also allows us to significantly leverage our operating scale, strengthen our commitment to innovation, and enhance our ability to offer our guests new products and experiences, all while providing opportunities to enhance the efficiency of our fleet,” Sommer said.

NCLH is “super-passionate about delivering a great guest experience; it’s something we talk about a lot internally. We have lots of ships, we know what guests enjoy, and we are super-focused on delivering on those.” With Breakaway Plus and Prima, “we think we can take the best of both and create something that’s really world-class.”

These are not jumbo ships or incredible jumps in size, he noted, but NCL thinks they will make it possible to focus on costs, increase efficiency and “give our guests a great product that they will enjoy.”

About $150 million worth of work on the pier at Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas will allow for two ships to park simultaneously. It is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by late 2025. The new pier will be constructed to accommodate two large vessels of the company’s current and future ship classes. Only a small piece of the island currently is being used, Sommer noted on the investor’s call this morning, and guest counts to the island are expected to grow over 50% in the first 12 months. In a typical 12 months about 400K guests so about 600K starting in 2026.

NCLH CFO Mark A. Kempa said the ships are expected to “secure our growth trajectory, significantly boost our earnings profile, and enhance shareholder value well into the future. With a favorable payment structure that includes pre-delivery financing and modest initial installment payments for these ship orders, we still anticipate a strong Net Leverage reduction of 1.5 turns by the end of 2024, relative to 2023, and expect the Company to continue reducing Net Leverage each year for the foreseeable future.”

“We really want to build something special and there’s a tremendous advantage to designing things so many years ahead. We’re not going to settle; this product will be truly extraordinary, and we are going to take the time to deliver it right,” Sommer said.

Before elaborating on this most important topic, I would like to get something straight right from the git-go. If you are currently playing a role in the travel industry, you are probably up to your eyeballs in competitive situations along with a whole boatload of problems, issues, decisions, and challenges that affect your future well-being. Summing up this conundrum in a single word, I welcome you to the zany world of entrepreneurship Read the rest of this entry »

As we navigate through 2024, the travel industry landscape continues to evolve rapidly. We need to adapt or die as an industry.  And for the life of me, I do not understand why some agents can’t see this.  I am not sure how, but last week I stumbled upon an agency website that offered this cringeworthy message on their front page! Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to Dubai, where tradition meets innovation, offering a blend of old-world charm and modern sophistication. Join AmaWaterways on a journey to this dynamic city, before or after your Secrets Of Egypt & The Nile river cruise Read the rest of this entry »

Amsterdam — It’s always fun to usher in springtime with a Tulip Time cruise to Europe. And there’s something extra special about being on the very first sailing of river cruise season, as my husband and I were, with a group of top travel advisors aboard the Avalon Panorama in Amsterdam.

Off a red-eye that landed at 6 a.m., we arrived in time to watch the Panorama glide up the river and into the harbor in the early morning light. We were the first couple onboard the newly refurbished ship, a charter by Oasis Travel Network for its annual Member Appreciation Cruise. Instead of having to wait for the previous group cruisers to disembark, we boarded at 9:30. By 10:00, we were sound asleep in our stateroom Read the rest of this entry »

Type “world’s greatest city” into Google and what do you think will come up? Guess. If you guessed New York you would be correct. It’s the answer you will get from the overwhelming majority of people. There are many great cities in the world, many larger than New York, many older, many that have their own distinguishing features that New York does not have. But when you say “world’s greatest city,” most people will think of New York, and for good reason Read the rest of this entry »

I was recently reminded of this sage advice when I came across a travel-related Facebook post while doing some research for an upcoming presentation. This particular “poster” was venting to some degree relaying to anybody who would listen (read) how unfair life was as she muddled through this particular situation from hell with the client from hell. That was two “hells” in the same sentence so no wonder this post caught my attention Read the rest of this entry »

Viking® today announced its newest ship for the Nile River—the 82-guest Viking Hathor—was “floated out,” marking a major construction milestone and the first time the ship has touched water. Set to debut in August 2024, the Viking Hathor will join the company’s growing fleet of state-of-the-art ships for the Nile River and will sail Viking’s popular 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary Read the rest of this entry »

In a major merger that underscores its faith in business travel, American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT) is acquiring CWT in a $570 million deal.

Amex GBT is the world’s largest travel management company, with 20,000 global customers and about $2.5 billion in annual revenue from travel, expense, meetings and events software and services. Its longtime rival CWT is expected to generate about $850 million in revenue in 2024, for a combined revenue of more than $3 billion.

In an investor call, Amex GBT CEO Paul Abbott said that “global business travel spend represents a large under-penetrated opportunity of $1.4 trillion in 2024. So we see significant opportunity to continue to drive share gains and growth.”

CWT’s 4,000 clients will help Amex GBT penetrate industries like energy, media, entertainment and sports, life sciences, and defense and government, Abbott said, and grow its reach into small- and medium-sized companies, which make up about 35% of CWT business.

The company noted that CWT clients will gain access to Amex’s professional services, including travel and expense software, meetings and events services, consulting and sustainability solutions.

CWT CEO Patrick Andersen said joining forces with Amex GBT “helps accelerate our vision of a tech-enabled future for business travel, where people and technology combine to deliver an exceptional customer experience.”

This is Amex GBT’s third huge acquisition in five years. It acquired Hogg Robinson Group for $575 million in 2018, and Expedia’s corporate Egencia business in 2021.

CWT is a private company, majority owned by funds affiliated with Redwood Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital.

My first interview with Lisa Watson went great. She was easy-going and her dedication of work to the creation of FyndTravel was obvious. However, a dead computer on my end took all text and recordings with it to the scrapyard. Chaos happens, I suppose.

We tried again and, as expected, I found the conversation just as enjoyable and informative.

Lisa started our conversation by pulling up a screen share Read the rest of this entry »

Amidst the hullabaloo over its use of Boeing jets, United Airlines this week is rolling out two programs that reach out to its customers.

If you are the kind of flyer who checks every day to see if a better seat is available for your upcoming flight, you’re going to love the first one: United’s app as of March 22 will do the work for you. On selected flights, when you book a seat, a pop-up will ask if you’d like them to keep searching for a better one—perhaps on the aisle or in an exit row—and if so, will notify you if one becomes available.

For now, the program is being tested on particularly full flights in which only a few middle and back-of-plane seats are available. But if it proves successful, United hopes to roll it out across most of the fleet.

There are apps available that will do something similar, but United is the first airline to offer it to customers.

And all those currently booked in middle seats are cheering them on.

Also new is a change to the MileagePlus frequent flyer program that allows groups of up to five people to share miles.

MileagePlus members age 18 or older can invite up to four other members of any age to contribute miles into a pool that can be used to purchase tickets. There is no limit to how many miles can be contributed to the pool.

“We’re always looking for new ways to provide the most value to all of our loyalty members,” said MileagePlus chief operating officer Luc Bondar. “MileagePlus miles pooling further reinforces United’s position as the leader in family and group travel and gives our members more flexibility to use their miles, while making it easier to connect to the destinations and moments that matter most, with the people that matter most.”

Every book ever written on sales has a detailed chapter outlining the steps and apparent benefits of “closing the sale.” Ever sales manager promoted to the corner office reminds his team that they need to “close” more sales before the quarter’s figures are tallied.

Next to overcoming objections and up selling, closing is a very popular topic in the world of sales these days. But, could there be a better way? I believe there is. The answer? Opening Sales Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been at a lot of travel agency and press conferences since the year began, and heard a lot of interesting stories from travel advisors and suppliers. Here are a few I found particularly interesting.

Five years into the business, Susie Flores is among a new batch of advisors redefining the way travel is sold. A cruise lover who always had “that itch to be part of the business,” the mom of four took the leap in March 2019 and became TikTok’s full-time “Cruising Susie.” Even when Covid-19 hit and the world closed, she hung in there, pushing through wherever she could and posting over and over, “It’s going to be okay, the cruise lines will come back.’” Read the rest of this entry »

Viking kicked off the start of its 2024 river season in Europe yesterday, as its Viking Longship fleet began sailing itineraries throughout the region. The company’s river fleet of sister ships sail a variety of itineraries on the Rhine, Main, Danube, Seine, Rhône, Douro, Moselle and Elbe rivers Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the first week of river cruise season in Europe, and AmaWaterways is sailing into the niche with a special for single travelers.

For a limited time, the travel-advisor-friendly company is waiving single supplements on select 2024 Europe sailings for stateroom categories other than suites on reservations booked by June 30, 2024.

Single supplements also are being waived on the two single-occupancy staterooms (140 sq. ft. with French balconies) on its four ships in France: AmaCello, AmaDante, AmaDolce and AmaLyra. And Ama will charge a reduced supplement of 25% on all fixed window staterooms on Europe sailings (Category E&D) and Category C staterooms on all Mekong sailings.

“Solo travelers on their own or perhaps as part of a multi-generational family group or girlfriend getaway have every reason to take advantage of this special offer” on more than 45 departure dates, Ama said, including the new Flavors of Burgundy.

Ana has seen “continual growth from the solo market” and is a perfect fit for single travelers, Ama’s VP of Strategic Alliances Brenda Kyllo told TRO. “Traveling isn’t only about sharing special time with loved ones, it’s also about self-discovery and finding pleasure in meeting new people in a safe and welcoming environment,” she said. “With no more than 150 guests on board, our crew are able to take special care of solo travelers to ensure they feel welcome from the minute they arrive on board. And with the choice of up to eight included daily excursions plus wellness classes and small group biking and hiking tours, there are so many opportunities to meet fellow travelers who share common interests. Many of our tables in the main dining room are set for five rather than six guests to be sure solo travelers feel at ease joining other couples for dinner.”

The offer is capacity-controlled and subject to change. Ask for promo code SOLOWAIVED. See current list of sailings here: https://www.amawaterways.com/solo-traveler-2024

After five years, Jerry Mpufane has left his post as president of the North American hub of South African Tourism, the government tourism board, to pursue other opportunities. Although his tenure 2019-2024 included the time of COVID’s global rampage, Mpufane leaves SAT in a better position than when he took the post in May 2019. When he started, North America, including Canada and the United States, was the third largest source market for South African visitors. Now it’s the largest Read the rest of this entry »

American Cruise Lines in May will kick off its 2024 New England season with six small ships, including three Coastal Cats, sailing a selection of 8- to 15-day itineraries along the East Coast.

There are two new itineraries, Yankee Seaports, sailing between Boston and New York City, and Hudson River Summer Classic cruises, sailing roundtrip from New York.

ACL’s roster of New England cruises call at 20 ports in all, including Providence, Plymouth, Bar Harbor, Bangor, Nantucket, Martha’s Vinyard, Block Island, Newport and Gloucester.

Among the itineraries are:

American Cruise Lines’ 2024 collection of exclusive New England sailings include:

15-Day Grand New England cruises, roundtrip from Boston, MA

11-Day New England Explorer cruises, roundtrip from Boston, MA

8-Day Cape Codder cruises, roundtrip from Boston, MA

8-Day New England Islands cruises, roundtrip from Providence, RI

8-Day Maine Coast and Harbors cruises, roundtrip from Portland, ME

8-Day Downeast Maine cruises, roundtrip from Bangor, ME

“Exploring coastal New England in summertime, especially from the water, is an unforgettable experience,” said ACL Director of Business Development Melissa Young. “While some large ship lines sail parts of this region, none can cruise it the way American’s small U.S ships do—sailing protected waters, accessing local harbors where big ships don’t go, and never visiting a foreign port of call.”

ACL is the largest small ship and river cruise operator in the United State, sailing 19 ships on 50 itineraries in 35 states. Each ship holds just 90-180 passengers. The curated itineraries are highlighted by onboard experts, historians and authors, and regional evening entertainment is included. Cruises from Boston also offer a Four Seasons Pre-cruise Package.

In home-based businesses, sales professionals have been stricken with a disease called “quit-itis.” Although most people desperately want to succeed, they let their fears and misguided beliefs hold them back only to convince themselves that the logical next step is to give up. But it doesn’t have to end this way for you Read the rest of this entry »

Sailing for a week with 500 or so travel advisors and partners for the KHM Group Crystal Awards Cruise, I heard a lot of presentations onboard Celebrity Reflection last month. And a surprising number of them shared the same advice for travel advisors in 2024. Whether you are a new advisor or a Crystal Award winner or even a supplier, I heard over and over again, the key to success in this busiest of years is to zero in on your top customers Read the rest of this entry »

Douro River Cruise Prices is part of a continuing series of comparison charts and articles featuring European River Cruises offered by world class river cruise lines. Our goal is to provide a True Per Diem for each cruise, or the daily cost breakdown of the trip once all extra fees are added to the cruise fare Read the rest of this entry »