Welcome to September!

A warm welcome to September – which in addition to some further online developments and no less than two CLIA events is also the month when we celebrate a ‘Festival of Cruising’ for Cruise Week.

Between September 19 and 27, CLIA and our cruise line members will use social media, newspapers, radio, magazines and all marketing channels to promote the idea of cruise holidays as widely as possible.

What does this mean? It is a great time for you to also talk about cruise holidays in your marketing and PR in order to capitalise on the extra ‘noise’ that cruise is creating! And of course collectively we can make a difference.

See inside and at cruiseexperts.org for further details of how you can get involved – and let us all work together this year for a successful Cruise Week!

Thank you for your support(and don’t forget to apply for one of our special t-shirts!)

AndyCLIA UK & Ireland, Director

September 2015 | CLIA UK & Ireland Informer www.cruiseexperts.org

Meet our new Executive PartnersFour new members join CLIA

#MyCLIA on the Cruise PinboardSome great photos shared with us

#CLIACruiseFest Getting ready for Cruise Week 2015

www.cruiseexperts.org

Adele’s Event Update Coming up this Autumn

This Month’s Cruise News Update By Augustus Lonsdale of CLIA

Special Guest ColumnistAnthony Pearce, Cruise Adviser

CLIA Cruise DailyAutumn Webinar Series Launches

#CLIACruiseFest

#CLIACruiseFest

SATURDAY 19 - SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2015

Saturday 19 SeptemberDestinations

Sunday 20 SeptemberAccommodation

Monday 21 SeptemberFood

Tuesday 22 SeptemberEntertainment & Activities

Wednesday 23 SeptemberHealth and Wellbeing

Thursday 24 SeptemberBoutique Cruises

Friday 25 SeptemberFamily & Children

#CLIACruiseFest

Cruise Week is coming Your Chance to Win One of Seven Prizes!Each year CLIA, our travel agent members and the finest cruise lines of the world work together for a whole week here in the UK and in Ireland to celebrate some of the great holiday experiences that cruising offers.

And this year is no different! For Cruise Week 2015 we are going to celebrate some of the great aspects of a cruise that makes it a truly memorable holiday as we celebrate all aspects of cruise in our Festival of Cruising!

Each day we will focus on a different area of a cruise holiday – from accommodation to food, and from entertainment to relaxation - so that can share some of the great experiences that await from one of our 51 cruise line members.

So take a look at some of the great information and suggestions we have below, and as we approach Cruise Week you will be able to watch some of the specially created videos we have, and take advantage of the latest Cruise Week offers and promotions that are available for you exclusively from CLIA member travel agents.

Join our festival of Cruising at cruiseexperts.org and at facebook.com/cliaukireland

CLAIM YOUR FREE CRUISE WEEK TEE!

How do I get my hands on one?

To be in with a chance of claiming your free Cruise Week T-Shirt, simply email ukinfo@cruising.org with your name, ad-dress and travel agency.

The first 60 drawn out of a hat will be sent a Cruise Week T-shirt.

What do I do once I receive my t-shirt?

We are looking for the best photos of CLIA member travel agents that we can use on Facebook, Twitter and our website.

Simply take a photo of you in your Cruise Week T-shirt in your work environment, with or without colleagues - be as creative as you wish - the best photo as chosen by our panel of judges will win an exclusive cabin on the inaugural 1 night sailing of the Norwegian Escape in October.

All of the best photos submitted will be shared on our Facebook and Twitter, so make sure you keep our channels in your favourites!

EMAIL: ukinfo@cruising.orgDeadline: Monday 7th September

#CLIACruiseFest

SATURDAY 19 - SUNDAY 27 SEPTEMBER 2015

#CLIACruiseFest

DOWNLOAD A POSTER

USE THE CRUISE WEEK LOGOS

#CLIACruiseFest

FOLLOW THE ACTION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

www.facebook.com/Cliaukireland

www.twitter.com/UKCruising

#CLIACruiseFest

SHARE THE CRUISE WEEK VIDEOS WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

Head online to the Cruise Week pages of cruiseexperts.org for short taster videos on each of the different areas of a cruise holiday. Share them with your customers and spread the excitement of the Cruise Fest!

So what can we do to showcase the experiences that cruise offers? We can start by taking pictures or videos of our own time spent on ship visits or fam trips or cruise holidays or in cruise destinations.... And we can then share them on Twitter using #MyCLIA

Firstly it will demonstrate the enormous diversity of cruise experiences available - but importantly we will also capture them on our CLIA Pinboard at cruiseexperts.org to bring together, in one place, those experiences.

Now it takes a couple of hours for our Pinboard to capture your tweet - but imagine this..... All CLIA member travel agents, cruise lines and sponsors using #MyCLIA throughout the year - and imagine the huge impact that you can have on the perception of cruise holidays.

Thank you for your support!Share your cruise photos and videos with us on Twitter #MyCLIA

Join the Cruise Revolution!Given the level of advertising and marketing across the holiday and travel sector we know that potential cruise guests are constantly being presented with alternative holiday choices - and all of this means that as an industry we have to work even harder to convince someone to take their first cruise holiday.

Of course we also know that once a cruiser then always a cruiser - and that is great for all of us.

www.cruiseexperts.orgwww.cruiseexperts.org

Adele’s Events Coming in 2015

CLIA UK & Ireland Informer

Thursday 08 October | RIVER CRUISE SHOWCASE, MANCHESTERThis is a special evening where we bring together some of the finest river cruise operators at one event so you can keep up with this rapidly growing sector

FREE to CLIA Member Travel Agents

Sunday 22 - Monday 23 November | RIVER CRUISE CONVENTION, AMSTERDAMThe ultimate river cruise event, and a unique event in the world – join us in Amsterdam for 2 days and see 7 ships, attend conference and networking events, stay overnight onboard a river ship.... and all created with you in mind!

Tickets available at £70 + VAT

LAST CALL FOR BOOKING

Wednesday 23 September 201510am - 1pm

Melt Offices, LondonCLIA are delighted to partner with Melt to bring you this Digital Marketing Masterclass.

The event will explore the digital challenges and opportunities that are facing the cruise industry today. We will explore and unravel how certain technologies are contributing to current industry dynamics – the rise of mobile searches for cruise and the spike in smart phone penetration for the over 50’s. Conversely, we will explore the opportunities that digital technology presents for addressing the slowing growth in the UK and how a greater focus on UX and content marketing can drive increased offline sales.

Melt is a digital agency founded by, backed by and staffed by travel people. Our experience extends far beyond the agency world – Melt’s core team has a combined 40 years in the travel industry, working across editorial, ecommerce and digital marketing and holding senior positions within global brands.

To register for this or any other event please login and head to the Events Page of cruiseexperts.org or call the CLIA team on 020 3582 4378.The event is free and open to all sectors or CLIA membership - travel agents, cruise lines, Executive Partners and college/University Alpha members.

NOW BOOKING

www.cruiseexperts.orgwww.cruiseexperts.orgCLIA UK & Ireland Informer

Meet our New Executive Partners

For over 20 years, we’ve had our fingers firmly on the pulse of adventure travel, and have worked hard to make it beat faster by offering the widest selection of affordable small-group tours, safaris and expeditions across the world. We thrive on bringing together curious travellers from all over the globe to experience, learn, share and explore this incredible planet of ours. We make travel meaningful by thinking small, thinking local, and thinking about what benefits the traveller, the trip, and the planet best.

Whether it’s the Arctic or Antarctica, an eight-day dip or 21-day odyssey, a quest in search of penguins or polar bears, there’s a G Expedition cruise that’s right for everyone. Completely refurbished in 2009, the G Expedition boasts a spacious, comfortable and safe experience for all her guests. Big enough to hold 134 passengers comfortably and small enough to access spots beyond the reach of big liners, she’s a little ship that feels surprisingly big.

www.gadventures.co.uk/travel-styles/cruising/expedition-cruises/

Set up in 1989, Red Letter Days pioneered the concept of giving unforgettable experiences as gifts. The idea really caught people’s imaginations and Red Letter Days has gone from strength to strength.

Today we offer hundreds of experiences in the UK; an unrivalled choice with something to suit every taste, occasion and budget. But we don’t just do experiences. Boasting the most extensive range of Experiences in the market to Lifestyle our signature high street voucher, we also provide bespoke Corporate Hospitality, Team Building & Incentive Travel to Gifts and Hampers – we can help you create a flexible and results driven campaign which will engage employees and incentivise customers.

www.redletterdays.co.uk

Destinology have been providing luxury, tailor-made holidays to established and evolving destinations worldwide since being founded in 2004.

With an enthusiastic team of experienced Travel Consultants, the staff have first-hand knowledge of the holidays they sell having visited many of the destinations and their hotels. Passionate about all types of travel from family holidays to cultural tours, city breaks and exotic escapes - Destinology have also expanded their brand to include cruise. Winners of the British Travel Awards 3 years in a row and selected as one of Britain’s Cool Brands in 2014, Destinology has excelled in the luxury travel market with their expert knowledge, high levels of customer service and outstanding product range. Destinology not only has excellent relationships with the hotels they sell, but also with their customers, many of whom return year after year to book with them. Destinology is not your average tour operator: innovative, modern and extremely passionate about what they do – travel is their appetite

www.destinology.co.uk

At Wendy Wu Tours we really know Asia; every vibrant, fascinating and incredibly rich corner of it. That’s why we are the UK’s leading specialist tour operator to China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Since Wendy’s first tour departed in 1994, we’ve been perfecting and diversifying our range of tours to capture the very essence of the destination, so you’re not just admiring the top sights but truly discovering them - our award-winning national escorts and their unparalleled knowledge are an integral part of this.

For us, your journey begins from that very first enquiry. You can trust that we are dedicated to expertly guiding you through your Asian adventure, wherever you choose to explore. We believe that when visiting a place, it is important to not only feel, see, learn and experience, but to also give something back. We do this partly by supporting charities in Asia; and also by supporting local enterprise.

www.wendywutours.co.uk

www.cruiseexperts.orgwww.cruiseexperts.orgCLIA UK & Ireland Informer

Alex’s Online Update

European WaterwaysWednesday 9 September

September October November

CLIA Autumn Webinar Series

The Avalon Waterways DifferenceThursday 17 September

Puerto Rico Tourism CompanyWednesday 23 September

Port MiamiWednesday 30 September

BelmondWednesday 7 October

Amadeus River Cruises Wednesday 14 October

Selling Rhine River Cruises Thursday 15 October

ScenicWednesday 21 October

Singapore Tourism Board Wednesday 4 November

Dubai Tourism Wednesday 11 November

Selling Danube River Cruises Thursday 12 November

Seadream Yacht Club Wednesday 18 November

Sign up online at www.cruiseexperts.orgWebinars can be found from the CLIA Cruise Daily

This Month’s Cruise News Updateby CLIA’s Augustus Lonsdale

www.cruiseexperts.orgCLIA UK & Ireland Informer

You can tell it’s been a busy year in Cruise if there are some people who may refer to the last month as quiet! There may have been no new build announcements and no huge, star spangled ship launches but in reality this August has been far from uneventful. The announcement that Gerard Tempest was to leave his role as CCO at Carnival UK was huge news to start the month, and this was followed swiftly by a significant restructure at the Southampton based arm of Carnival Corp. Paul Ludlow, formerly of Princess Cruises, took on a new role as SVP at P&O Cruises, with a similar role in the pipeline at Cunard, as two of Britain’s most iconic lines look to restructure ahead of a new era of engagement with the UK trade. Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line, themselves fresh from a move to new premises in Southampton, celebrated the float out of their latest ship Norwegian Escape ahead of its launch in October. Escape came sailing out of the shipyard at Papenburg for the first time, resplendent with the marine

wildlife based art of Dr. Guy Harvey, who is the latest to add his signature touch to the hull of a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel. Escape will be in Southampton in October.

A number of Cruise Lines took advantage of this month to enlighten us with their plans for some epic circumnavigations of the globe over the next few years. Both P&O Cruise and Cunard announced a wide range of world voyages for 2017 - P&O will be celebrating 180 years with Aurora in particular echoing the trade route that were the beginnings of the Peninsular and Oriental company, while Cunard will see all of their 3 Queens in an incredible 80 ports between them. Meanwhile, MSC Cruises, Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Silversea Expeditions have all announced a series of grand itineraries with MSC Lirica’s epic journey from the Med to China, Black Watch’s 107 night global voyage and a fascinating blend of land and sea adventures created by Silversea for guests of their expediton vessel Silver Galapagos. We also saw a number of new features announced onboard ships – Royal Caribbean presented the first renders of what looks like an incredible kids experience in the interactive aqua park ‘Splashaway Bay’ which will debut on Harmony of the Seas in May 2016. Princess

Cruises also announced a new restaurant for their vessels Ruby Princess and Emerald Princess, SHARE, which will form part of their new link up with chef Curtis Stone. Chef Stone will also be debuting new main dining room dishes for a number of ships throughout the Princess fleet across the next month.

While the ocean sector might not have seen any ship launches, the rivers came to the rescue. AmaWaterways inducted their new vessel AmaSerena into the fleet in Vilshofen in Germany with a ceremony including local dignitaries and guests on their recent Danube cruise. Not to be outdone Emerald Waterways named not one, but two ships with both Emerald Dawn and Emerald Sun receiving the traditional ceremony in the Hungarian city of Budapest. Also this month, Crystal Cruises announced more details of their latest River venture, with the Crystal River Yacht class coming to the European waterways in 2017.

There were a number of great photos from Montreal as Cruise & Maritime Voyages celebrated the 40th birthday of their beautiful vessel, Marco Polo – and there are more celebrations and festivities on the horizon with the launch of our theme for this year’s CLIA Cruise Week. We look forward to celebrating a ‘Festival of Cruise’ with you between the 19th-27th September using #CLIACruiseFest – for more details, and of course all the latest news and opinion, keep your eyes on www.cruiseexperts.org.

Augustus

www.cruiseexperts.orgwww.cruiseexperts.orgCLIA UK & Ireland Informer

Special Guest Columnist | Anthony Pearce, Cruise Adviser

Anthony Pearce is co-publisher ofTo read all Opinion articles, head online to www.cruiseexperts.org and head to the CLIA Cruise Daily

It also didn’t take long on board to work out why the luxury sector is in such rude health. Demand means operators are not only expanding, but continually finding new and exciting ways to diversify. And greater capacity, of course, means more customers and more opportunities for you to pitch and sell high-end cruises.

But even as the number of passengers grow, the ‘luxury customer’ can still feel a little elusive. Who exactly are they? As cruise-selling travel agents, you’ll know that while spotting them isn’t always easy, putting in the effort to find them is well worth your while.

One of the many positives of the trip, which features in Cruise Adviser’s latest issue, the Luxury guide 2015-16, was the fact it gave me the chance to meet and chat to some of these luxury customers. They are a more diverse bunch than some might imagine. They’re affluent, sure – but they come from a broad church.

Many are return cruisers. They could be luxury cruise fanatics; parents, who, with the

kids now grown up, have a little extra cash to spend on something special; or passengers who usually opt for suites on mainstream cruise lines, now tempted by the all-inclusive nature of luxury.

But some cruise lines make a point of targeting the new-to-cruise luxury traveller; those accustomed to the opulence of boutique hotels but looking for adventure, not content with seeing just one destination. Indeed, there are plenty of customers who want to explore the world without forgoing comfort.

At first, these new-to-cruisers may seem a more difficult sell than ‘upgraders’ –but once you’re able to explain the all-inclusive nature of luxury and ultra-luxury cruises, they will surely come around. Where on land will customers find food, drink and excursions included in the price (as is the case on many top lines)?

With added capacity, there are lots of rooms to fill – and plenty of luxury travellers just waiting to be convinced.

I recently spent eight nights on board Oceania Cruises’ beautiful Riviera, and have been pining for it ever since. It takes a matter of minutes to get used to life on board a luxury ship – the plush, spacious room with veranda, four- and five-course meals, the attentive, friendly staff looking after you – and weeks to readjust to normal life, out of the sun back in dark, damp London.