This weekend will very likely see the fingers of the Travel Daily and Cruise Weekly team requiring some serious physical rehab, such was furious keyboard tapping needed to keep pace with the deluge of big news stories.
The list of Air New Zealand alumni to join Qantas grew a little longer this week, with Alexandra O’Connor appointed Head of Sales Channels from July. The timing of the recruitment is key, as The Flying Kangaroo gears up to make its most serious push to date to get advisors on side with its new NDC model. The one-time Head of Agency Sales for Air NZ will now be charged with overseeing agency sales and operational support for Qantas, and bringing together sales functions as it seeks to shore up trade sentiment across all channels. She will report into Executive Manager Global Sales & Distribution Kathryn Robertson, who under the wing of CEO International and Freight Cam Wallace (both former Air NZ execs), will be keen to cajole agency partners to buy in to its renewed approach. O’Connor appears to be the front line of that push, with the carrier hopeful of working through any kinks with advisors during the transition to new distribution. Many have joked that NDC needs a new name, given the ‘N’ stands for new and it feels like it has been around the block a few times, but time will tell I guess if Qantas’ latest approach is successful.
Webjet Travel Group also had TD writers in lathers of sweat on Monday as they frantically searched for more details regarding the ramping up of equity from various players. Then on Tuesday night, the mystery was over: an unbinding offer was launched by BGH Capital for a controlling stake in the online consumer travel business. The bid came from a bloc comprised of shareholders, including a 5.89% held by BGH and 4.87% held by Portfolio Services Pty Ltd, an entity associated with Ariadne Australia Ltd and Gary Weiss. While Webjet’s board mull the offer, the thing to keep an eye on will be the share price, which by late Friday afternoon was 86 cents, above the 80 cents a share offer put in by BGH. If there is value seen to be left on the table, it is feasible the fun and games may have only just begun. Creating further intrigue was the flurry of buying from Helloworld’s subsidiary Retail Travel Investments, which nabbed over 5% in Webjet over the last month. The bids arrive at a challenging time for Webjet’s consumer business, which has faced headwinds since demerging from the B2B WebBeds division. Let the gavel smashing begin.
Another interesting development was picked up by my colleague Jo-Anne Hui-Miller, who reported back several interesting stories while on location at the Fiji Tourism Exchange. Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill confirmed plans are ramping up to position the Pacific Island country as a premier stopover destination. A campaign push is in the works to market itself as a place to transit, stay for a day or two and lap up the sunshine at surrounding hotels, before jumping on an onward flight. Aussies could potentially enjoy this option as a place to chill out before heading off on a trip to the United States, and conversely, the push by Fiji has the potential to benefit Australia’s tourism sector. With a growing stream of American tourists checking out Fiji, bolting on an Australian leg may seem more appealing than ever. I am happy to say we were on to this story in its embryonic form thanks to an incessant perusing of The Fiji Times. It was in January that Travel Daily picked up the plan, with Fiji Airports CEO Mesake Nawari at the time flagging a 10-year upgrade plan that will see new hotels, improved technology and expanded retail precincts built at hubs across the country. The appetites of Australian travellers were singled out by Nawari, who declared that Fiji’s airport and transit experience must come up to code in line with what Aussies are typically accustomed to.
Some travellers and agents found the week less thrilling however, as Victoria-based online travel package company Traveldream went belly up. The company advised impacted customers to contact their travel service providers – listing Emirates as at least one such brand – to determine if their bookings remained valid. This was not very encouraging for customers, some of whom have been left thousands of dollars out of pocket and stranded overseas after the collapse. Seizing on the moment to point out the importance of accreditation, ATIA CEO Dean Long said it was “critical” that travellers book through ATIA-accredited businesses. “Accreditation is the best way to ensure you are dealing with a trusted, professional, and financially sound operator, Long said, adding that if a business is not accredited, “you should ask why.”
Last, but certainly not least, was a great exclusive courtesy of my colleague Myles Stedman, who was one of the first to chat with new local Globus family of brands chief Chris Hall. While his feet were only freshly under the desk, Hall was refreshingly candid about the plan for Globus moving forward. He pointed out that previously the company may have been a touch top-heavy, suggesting the previous structure had “a lot of chiefs”. It appears Hall wants to make Globus more agile with a structure that is -fit-for-purpose in Australia, and most importantly looks after the key needs of the brand’s trade partners. Hall replaces Gai Tyrrell who departed the company at the end of last year.
While the serious news is always important, as you sip on your morning coffee I would like to conclude this weekly wrap with some ‘important’ travel advice. If you are thinking of attending the Cannes Films Festival in France, please remember to wear clothes. Yes, event organisers have this year taken the unusual step of writing specific rules prohibiting guests from walking the red carpet in the nude. As someone who got married on a beach in thongs, shorts, and a short-sleeved shirt, even I thought this was taken as read. Anyway, I digress.
Enjoy the weekend everyone.
