NEWS
All agents to have access to same off ers as cruiseline aims to earn a fairer image
Fair deals for all under
MSC Cruises’ new plan
Juliet Dennis
juliet.dennis@rbi.co.uk
MSC Cruises plans to ditch
exclusive offers to larger agencies
to ensure all agents have
access to the same prices.
Sales director Stephen
Moffett said smaller agents
often lost bookings because
cruiselines offered exclusive
deals to agencies that sold a lot
of cruises. This practice often
enables larger cruise specialists
to undercut other agents.
Moffett hopes the move will
earn the cruiseline a fairer
reputation among agents.
“We are trying to give all
agents the same prices and
create a level playing fi eld. At
the moment, smaller agents
can’t compete,” he said.
He said agents producing
more sales for MSC Cruises
would still be rewarded with
14 | Travel Weekly | November 14 2008
Moff ett: Wants MSC Cruises to
be seen as a four-star brand
override commission.
The move comes as the
cruiseline doubles agency commission
for shore excursion
bookings from 5% to 10% and
continues attempts to change
perceptions of the brand as
three-star in the trade.
The company markets itself
as a four-star cruiseline and
“We are trying
to create a level
playing fi eld.
At the moment,
smaller agents
can’t compete”
employed fi ve extra business
development managers this
summer to improve agent
product knowledge. For the
fi rst time there are dedicated
staff covering agents in
Ireland, Scotland and the
Midlands and it now has a
dedicated staff member
dealing with tour operators, as
well as three agent sales
support staff.
“Historically we were seen
as three-star but we want to
move away from that percep-
tion, especially as we now have
new ships with hardware that
is four-star,” added Moffett.
“We are working more closely
with selected agents in these
regions to improve product
knowledge and service.”
The cruiseline has three
new ships launching in the
near future: MSC Fantasia in
December; MSC Splendida in
July 2009 and MSC Magnifi ca
in December 2009.
Moffett hopes this will help
the cruiseline take advantage
of the gap in the Mediterranean
that will be left by
capacity cuts and the
phasing out of Ocean Village
by the end of 2010. “We hope
to pick up some of these
customers,” he added.
For daily news go to
www.travelweekly.co.uk
Godmother Hill waves off
Independence of the Seas
Godmother of Royal Caribbean
International’s Independence of the Seas
Elizabeth Hill waved farewell to her
ship before it headed off to the
Caribbean for the winter season.
Elizabeth, a charity worker from
Chesterfi eld, Derbyshire was chosen
after winning the cruiseline’s
Search for a Godmother competition.
Travel Weekly columnist Maureen
ONLINE TRAVEL
NEWS FROM
TRAVOLUTION
Web 2.0 takeover
Travel networking websites
and activities are expected
to increase over the next
fi ve years according to the
World Travel Market Global
Trends Report 2008. The
research, carried out by
Euromonitor, reveals Web
2.0 features including travel
blogs and customer reviews
would become more
popular than specialist sites
across the industry.
Mobile use increases
Tourists are increasingly
using their own mobile
phones in resort for
emergencies and browsing
for travel information, a
survey has found. The poll
of 500 consumers by service
provider Mantic Point found
that over a quarter use
their mobiles to request
fl ight information prior to
returning home from a trip.
Hill was among the judges.
Independence of the Seas is the fi rst
Royal Caribbean ship to be based out of
Southampton. Since its launch in April
it has been sailing Mediterranean and
European itineraries.
Independence of the Seas will be
sailing western Caribbean and eastern
Caribbean itineraries before returning
again to Southampton in April 2009.
Captain Teo
Strazicic
shows
Godmother
Elizabeth Hill
the ropes
www.travelweekly.co.uk
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