Over the weekend, Travel Centres members and key suppliers gathered at the beautiful Lawlor’s Hotel in Naas for the 19th annual Travel Centres Conference. This year’s theme was ‘You are the Difference’ which took its cue from the title of keynote speaker Alf Dunbar’s rousing presentation.
ITAA President, Angela Walsh, officially opened the conference at 9.30am on Saturday and spoke briefly about the challenges the travel industry faces with the increase in popularity of AI, all the while reminding delegates of the service and personal touch that travel agents provide their customers, which no algorithm can ever offer. She reminded attendees that it is the people that make our industry what it is and reiterated the conferences’ theme – the difference is you!
Sustainability expert and journalist, Jo Linehan, took to the stage next and spoke passionately on the importance and rise of sustainable travel – a subject very close to my own heart. While it’s a growing sector that can be overwhelming for many, Jo was quick to reiterate the importance of supporting sustainable travel and reminded delegates that tourism is responsible for 8% of the worlds carbon emissions and the hotel sector accounting for 12% of worldwide food waste. 81% of holidaymakers worldwide have said that sustainable travel is important to them and 50% of holidaymakers have chosen to make more sustainable travel choices based off news about climate change. Jo encouraged anyone interested in learning more to visit www.sustainabletravel.org or the Leaner & Green website, or look out for specific credentials such as B Corp, Green Key, Sustainable Hospitality Alliance Members, and Earth Check.
MSC & Explora Journeys
Susanne Rowe of MSC and Explora Journeys, one of the conferences joint Headline Sponsors, was up next with the wonderful news of MSC’s newest ship World America which will be sailing from 11 April 2025 and will have a full deck dedicated to children’s activities. She will be sailing from Miami on 7-night itineraries from April to October and is the sister ship to World Europa. Suzanne also spoke on the beauty and elegance of Explora Journeys and all that these magnificent ships have to offer your customers such as exquisite dining options, beautifully appointed staterooms and suites as well as exceptional service onboard.
Hablo
Hablo’s Russel Meara spoke next about the dedicated travel trade platform and their new app and daily quizzes. Club Hablo was also launched recently which offers users the chance to earn their status starting at Blue and going on to Silver, Gold and Platinum status. Club Hablo also gives agents the chance to receive badges which are rewarded by engagement and activity on the platform.
CLIA
Andy Harmar of CLIA was the next speaker and gave a rousing presentation on the current travel trends, stating that the first half of 2024 saw Irish cruisers up by 17% and 50% of all Irish cruise holidays were for Western Med cruises. Globally, 3.75million passengers sail in the Mediterranean, 2.6m sail in Northern Europe with many choosing the Norwegian fjords, 747k choose the Caribbean, 339k sail around Africa and the Middle East and 193k opt for Transatlantic or Worldwide cruises. Andy reminded delegates of why people choose to cruise with a list ranging from entertainment and dining onboard, value for money and the ability to visit multiple destinations while only unpacking once. CLIA also offers some wonderful resources for cruise sellers such as 24 destination factsheets, 6 itinerary factsheets, virtual ship tours and ‘new to selling cruise’ factsheets.
Air Canada
Blaithin O’Donnell from Air Canada took to the stage next to briefly tell delegates about some routes to Punta Cana, Cancun and San Jose (Costa Rica) with same day connections via Toronto for Irish holidaymakers. Air Canada offer a year-round service to Toronto (4/week in winter and daily from March 2025); Dublin – Montreal will be retuning 4/week on 2nd June 2025 until September and Dublin – Vancouver returns on 17th June 2025 with 3 flights per week until September. AC also travel eastbound, with a winter service to Delhi via London Heathrow.
United Airlines
United Airlines’ Aoife Gregg was up next to remind delegates of their 4 x daily direct flights from Dublin to New York/ Newark, Washington DC and Chicago and 2 x daily flights from Shannon to New York/Newark and Chicago, as well as connections to Houston, Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. United have also added a new feature to their app and website which will make booking flights for wheelchair users easier, allowing agents and passengers to find flights that can best accommodate the specific dimensions of the mobility device.
AmaWaterways
After a short tea and coffee break, sponsored by Air Canada and United Airlines, AmaWaterway’s VP Sales & Co-Owner, Gary Murphy spoke passionately about the luxury river cruise company which has deep Irish roots. Gary’s father, Jimmy Murphy, a Dublin-native, founded Brendan Vacations and later went on to co-found AmaWaterways in 2002 with Kristin Karst and Rudi Schreiner. Gary mentioned that AmaWaterways are 100% trade friendly and 91.2% of their business comes from the trade. While Ama’s average age is below 60, they still offer three paces for their walking tours to accommodate all fitness levels – leisurely, moderate and active – and boats 6 or 7 excursions in most ports. AmaWaterways also offer interconnecting rooms for multigenerational parties making them a great option for these enquiries. Gary reminded agents that they offer a wonderful travel agent incentives – Sell Five, Sail Free – and very generously offered Travel Centres members the option to combine bookings with colleagues and they can sail together, until the end of 2025!
Celebrity
Valerie Murphy of Celebrity Cruises took to the stage next with Summer 2026 as the focus where Celebrity will launch Celebrity XCEL on 7nt-11nt Barcelona – Athens sailings. Ascent will be offering 10/11n Rome return sailings; Eclipse will be positioned for the Adriatic and Greece sailings. Celebrity will also be offering more 7nt Reykjavik sailings and will be sailing out of the new Tokyo City port terminal in Summer 2026. Their current Mini-Wave Campaign started on 8 Nov with savings of up to €600 per stateroom, up to 75% off 2nd guests and 2025 European flights being offered from €199pp! The campaign runs until 9 Dec 2024 and is applicable for sailings from 8 Nov 2024 – 20 Apr 2027 (excluding Galapagos itineraries) Val encouraged agents to register for Celebrity Central which plays home to training modules, campaigns, toolkits, booking portal and rewards. Celebrity are also offering reduced deposits of €80pp currently.
Silversea
Amanda Middle of Silversea took the opportunity to mention that sales from Ireland are up 9% this year and reminded delegates that they have a repeat client rate of 70% meaning there are huge opportunities for the trade to increase their sales. Silversea’s Silverwind will be based in Dublin next year so no-fly cruises will be available for customers wanting to explore Scotland, Iceland, Norway and Denmark. While Amanda is based in Glasgow, she frequents Ireland multiple times throughout the year and is available for in-person or online trainings and consumer events. Silversea’s Wave Campaign will start on 12 December and Amanda reminded attendees that all RCL Group companies (RCL, Celebrity & Silversea) will status match.
Royal Caribbean
John Booty of Royal Caribbean reiterated that 2024 has been their best year yet due to the continued support from the trade. John remarked that the third Icon class ship, which is on sale now, is currently under construction and she will debut in 2026. He also reminded delegates about their fantastic rewards offering €15 per booking on bookings over €2k, €30 on bookings over €5k, €60 on booking over €60k, €150 on bookings over €25k and €500 on booking over €50k, using My Club Royal. My Royal Genie is also proving to be a big success, helping agents find the perfect cruise to suit their customers requirements, so be sure to check it out.
Alf Dunbar
Finally, Alf Dunbar took to the stage to give an energetic and laughter-filled presentation on ‘Steps to Selling Success’. Alf is a successful businessman who started his career in The Body Shop, helping them to achieve records sales. He later went on to develop the ‘You Are The Difference’ programme where his organisation has worked with numerous large corporations such as H&M, Nissan, Tesco, Calvin Klein and Sketchers to help them understand their business and their customers. Alf reminded attendees of the conference that people buy people first and the product second, as well as the importance of a positive mindset.
Speed Dating Session & Spot Prizes
After a delicious lunch, sponsored by ISME, the speed dating sessions got under way with 40 suppliers and 188 travel agents and owners in attendance. There were fantastic spot prizes at the end of the sessions which included hampers, FAM trip places, holiday vouchers and more!
