A huge congratulations to Dominic and Bernie Burke for the smooth running of such a large event. A tremendous effort behind the scenes makes these events seem effortless. Equally, conferences like these wouldn’t be possible without the support and sponsorship of the suppliers investing in the Irish travel market and the Irish travel trade. Co-headline sponsors for the event were Silversea and Royal Caribbean International with Amanda Middler and Jennifer Callister delivering presentations to the audience.
Prize-Winners
Beyond the Gala Dinner, award ceremony and dancing on down till the wee hours there were fabulous prizes with the top four going to:
- Edel Flynn (Newbridge Travel) won 2 x economy return tickets to Abu Dhabi with thanks to Etihad Airways.
- Antoinette Reid (O’Callaghan Travel) won a 4-night/5-day ground package to Jordan (excl. flights) with thanks to Nebo Tours.
- Aoife Seargant (Freedom Travel) won 7 nights at the Hotel Vik San Antonio Lanzarote on a half-board basis with thanks to TUI.
- Carmel Kehoe (Best4Travel) won 2 economy return tickets to anywhere in Turkey thanks to Turkish Airlines.
A Quick Mention of Sponsors
Friday evening’s dinner was sponsored by MSC Cruises. Dinner wine was sponsored by Hertz (Friday) and Crystal Ski (Saturday). Pre-dinner drinks were by Sunway (Friday) and Bedsonline (Saturday). Saturday refreshments were by Melia Hotels. Saturday’s lunch was with thanks from Air Canada and United Airlines. The 360-video platform by Stuba and the Band, the Controversial Allstars by Bookabed.
Amanda Middler of Silversea (Co-Headline Sponsor)
Amanda Middler shared “My figures are incredible. So if you not selling Silversea you’re missing a trick… because once we get them on board, they don’t go anywhere else!”
Silversea went into COVID with 7 ships and we’ve come out with 12 split between classic ships covering regular cruising destinations, the Caribbean, Alaska, the Mediterranean and the Far East. Silversea also has expedition ships that go to the other ends of the earth such as the Galapagos, Arctic and Antarctic as well as warm water expeditions and even a cruise around the Irish coastline.
Amanda shared, “We go to over 900 destinations that’s far more than any other cruise line… it’s probably double what any other cruise line does so when your clients say they have done the Mediterranean, ask have you done the Mediterranean on Silversea. Have them look at these tiny little ports that we go to.”
What sets Silverseas apart from competitors is the size of their ships. The capacity of the largest is just over seven hundred guests. What you get is the feeling of space and the feeling of choice. Guests are offered ten different dining options on board meaning each restaurant feels like speciality dining.
Door-to-Door or Port-to-Port
Impressively, guest to guest-to-crew ratio is nearly 1:1. The cruise company covers 7 continents and offers guests a door-to-door or port-to-port service.
The Silversea Cruise offering includes Port-to-Port which is cruise only. The agency books the flights and transfers, especially useful if it is a twin-stop holiday or a stay and cruise. This comes in at c.35% cheaper shares Amanda.
The Silversea Cruise offering also has “Door-to-Door All-Inclusive”. This consists of private executive transfers, international flights, airport transfers and onboard: food & beverages, butler service as well as expedition in-country air & hotel.
Once onboard, shore excursions are included in the price, as is butler service, drinks and wifi. There are no bills to pay when your client gets off the ship.
In August Silver Nova launched and Amanda describes her as “a game changer for us and a little bit bigger than what we usually do with just over 700 guests and she’s all about sustainability and then her sister ship has been built at the moment.”. Her sister ship, Silver Ray will sail from June next year.
Jennifer Callister of Royal Caribbean International (Co-Headline Sponsor)
Jennifer Callister, on behalf of Team Royal Ireland – Michelle Ryan and John Booty, thanked the audience for their support this year.
2024 is going to be a really big year for Royal Caribbean with Icon of the Seas launching early in the year and she is a brand new class of ship. Utopia of the Seas will also join the fleet and she’s the sixth Oasis Class ship.
Icon of the Seas
Icon of the Seas will offer 20 decks, more than any other RCI ship. The capacity will be c. 7,500 passengers. She will have eight neighbourhoods with some familiar neighbourhoods plus new ones such as Thrill Island and Chill Island, inspired by Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, CocoaCay which has both Thrill and Chill zones. Families can enjoy Surfside with a sprawling aquapark. There are seven pools including adult-only plus a swim-up bar and resident DJ. Icon of the Seas will start with Eastern and West Caribbean itineraries sailing from Miami starting at the end of January and all of the itineraries will visit CocoCay.
Utopia of the Seas
Utopia of the Seas will be sailing from Port Canaveral, which is Orlando doing three and four-night sailings so the RCI team are calling it “the world’s biggest weekend”. Utopia of the Seas is going to be Royal Caribbean’s sixth Oasis Class ship and every sailing will go to CocoCay. It has 18 decks and caters for just shy of 6,000 guests.
The Royal Genie
The Royal Genie is “an amazing interactive tool” which creates a personalised digital holiday for a customer within minutes. This can have the agent’s details and their logo for their clients.
