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Royal Caribbean changes course on compensating stranded guests

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Royal Caribbean changes course on compensating stranded guests

By Donna Tunney
Royal Caribbean International backed off on its policy that says it won’t compensate passengers for weather events that alter a cruise.Royal Caribbean drew criticism after 130 people booked to sail on the Serenade of the Seas on Aug. 21 were stranded in San Juan after the ship departed early to avoid Hurricane Irene.

The cruise line is keeping mum on the amount of compensation.

“We are in the process of contacting those guests who were not able to sail with us to inform them of their compensation, and would prefer that the impacted guests learn of the amount directly from the line before it is disclosed publicly,” said spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.

“We are compensating these passengers,” she added, “because we understand that this was an unusual situation, and we want to provide our guests with another opportunity to sail with Royal Caribbean International in the near future.”

Fifteen passengers who had booked their air through Royal Caribbean were provided hotel accommodations in San Juan on Aug. 21 and 22, along with air transportation to Aruba on Aug. 23, where they boarded the Serenade. These passengers also will be compensated, the line said, with a future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise fare they paid.

Holidays 4U boss says cashflow problems led to firm’s downfall

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Holidays 4U boss says cashflow problems led to firm’s downfall

Aug 17, 2011 08:00AM GMT

Holidays 4U boss says cashflow problems led to firm’s downfall

The director of Turkey specialist Holidays 4U has blamed its failure on a lack of cashflow after it was required to provide guarantees to the value of £4.5 million to renew its Atol in March this year.

Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly, Holidays 4U director Mete Faks said the operator found it increasingly difficult to weather tough trading in May, June and July because of the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) requirements.

Its cashflow was also affected by Barclaycard Merchant Services putting the operator on a 45-day deferral scheme for payments.

“People are asking, why did this company go bust in August?” said Faks.

“If we had that cash we would still be trading, and I wouldn’t be having this interview right now.

“I don’t bear the CAA malice. The CAA is looking after consumer protection, Barclaycard is looking after its corner – yet it’s the director that gets the blame for the failure.”

Faks said requirements from the regulator and credit card companies made it difficult for specialist operators to survive in the current market.

“Turkey has gone the same way as the Greek market,” he added.

“There used to be masses of independent Greek operators, now there are very few. It is hard to survive with the regulatory burden and the big two becoming stronger and stronger.”

Cosmos and Wings Abroad both added capacity to Turkey this week as customers hurried to rebook their summer holidays.

Chris Mansell, marketing manager at Wings Abroad, said: “The sudden extra demand from agents had to be catered for and, having had to trim back capacity earlier in the year, this unexpected number of requests for holidays is welcome.”

Eighteen staff at Brighton-based Holidays 4U lost their jobs when the operator failed. More than 130 people have joined a Facebook group to help former Holidays 4U sales and marketing manager Joe Lavers find a job.

Thomas Cook denies plans to close ‘hundreds of shops’

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Thomas Cook denies plans to close ‘hundreds of shops’

By Ian Taylor  |  Aug 15, 2011 08:00AM GMT

Thomas Cook has dismissed a weekend report that it is considering “plans to close hundreds of shops”.

A Thomas Cook spokeswoman said: “There is no substance at all to the story” – which appeared in the Sunday Times.

The group is poised to merge its UK retail outlets with The Co-operative Travel and Midlands Co-operative to create a chain of more than 1,200 travel agencies and has consistently said no more than about 75 shops will close as a result. The deal could be signed off by the Competition Commission any time between now and October.

The Sunday Times claimed Thomas Cook “is expected to rethink the number of shops it needs”. However, the spokeswoman told Travel Weekly: “We have said we will close 75 when the deal goes through.” She added: “We have said the strategic review will look at the multi-channel [distribution] business.”

Thomas Cook announced a “fundamental review” of its UK business following a profits warning in July. In a statement in early August – on the day Manny Fontenla-Novoa stepped down as chief executive – the group identified “the efficiency of our retail network” and “the size and structure of the airline” as among the areas the review would examine.

The spokeswoman confirmed the review is looking at the airline, including the size of the fleet, but said: “No decisions have been taken.”

The merger with the Co-ops has been touted as a means to increase both in-house distribution and margins, since more high-margin package holidays are sold through shops than other channels. However, industry commentators have questioned the wisdom of acquiring such a sizeable chain of stores during a consumer downturn.

Members of the Thomas Cook board – led by chairman Michael Beckett, acting chief executive Sam Weihagen and chief financial officer Paul Hollingworth – sought to demonstrate confidence in the group last week by purchasing more than 775,000 shares in the company.

The share price fluctuated wildly through last week along with the market, losing 16% on Monday, regaining 17% on Tuesday and climbing 6% on Friday to leave shares trading at 55.6p at the week’s end – giving Thomas Cook a market capitalisation of just under £487 million. Further fluctuations are expected.