Thomas Cook reveals rebrand

Thomas Cook reveals rebrand

By Phil Davies

Thomas Cook reveals rebrandThe Thomas Cook globe and strapline “Don’t just book it, Thomas Cook it” are to disappear from today and be replaced by a new group symbol across all markets.

A ‘sunny’ shining orange heart is the new unifying Thomas Cook brand and will appear with a new strapline: “Let’s go!”

The image revamp is the third major strand to the group’s turnaround plan led by chief executive Harriet Green following the ‘high tech, high touch’ strategy announcement in March and group refinancing in May.

The new brand strategy was unveiled this morning.

The ‘sunny heart’ will replace the current ‘globe’ symbol on websites, and in Cook’s international stores, airline fleet and throughout its UK headquarters and overseas offices.

The group’s many leading brands, such as Neckermann in Europe, Ving in Sweden, Condor in Germany and Elegant Resorts in the UK, will all connect with the ‘sunny heart’ in different ways.

Simplifying the brand proposition is a key element in the group’s profitable growth strategy, building on Thomas Cook’s already strong brand heritage and projecting its transformation into a single united business, the group said.

Green said: “At our Capital Markets presentation in March we committed to reduce our multiple UK brands from 30, to less than 10 consumer facing and B2B brands, eliminating confusion and making it easier for customers to interact with us.

“This major milestone in the transformation of our company, as we continue to develop our product offering and focus on our omni-channel approach, is much more than the rollout of a new logo.

“It symbolises how we are leveraging the combined power of the group to maximise our presence in the mind of customers, whilst helping to reduce cost.”

Harriet Green Thomas Cook

Group chief financial officer Michael Healy added: “Having already piloted this approach in our North European businesses since November 2012, we have proven that it has heightened brand awareness, driven more website traffic, increased early and repeat bookings and improved conversion rates.

‘This unification has been developed internally and we are rolling it out appropriately for this stage in our transformation journey.”

Green added: “What we’re announcing today is a renewed promise to our customers, our people and suppliers.  A promise that we’re putting them at the heart of our transformation it’s the essence of who we are.

‘The unification of our brands under the Sunny Heart is three fold; it will make it easier for our customers to understand the full strength and end-to-end value of the entire Thomas Cook Group coupled with our full innovative offering of our services and products; it will show more clearly what differentiates us and how we provide a total experience along every touch point – from research, to booking, to anticipation, to the holiday itself; and importantly, it will clarify our customer promise– a complete range of inspirational experiences for our customers.”

Carnival to build new Barcelona cruise terminal

Carnival to build new Barcelona cruise terminal

By Tom Stieghorst
Carnival Corp. and the port of Barcelona reached an agreement on the construction of a new $27 million cruise terminal that will handle post-Panamax sized ships.

The terminal will be about 107,000 square feet, large enough to accommodate 4,500 people. It is expected to open in 2016.

Carnival already operates a terminal at the port, which will be expanded by about 14,000 square feet. Both terminals are on the Adossat Wharf.

Carnival will invest the $27 million and run the terminal as a concession. The port will invest about $2.7 million on roads and other infrastructure and about $2 million on signage.

Barcelona is the fourth-busiest cruise port in the world, with an estimated passenger volume of 2.6 million passengers this year.

Post-Panamax ships

Post-Panamax or over-Panamax denote ships larger than Panamax that do not fit in the canal, such as supertankers and the largest modern container ships. The “largest oil tanker in the world”—whichever ship held the title at the time—has not been able to transit the Panama Canal at least since the Idemitsu Maru was launched in the 1960s; it carried about 150,000 deadweight tons. All US Navy aircraft carriers since USS Midway have been in the post-Panamax class

Cruise lines working with authorities over Venice lagoon debate

Cruise lines working with authorities over Venice lagoon debate

By Hollie-Rae Merrick

Cruise lines working with authorities over Venice lagoon debateCruise lines are working with Italian authorities to look at the option of moving the port in Venice to another part of the canal after concerns over the ships’ impact on the city.

Speaking at a Clia press conference earlier today, Pierfrancesco Vago, executive chairman of MSC Cruises, said the industry was working with officials to find a solution and was looking at different canals to establish which would be the best alternative.

His comments came just days after protesters delayed a procession of cruise ships for over an hour by leaping into Venice’s Guidecca canal. The demonstrators believe the cruise ships are threatening the city’s foundations and want the port moved to an island away from the city.

Vago said the issue was “deeply emotional” for some Venetians, however the majority support the cruise lines calling at the destination.

He said there was no environmental impact on Venice by the vessels as cruise lines had already agreed to have a low sulphur admission on entering the city.

Vago said lines and authorities were looking at the ecosystems in the waters surrounding Venice to establish whether there was an alternative and appropriate route.

He added: “We (the cruise industry) are important to the city of Venice, everybody understands that.

“One shop out of six lives because of the cruise industry, 33% of the hotel industry lives because of the cruise industry. It is an emotional impact.”

Howard Frank, Carnival Corporation’s vice chairman and chief operating officer said he agreed that the issue was not a environmental one.

He said the industry needed to do a better job in getting the message out about how environmentally friendly cruise ships had become.