Virgin Voyages to Create 300 Jobs in Ft. Lauderdale

Posted on 15 February, 2018 by Spacejunkie2

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Florida Governor Rick Scott today announced that Virgin Voyages has selected Plantation for its new headquarters, which will create 300 new jobs.

The company will also invest $15.9 million in the local community, according to a statement.

Governor Scott said, “I am proud to announce that Virgin Voyages has selected Florida to locate their new headquarters, which will create more than 300 new jobs for families in South Florida. As a top tourism destination, the gateway to Latin America and one of the most business-friendly states, Florida is the best place for Virgin Voyages’ new headquarters.”

Thomas McAlpin, President and CEO of Virgin Voyages said, “Virgin brands have a long history of raising the bar in every industry we enter. We are proud to bring that mindset to the South Florida community and introduce new jobs and business opportunities to the area.”

Richard Branson, founder of Virgin said, “We basically decided, ‘Let’s have a blank sheet of paper, let’s create the kind of voyage company that we would like to go on,’ and that’s what we’ve done.”

Virgin Voyages will be hiring a range of roles in different departments from Finance to Customer Care, according to the statement.

Peter Antonacci, CEO of Enterprise Florida, Inc., said, “Broward County is the ideal location for Virgin to launch its new cruise line Virgin Voyages. Enterprise Florida’s Board of Directors are enthusiastic that Florida won this exciting new project.”

VISIT FLORIDA President & CEO Ken Lawson said, “Virgin Voyages decision to open headquarters in South Florida is fantastic news for tourism in our state. At VISIT FLORIDA, we are marketing the diversity and beauty of our state to the rest of the world. By creating more opportunities for travelLers from around the world to experience Florida, Virgin Voyages is helping us make Florida the number one global destination, and I look forward to their continued success.”

Cissy Proctor, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “Congratulations to Virgin Voyages on locating their new headquarters in the Sunshine State. South Florida is an excellent choice for growing a company, with its strong business community and robust workforce. We look forward to your success.”

Bob Swindell, President and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance said, “Congratulations Virgin Voyages, we are thrilled to be home to a company with the great potential to reinvent the cruise industry under the iconic Virgin flag.”

Mayor Diane Veltri Bendekovic of the City of Plantation said, “Plantation has a long reputation as a location of choice for game-changing companies like Virgin Voyages. We look forward to their success and are proud to be home to the newest Virgin brand.

Mayor Beam Furr of Broward County said, “We’re glad that Virgin Voyages and other major global companies continue to choose Broward County for their headquarters operations. We look forward to the company’s continued growth as part of an important targeted industry for our community.”

Virgin Rethinks Funnel Design Concept

Posted on 28 November, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

Virgin Voyages is promising to reinvent the cruise experience, and one of the most traditional parts of a cruise ship – the funnel – will be rethought and redesigned for the company’s upcoming trio of Lady-class ships.

“We’re at the top of the game in super yacht design,” said Kristian Arens, exterior design lead for England-based Redman Whiteley Dixon (RWD).

The design firm has been tapped by Virgin to redevelop the cruise ship funnel.

“This big cruise ship needed elements to be more of a superyacht than a cruise ship,” continued Arens.

“What Virgin Voyages really wanted to do was to create something very different. They wanted the funnel to be a funnel, but not a funnel.”

Added Adrian Chisnell, project manager: “It was actually known as the non-funnel … traditionally (the funnel) has been a bit of an afterthought. It has been put on top of the boat.

“This is the first time we know the funnel is not being used in that way,” he said.

The duo from RWD described their design brief for Virgin as luxurious and iconic, while being different, exciting and new.

“The Virgin Voyages ship will hopefully be one of the most recognizable in the world,” Chisnell said.

Virgin Voyages vows to get trade back on board

Posted on 22 November, 2017 by Spacejunkie2

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Virgin Voyages has confirmed it will sell through agents and instigate an “epic sea change” in the organisation to make the company a business the trade wants to work with again.

Acknowledging that agents in the UK were hurt when Virgin Holidays severed ties with the trade and became a direct-sell-only brand in 2015, vice‑president of sales and business development Stacy Shaw said: “One of my challenges is agents in the UK assuming we won’t be interested in them selling Virgin Voyages.

“But this is more than just having an interest in the trade selling us. My job is one of creating an epic sea change for the organisation and our partners.

“My job is to create a really good news story for the trade that makes us a company that agents really want to do business with.”

Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly, Shaw added: “However transactionally profitable and amazing selling Virgin Voyages will be, we want to do more than that. We want to focus on the pain points for agents and take them away.”

A new UK-based international sales director is due to be in place by January who will recruit field sales managers. Shaw said: “Their next job will be looking at commission structures, contracts and how we are going to support the trade with marketing.”

She added: “I expect this to take until mid-year, but from then we will really start engaging with accounts and doing a big blitz with the trade.

“We have a big job to do kicking off all the education. One of the most important jobs for next year with the trade is helping them to understand how we’re different.

“We don’t think our product is for everybody and we will be explicit about that. If agents have customers who are looking for Broadway shows and FlowRiders, Virgin Voyages is not for them.”