More than 150 members attended two Zoom events held this week; Royal Caribbean’s Stuart Byron hosted the first session, Kick-Starting Cruising, which focused on the line’s new safety measures and how it will safely relaunch its itineraries.
The second, Kick-Starting Touring, was hosted by Travelsphere and Just You’s Sarah Weetman, who discussed how the operators’ products and tours would evolve following the coronavirus crisis, and how smaller groups, private transfers and more innovative tours would drive the sector forward.
The consortium on Friday (5 June) pledged to redouble its focus on rebuilding members’ confidence by hosting more sessions later this month, with attentions turning to UK domestic breaks, luxury trips and mainstream holidays.
"For the past two months, we have hosted Zoom calls with our members which have been a great opportunity for us to get their honest feedback about their day-to-day challenges, and also look at ways we can support and help them navigate this crisis," said TTNG chief executive Gary Lewis.
"We have launched these virtual events with a focus on different sectors of the industry. They have been designed with the clear focus of helping members rebuild their customers’ confidence in booking holidays for later this year and for 2021."
Lewis said TTNG’s commercial team had been in "constant" contact with its partners and suppliers to provide members with the latest updates on their policies and refund terms, and to encourage them to participate in the events.
"As the conversations are changing and our members see a rise in the number of enquiries from their customers, we believe it’s important to get our business partners in front of our members and get them to present their plans, short and medium-term," said Lewis.
"Our plan is to run more virtual events throughout June, focusing on UK breaks, luxury, and the mainstream market."
