Arnie Weissmann:
‘The story of long, strange trips for two
very different men who started airlines.’
P. 12
NEW LIVERY IN THE AIR
British Airways named its startup OpenSkies
for its origins: the U.S.-E.U. open-skies pact.
P. 6
www.travelweekly.com
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
JANUARY 14, 2008
[ COUNTERING THE DOLLAR’S SLIDE ]
Globus will levy
a 5% surcharge
on Europe tours
By Michelle Baran
Closing the
Globus has become the first tour operator in
four years to attempt to counter the impact
of the weakened dollar by levying a currency
surcharge.
The surcharge, equal to about 5% of the
tour price, will be assessed on bookings
made after Jan. 16 on about 85% of its 2008
Europe tours.
Other tour operators contacted late last
week by Travel Weekly said they had no
plans to levy their own surcharges. However, Bob Whitley, president of the U.S. Tour
Operators Association, said that he was certain other tour operators were considering
surcharges and would make their decisions
based on first-quarter results.
The last time such charges were introduced, three years ago, several tour operators, including Globus, Avanti Destinations
and Brendan Worldwide Vacations, adopted
them.
See GLOBUS on Page 59
G a p
Travel agents like to
think their clients
are loyal. But ask
most agency owners
to quantify client
retention or repeat
business and you’re
likely to be answered
with some blank stares.
BY LESTER CRAFT PAGE 24
[ CLAIMS CWT HAS NOW SURPASSED AMERICAN EXPRESS IN SALES ]
Marilyn Carlson Nels on passes Carlson CEO title to Joly
By Arnie Weissmann
In an emotional ceremony at the company’s
Minnetonka, Minn., headquarters, Marilyn
Carlson Nelson announced that she would
hand over the titles of CEO and president of
Carlson Cos. to Hubert Joly on March 1.
Joly, whom Carlson Nelson called “a new
member of a very exclusive club,” is currently
CEO of Carlson Wagonlit Travel; he will be
only the fourth chief executive, and the first
nonfamily member, to lead the parent company in its 70-year history.
Joly was hired in 2004 to run CWT, which
is 55% owned by Carlson and is No. 2 on the
Travel Weekly Power List. Under his administration, the company grew from $8.9 billion
to $22 billion in sales.
During the announcement that Joly was
getting the top spot,
Carlson Nelson characterized CWT as “the
leading global travel
management company.” In a joint interview
with Travel Weekly after the ceremony, Joly
and Carlson Nelson Marilyn Carlson
laid out the case that Nelson
CWT had surpassed American Express in
gross sales volume (see report, Page 58).
Carlson Nelson said that a search to replace Joly as CEO of CWT had been initiated.
As CEO and president of the Carlson
Cos., Joly’s portfolio will also include four
travel agency franchise brands — Carlson
Wagonlit Travel Associates, Results Travel,
Cruise Holidays and
SeaMaster Cruises —
as well as the Radisson, Regent, Park
Plaza, Country Inn
and Park Inn hotel
brands and T.G.I. Fridays and Pick Up Stix
Hubert Joly restaurants. In total,
Carlson brands operate in 150 countries and represent sales of
$37 billion.
Also during the joint interview, Carlson
Nelson and Joly spoke about their future
partnership as chairman and CEO, respectively. Joly, referencing the impressive
growth in CWT after he was appointed its
chief, said, “We now want to accomplish
more of the same for Carlson as a whole.”
Asked how the division of duties would
See CARLSON on Page 58
A new era at Carlson
‘We’re No. 1’ — Carlson says CWT has
now surpassed American Express. Not
so fast! AmEx protests. We analyze
both companies’ claims and sales fig-
ures. Page 58.
Marilyn Carlson Nelson Q&A — The
doyenne of the travel world shares her
thoughts with Editor in Chief Arnie
Weissmann. Page 32.
An outside leader — Family friction
resulted in the first nonfamily CEO in
Carlson Cos.’ history. Page 33.
