Arnie Weissmann:
A truly useful mission state-
ment must include the ‘why’
of your business. 8
Michael Fabey:
Spirit unwittingly kicked a
hornets’ nest in Congress when
it added fees for carryons. 29
www.travelweekly.com
THE NATIONAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY
JULY 5, 2010
[ PLEDGES STRICT ENFORCEMENT ]
Carnival to set
tight new limits
on discounting
By Johanna Jainchill
Effective Aug. 1, Carnival Cruise Lines will
permit only Carnival-approved rates to be
mentioned in any form of communication
between travel retailers and consumers.
The new policy updates the Advertised
Pricing Policy, set in 2005, which stipulated
that only Carnival-approved rates could be
advertised in various forms of mass media.
“We are extremely excited,” said Joni Rein,
Carnival’s vice president for worldwide sales.
“It will give a terrific boost to travel agents
who choose to sell based on service, expertise
and relationships.”
The old policy allowed for some forms
of discounting in various types of nonmass
media communications, such as phone con-
versations, email, fliers and other forms of
direct, individual communication.
Carnival said the old policy had resulted
in continued price inconsistency within the
marketplace.
Changing of the guard
Leadership posts at some of the industry’s most influential enterprises are suddenly
coming open, promising to shake travel to its foundation and shape its future.
Industry seeks marketing funds from BP
‘The objective is to ensure
a truly level playing field
among travel agencies.’
— Carnival Cruise Lines
“The objective is to ensure a truly level
playing field among travel agencies and to
eliminate the unauthorized manipulation of
our pricing at the agency level,” Carnival said
in a statement. “Inconsistent pricing in the
marketplace confuses the consumer and encourages shopping, undermines an agency’s
ability to sell on service and relationships
and to close sales, and erodes the value of the
Carnival brand.”
The new policy is similar to Royal Caribbean’s no-rebating policy, which prevents an
agency from advertising, marketing or selling below its published or contracted pricing
By Bill Poling
WASHINGTON — It’s a two-front
war.
The oil in the Gulf of Mexico is
the principal enemy, but equally
troubling for the travel industry are
public perceptions — mostly misperceptions — about the status of
travel destinations in the region.
Gulf Coast tourism officials are determined
to fight those negative impressions with marketing, advertising and information — and
some are asking oil giant BP to pay for it all.
At a Capitol Hill briefing last week on the
spill and its effect on tourism, U.S. Travel
Association President Roger Dow called it
a “perceptual crisis,” and told congressional
staffers, industry observers and the news
media it was the kind of crisis that could be
fixed with accurate information and intelli-
gent marketing and promotion.
Perry said what was needed for the entire
region was about $500 million, in one big
fund if possible.
He said a carve-out from the existing $20
billion compensation fund is a possibility,
but as currently established, the fund isn’t set
up to handle requests for marketing support.
He said Mobile, Ala., made such a request
but was told it did not meet the guidelines
for filing claims.
Perry admitted that earmarking such a
sum for tourism marketing might be seen as
a “hard sell” when small businesses throughout the region are struggling and filing claims
for direct relief.
However, Perry and others said waging
war against misperceptions and misinformation is essential to save the tourism economy
of the region and repair what he called the
“brand damage” caused by the oil. It is, as
Perry put it, “a brand- and perception-driven
business,” and it responds to marketing.
