United Kingdom
United States
Asia Pacific
Cruise Control wins top Costa award
Specialist independent agency Cruise Control has picked up the top UK sales award from Costa Cruises for the second year running.
The company was amongst six UK travel companies nominated by the Italian line for their high levels of business achieved in the past year.
Cruise Control took the main prize for generating £1 million extra business for Costa in the period.
Other winners in the line’s Champion of the Seas awards were The Travel House, Sealand Travel Centre and TV Travel Shop. Page & Moy and Cosmos were also nominated.
The awards were handed out at a ceremony on board Costa’s new 3,470-passenger flagship Costa Magica on a preview sailing for the travel trade in the Mediterranean.
Agents from 40 countries were represented on the two-night voyage from Savona in Italy.
Costa, part of the Carnival Corporation, announced that it had acquired the AIDA Cruises brand, the German market’s leading cruise line with four ships.
The combination of Costa and AIDA gives a total fleet of 15 vessels. There are orders for two more 2,030-passenger AIDA ships and one 3,800-passenger vessel for Costa.
AIDA had a turnover of more than E300 million and carried 179,000 passengers in 2003. Last year Costa recorded sales of E786 million, a rise of seven per cent over 2002, and carried 557,300 passengers, up 21%.
Report by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
Kittipong Prapattong’s Plan for Thailand’s Tourism Growth: Taxes, Visas, and Campaigns
James Jin: Didatravel’s Journey from China to Global Reach and the Impact of AI on Travel
Darien Schaefer on Pensacola’s Evolution: From Small Town to Global Destination
Florida Tourism’s Next Frontier: Dana Young on Expanding Beyond the Classics
Patrick Harrison on Tampa Bay Tourism’s Resilience and Marketing Strategy
Bubba O’Keefe on Clarksdale’s Vibrant Music Scene
Commemorating Elvis and Embracing Tupelo’s Culture with Jennie Bradford Curlee
Craig Ray and the Expansion of the Blues Trail
Presenting Mississippi’s Cultural Trails with Katie Coats
Robert Terrell: A Journey Through BB King’s Influence
Rochelle Hicks: Celebrating Mississippi’s Musical Legacy
Exploring Jacksonville with Katie Mitura: The Flip Side of Florida
Dozens fall ill in P&O Cruises ship outbreak
Boy falls to death on cruise ship
Turkish Airlines flight in emergency landing after pilot dies
Unexpected wave rocks cruise ship
Woman dies after going overboard in English Channel