ITB Berlin News 2019 - Preview Edition

Zeljka Galik Cimic
Product Development Manager,
Scenic tours Europe AGs
Andrew Yell
General Manager, Global Sales,
Product Contracting & Operations,
Excite Holidays
Scenic tours Europe to
target cruise sector in
2019
Themed travel
experiences are in
demand
Zeljka Galik Cimic is Product Development Manager, Scenic
tours Europe AG, which was established in Newcastle, Australia
in 1986. We asked her to tell us more about the business and
what she is looking for at ITB Berlin.
The Scenic story began when
our founder Glen Moroney began
operating coach tours throughout
Australia, quickly expanding into
New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and
South Africa. By the end of the
decade, Scenic was hosting tours
to Canada and Alaska, and in 2008
we launched our unique Space-
Ships and began offering luxury allinclusive
river cruises throughout
Europe. In 2019, Scenic will enter
a new chapter in its journey with
the launch of its first ocean cruising
vessel, Scenic Eclipse.
What are the main trends you are
seeing in terms of buyer demand?
Cruise passengers are becoming
younger and more active. Guests
are looking for unique events and
off the beaten path locations and
experiences.
What are you hoping to gain from
this year’s ITB Berlin?
ITB is great place to look for new
ideas to further develop our tours and
cruises, it also provides opportunity
to exchange experiences with
colleagues and vendors.
Are you particularly interested in
particular travel themes?
New ports and destinations that are
trying to come to tourist market are
always interesting to me. It is great
to see new destinations seeing the
value in development of tourism
infrastructure.
How important is the speed dating
organised at ITB for you?
It helps to establish initial contacts
with potential vendors.
Why did you decide to join the ITB
Berlin Buyers Circle, and what, for
you, are the key advantages of being
a member?
Buyers Circle membership helps
to make the whole experience less
stressful. It is great to have central
location to meet with suppliers or
just relax between meetings, also
fast lane admission helps a lot to
start meetings early and have more
productive day.
How important is ITB Berlin for you
as an event and why?
ITB Berlin is one of the most
important events in a year for me
because of opportunity to meet
worldwide suppliers within few days.
It provides great opportunity to learn
and develop products in new regions
and get ideas to improve already
existing programs.
It is always nice to learn about new
trends and developments on the
market
Andrew Yell is General Manager, Global Sales,
Product Contracting & Operations, Excite Holidays,
which has enjoyed year-on-year growth from a single
office in Sydney, Australia to include offices in New
Zealand, USA, UK, Thailand, Singapore and Greece
since its inception in 2002. We asked him to tell us
a little more about his organisation and what he’s
looking for at ITB Berlin.
We secure the best possible
rates from the world biggest
hotel chains to one of a kind
boutique properties. We work
exclusive with travel agents
in a B2B environment and
we own and develop our own
technology which ensure we
stay one step ahead.
What are the main trends you
are seeing in terms of buyer
demand?
Suppliers moving away from
static contracts and taking
control of their yield and
inventory. Travel agents are
demanding best rate of the day
and last room availability all
within in one simple booking
environment, consumers are
well researched and don’t like
being dictated to, they want
choice and options presented
to them.
What are you hoping to gain
from this year’s ITB Berlin?
ITB gives me a way to connect
with our existing partners
all in one place, but more
importantly it gives me a
global perspective on the
tourism world.
Are you particularly interested
in particular travel themes?
Emerging markets are always
of interest to see what’s the
“next hot place”. Themed travel
experiences are in demand so
I will be using some of my time
to further explore specialised
operators in this space as well
as new technology
Why did you decide to join
the ITB Berlin Buyers Circle,
and what, for you, are the
key advantages of being a
member?
Being a member of the ITB
Buyers Circle is important for
me personally and for Excite
Holidays, it signals to all
parties that the members of
the Buyers Circle are there for
serious business and that we
have significant commercial
business to transact
ITB BERLIN NEWS • Wednesday 27 th February 2019