SANDALS ROYAL CARIBBEAN OPENS TWO NEW RESTAURANTS
Sandals Royal Caribbean, located in Montego Bay, Jamaica, has expanded its 5-Star Global Gourmet dining offerings with the opening of two new restaurants – Spices and Bombay Club.
Guests can enjoy even more quality, authenticity and choice at up to 20 different restaurants at Sandals Royal Caribbean and the neighbouring Sandals Montego Bay, courtesy of Sandals’ exclusive exchange program between the two resorts.
Spices serves up Pan-Caribbean favourites for an authentic island restaurant experience and ever-changing daily lunch buffet themes with plenty of made-to-order options.
At night, guests can indulge in dishes infused with popular Caribbean spices like pimento, nutmeg and cinnamon. With its tropical surroundings and festive hospitality coupled with the restaurant’s Robert Mondavi Twin Oaks wine selection and premium liquors, Spices infuses Caribbean flare into its menu for an exotic dining experience.
Sandals is also excited to introduce aromatic Indian fare with the popular Bombay Club to Sandals Royal Caribbean. As the brand’s exclusive Indian restaurant, Bombay Club boasts Indian cuisine featuring a unique collection of flavourful dishes such as Shrimp Pakoras and Butter Chicken, along with vegan and vegetarian options like the aloo gobhi and the vegetable bullets.
www.sandals.com/royal-caribbean/restaurants
G-NORMOUS RETURNS
For the seventh consecutive year, G Adventures has brought back G-Normous agent incentive program, launched Jan. 1 and featuring more than $100K in prizes.
Through April 30, agents (excluding Quebec) have a chance to take advantage of extra commission and win weekly and monthly prizes including cash and free trips. The top-selling Canadian agent will receive the $5,000 G-Normous jackpot.
All agents with a G Adventures Sherpa account are automatically registered. Agents without a Sherpa account must register through their agency manager at www.gadventures.com/agents/register.
Regardless of travel date, agents will receive a ballot for every client booked on a G Adventures tour and two ballots for every client booked on a National Geographic Journeys trip from Jan. 1 to April 30. A ballot will be selected each week. Winners claim their prize from a wall of 25 prizes at https://www.gadventures.com/agents/g-normous.
For the month of February, agents will receive an extra 2% commission when they quote promo code “GNORMOUS” on their bookings.
The incentive program is supported with consumer offers exclusive to G-Normous participants, along with promotional materials and webinars.
The North American agent with the highest number of private group bookings of eight or more clients will win $2,500. To qualify, agents must make at least two private group bookings.
Four prizes will be awarded to agents making their first ever G Adventures booking.
www.gadventures.com/agents/g-normous
AGENTS INVITED TO DISCOVER INDIA
Services International Ltd. has released its summer 2020 fam tour options, all with private chauffeur driven cars with GPS and free WiFi.
Itineraries include: Taj Mahal Tour; Taj Mahal + Amritsar; Taj Mahal + Pushkar; Taj Mahal + Varanasi; Taj Mahal + Varanasi & Amritsar; South India Tour; Colour-ful Rajasthan; Rajasthan + Amritsar; Rajasthan + Varanasi; Rajasthan + Varanasi & Amritsar; Kerala Tour; Tamil Nadu Trip.
The Oberoi Luxury Fam Tours: six days, The Oberoi Golden Triangle Luxury Fam Trip; eight days, The Oberoi Golden Triangle Luxury Fam Tour with Udaipur.
Agents looking to visit any other part of the country can ask about rates. For further details and pricing, visit: www.india-tours.com/fam-tours
FCM TRAVEL SOLUTIONS INVESTS IN SHEP
FCM Travel Solutions has made a minority investment in Shep – the browser extension technology that assists companies with better management of travel purchased outside of their corporate travel policies.
Shep is the latest initiative joining recent similar investments and acquisitions made by the company that include Sam :], FCM’s Personal Travel Assistant on your mobile, and 30SecondsToFly with its AI-powered chat booking platform, to help foster additional product innovation for FCM in the business travel space.
FCM plans to incorporate Shep’s technology into the next generation of its platform offering.
Founded in 2016, Shep helps companies improve travel program savings, compliance and safety by monitoring activity on over 70 consumer travel sites.
In addition to tracking, Shep’s advanced browser extension approach can also enforce policy at the point of sale and link to client analytics and duty of care programs.
TICO LAYS CHARGES
The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO) has charged Michael Shane Adams with one count of operating as a travel agent without being registered.
The charge against Adams alleges that between March 1, 2018 and Nov. 20, 2019, Adams arranged overnight accommodations for consumers in the Niagara Region.
Adams conducted business under names including: Niagara Smart Stays, Smart Stays and Executive Leasing.
The properties in question were short-term accommodation rentals and were not owned by Adams, Niagara Smart Stays, Smart Stays or Executive Leasing.
Charges were laid on Nov. 27. Adams will appear in court in Welland, Ont. on Jan. 10.
SUNWING AIRLINES PRESIDENT HONOURED
Sunwing Airlines president, Mark Williams, received the ATAC Lifetime Honoree Award at the recent annual Canadian Aviation Conference and Tradeshow in Montreal.
The prestigious award is bestowed by the board of directors of the Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC) upon individuals who have made significant contributions and improvements to the Canadian air transportation industry and have been a part of the sector for a minimum of 25 years.
With a career in the global aviation industry spanning more than 30 years, Williams joined Sunwing in 2004 and was instrumental in the subsequent launch of Sunwing Airlines the year after. Since then, he has been a fundamental driver in the carrier’s exponential growth. From operating its first flight in November 2005 from Toronto to Cuba, the airline now operates out of 33 airports across Canada offering flights to 45 vacation destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Florida.
MSC LIGHTS UP HAMBURG’S ELBE RIVER
MSC Cruises recently christened MSC Grandiosa, its newest, most environmentally-advanced flagship, in Hamburg, Germany.
The cruise line’s largest and longest christening event ever, this was part of MSC Grandiosa’s series of celebrations over 27 days in eight countries and 11 ports.
Following the christening, Grandiosa embarked on a grand tour, visiting Southampton, UK; Lisbon, Portugal; Barcelona, Spain; Marseille, France and Genoa, Italy. MSC Grandiosa will then commence its usual seven-night cruises starting Nov. 23.
On board, features include: Two original new shows from Cirque du Soleil at Sea exclusive to MSC Cruises; a 305-ft.-long Mediterranean Promenade lined with international shops and restaurants; an immersive art experience featuring etchings from Edgar Degas’ Danse Dessin series; dedicated children’s areas designed in partnership with Chicco and LEGO; and the world’s first virtual digital cruise assistant – ZOE – in every stateroom.
The traditional christening ceremony took place in different locations across the ship, hosted by actress, TV presenter, model and singer, Michelle Hunziker, alongside co-host TV host & actor, Jochen Schropp, one of Germany’s favourite entertainers.
