In a statement the Carnival-owned cruise giant has confirmed that it will be “introducing a different business model in the UK that will see all passenger bookings made directly through our call centre and online sales platform.”
It added that the decision had been made “in response to current and anticipated shifts in the UK consumer market, including the digitisation of travel sales”, and that the move was only being implemented in the UK.
UK operations will now be centralized through a single, dedicated team based in Costa’s head office in Genoa.
The line added that all 2016 bookings made by British travel agents would be unaffected and would be managed by those agencies with the full support of the Costa Cruises customer service team.
Costa insisted that it remained committed to the UK market, however it acknowledged that as part of the move there would be one staff member leaving the company. It added: "Since 2011, our UK operations have been managed through European offices so there will be no change or disruption to our booking process or customer service offering for the UK market".
It also insisted that the move was unrelated the Costa Concordia tragedy in 2012, and that it remained in a strong position in the European cruise market.
Meanwhile the line was keen to stress that the change was only being made for the Costa brand and only for the UK market. "All other branches of Carnival will be continuing their business as they currently are. Their relationships with the UK trade will continue as usual," it added.
What do you think of the move? Are you concerned other lines may follow suit? Let us know your thoughts in the comment space below.
The move is likely to be deeply contentious for the UK trade. Agents are understood to have heard rumours this may happen from the US, but now the cruise giant has confirmed it is to cut out the trade, there will likely be fears this could set a precedent. Other Carnival Corp-owned lines would be wise to move quickly and reassure agents this will not be the case.
