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The Independent Traveler, Inc. names new General Manager

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 August 2015 04 August 2015

The Independent Traveler, Inc. – publisher of three leading online travel sites, and part of the TripAdvisor Media Group – announces the appointment of Mike Ewing as general manager. Ewing will oversee the online publisher’s three brands – Cruise Critic, Family Vacation Critic and IndependentTraveler.com.

“We’re thrilled that Mike has joined the Independent Traveler team, heading up the company’s business strategies and day-to-day operations,” said David Krauter, President, SmarterTravel and The Independent Traveler, Inc. “Mike’s extensive background across a variety of business entities – from startup to publicly traded, online and offline – will help us capture the tremendous opportunities ahead for the company.”

Ewing will be responsible for the continued growth of the publisher’s three sites, including Cruise Critic – the world’s largest online cruise resource. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015, Cruise Critic stands as a leader in the cruise industry. Additionally, Ewing will lead efforts to continue growth for Family Vacation Critic and IndependentTraveler.com.

“Coming into a well-established, highly-esteemed company is an exciting opportunity," explains Ewing. “The Independent Traveler has solidified itself as a clear leader. I’m pleased to be joining the existing team to support the company’s continued success. There is a huge opportunity to take these brands to the next level and ultimately to help travelers plan the perfect vacation.”

Prior to joining The Independent Traveler, Inc., Ewing held management roles at LogMeIn, Vistaprint, and Monster.com. Ewing’s professional career includes time in the US as well as time abroad with responsibility for large geographic regions. An avid traveler, Ewing has been around the world while managing global teams focused on consumer, media and B2B businesses. Ewing is a regular speaker and contributor on topics as wide-ranging as sales and marketing, building high-performance teams and venture funding.

Meyer Turku starts production of new generation LNG powered ferry for Tallink

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 04 August 2015 04 August 2015

The start of production of Tallink's new generation LNG powered fast ferry for the Tallinn-Helsinki route was celebrated on the 4th of August 2015 at Meyer Turku shipyard.

The new ferry will be approximately 212 metres in length with a gross tonnage of 49 000. The ship will operate on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn and she is designed for carrying 2800 passengers. The service speed is 27 knots. The ship will be delivered from Meyer Turku in the beginning of 2017. The project gives approximately 2000 person-years of employment for the shipyard and the supplier network.

The new environmentally friendly ship uses LNG as fuel and she will comply with the new and stricter emission regulations for the ECA areas including the Baltic Sea. The highly innovative hull form minimizes the hydrodynamic flow resistance, which together with other innovative solutions will bring significant improvement in energy efficiency. Efficient and fast cargo turnaround in ports has been taken into account in the design of the new generation fast ferry.

Janek Stalmeister, the CEO of AS Tallink Grupp, said that the new shuttle vessel will pave the way for the next era of fast ferry service on the Tallinn-Helsinki route. "The environmental performance and many innovative solutions in the technical and service areas will be benchmarks for the market and also our shuttle service in general," added Stalmeister.

"With the new Tallink fast ferry we are taking the next step in the technical development of the LNG ferries – all tailored to the specific needs of our customer. For the Turku yard, this order boosts our production volume in 2016 by 30% above the 2015 level," states Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku Oy.

TUI Cruises opens 4,000 sqm Arts & Entertainment centre in Berlin

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 03 August 2015 03 August 2015

TUI Cruises, the Hamburg based premium market cruise shipping company, says its 4,000 sqm Arts & Entertainment centre in Berlin, the company said in a statement.

Located in Treptow, the venue will be used to develop and test new shows and other entertainment programmes for the ships of the company. The TUI Cruises fleet currently comprises four ships and four newbuildings are on order. However, two of the oldest units have been earmarked for transfer to Thomson Cruises in the UK. The company is also part of the TUI AG group.

The centre employs a permanent staff of 29 persons that ranges from composers to choreographers and tailors that make costumes. It is expected that about 1,000 persons per year will audition at the centre, TUI Cruises said.

Richard Welge is new Vice President Customer Experience of AIDA Cruises

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 31 July 2015 31 July 2015

Richard Welge (49) is the new Vice President Customer Experience of AIDA Cruises. He reports directly to Michael Ungerer, President of AIDA Cruises, in this newly created position.
"I am delighted to have Richard Welge on board as an experienced professional who will help us be even more consistent about putting guests first in everything we do and continue to drive our company's growth," said Ungerer.

"I look forward to helping to shape such a highly emotional product as AIDA in the future. I am excited that AIDA has created this new position as an expression of its determination to truly put guests first," Welge stated.

Welge has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience in a wide variety of industries and a strong track record of focusing on customer satisfaction and delivering a seamless product experience. Welge hails from PAYBACK where he was Head of Marketing. Prior to that, he held various management positions at comdirect bank for twelve years, most recently serving as Head of Marketing and Sales for eight years. Welge has an interesting biography. He grew up in Namibia and obtained a degree in business administration in Johannesburg, South Africa. He is married with two children.

AIDA Cruises is one of Germany’s fastest growing and most financially successful tourism businesses and currently employs around 7,000 people from 40 countries. Of these employees, 6,000 work on board and 1,000 work at the company headquarters in Rostock and Hamburg. With its 10 cruise ships, AlDA currently operates and markets one of the most state-of-the-art fleets in the world. The ships are operated in compliance with the highest international quality, environmental, and safety standards. By 2020, the AIDA fleet will expand to 14 ships.

Costa Group Appoints Rahul Chakkara as New Chief Digital Officer

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 31 July 2015 31 July 2015

Effective Aug. 1, 2015, Rahul Chakkara will join the Costa Group leadership team as the new chief digital officer following the creation of the Costa Group Digital Unit in Hamburg earlier this year. He will report directly to Michael Thamm, chief executive officer of Costa Group.

"I am very pleased that, with Rahul, we have acquired a top leader with international experience who will successfully drive the continuing growth of our company by placing digital at the heart of the customer engagement, operations and service, and employee experience," said Thamm.

Before joining Costa Group Chakkara was at TalkTalk plc, a telecommunications company in United Kingdom, where he successfully led the digital transformation in the consumer division. Previously, he was general manager, future media, at the BBC, where he had a leading role in the development of BBC's iPlayer and Youview.

The Costa Group Digital Unit was founded in spring 2015 in Hamburg with the aim of supporting Costa Group brands Costa Cruises, Costa Asia and AIDA Cruises, using digital innovation, products and technologies to improve customer engagement and satisfaction and -- above all -- to further enhance the safety of our guests and crew through additional digitization and support of environmental, safety and security processes within the Costa Group.