Known for its excellence in making huge cruise ships, the mass market liner Royal Caribbean International has again set a benchmark by rolling out yet another landmark vessel named ‘Oasis of the seas’. The ship is enormously huge and weighs 225,000 tons. With its gigantic looks and world class comforts the ship has become the ‘world’s biggest cruiseship’. The mega ship is truly a perfect holiday option with its number of entertainment measures and is equally blissful for the agents as it will augment their sale volumes.

The launch of the new ship is viewed differently by different travel agents. According to Jason Peters, sales director, Creative Cruises, Teddington said: “You can’t help but marvel at Oasis of the Seas, but whether it’s appropriate for an individual client is another matter. Agents have got to understand this is a big ship and very different from anything else. The nice thing is that it is big enough to allow clients to pick out and enjoy the parts that suit them. The only thing I don’t like is you have to be so organized and pre-book restaurants and entertainment.”

Going by what Clare Dudley, cruise development manager, Fred Olsen Group, Ipswich said on the launch of the ‘Oasis of the seas’, “I didn’t expect to like Oasis. I thought it would be too big, too corny and too over the top, but I love it. But it’s a floating resort more than a ship, so you have got to sell it to the right person. Families, couples, hen and stag groups, and a younger audience, or at least people who want lots of things to do. It’s not for people who want a cruise experience. My concern is that agents will mis-sell, it as it’s not even right for every past Royal Caribbean passenger.”

Another noteworthy and prominent bigwig of the travel fraternity, Phil Nuttall, managing director, the Cruise Village, Blackpool said “This is fantastic and if it’s sold correctly we could have a winner on our hands. My fear is that agents will sell it on the wow factor, but people will come away disappointed because they’ve not been able to see shows or eat in the specialty restaurants. They have to be organized and pre-book these things, like with Disney. It’s fine, but only if they understand that. I would prefer it if they limited people to pre-booking two shows and two restaurants. Then everyone gets a chance to experience what’s on offer.”

The Association Of Independent tour operators (AITO) has been lashed for not conceding to the norms set to promote responsible tourism in UK. Responsible tourism is needed for the greener and healthier environment but the AITO fails to accomplish the drive as the members of the association are not ready to give up their own commercial interests for the common interest of the group. Rather they are putting their own commercial interests first.

Delivering a speech at the AITO conference in Cochin, Kerala, professor of responsible tourism management and director of the International Center for Responsible Tourism, professor Harold Goodwin, said that a remarkable number of tourists are getting increasingly concerned about the growing climatic disorders and environmental issues. Stats state that 38% of the tourists in 2008 expressed their guilt for the impact their holidays had on the local region. The number was only 17% in 1999.

He also blamed the association in his speech and said that it is the association that acts indifferent about the issue. He also believed that the association is also losing a commercial advantage by not demonstrating that its members have greater responsible tourism credentials.

Goodwin said: “Consumers don’t want to feel guilty about the product they’ve been sold, they don’t want to come back and think they’ve made the destination worse by going there.

“It (AITO’s dedication to responsible tourism) allows you to compete on something other than price and you will lose if you’re trying to compete on price with the big guys.

“AITO comprises the most sustainable collection of travel companies but you’re not getting the message out there; you’re not doing extra marketing.

“If you don’t do it you’re going to be eclipsed by the ABTAs and the FTOs. You need to share that good news story with the consumers so they can respond to that.”

AITO’s responsible tourism committee’s chairman and the managing director of Rainbow Holidays, Roger Diski said that the drive nosedived because of the lack of consensus and coordination amongst the association’s members. He said the association allowed the commercial interests of the members to overule responsible tourism commitments.

He further added: “I don’t think that particularly means the responsible tourism committee isn’t doing its job; we’ve been given an impossible task and companies such as the Co-operative, TUI and Thomas Cook are now going to steal the agenda.

“There’s not enough cash for the AITO responsible tourism committee budget.

“When we’ve got 160 company members all promoting themselves and their own messages, they’re not really going to contribute to an AITO message, particularly when many of the other companies are their competitors.”

AITO chairman, Derek Moore also acceded to the fact that some of the association’s members had been slow to accept the healthy and ethical travel ways and said the association is working to change this.

He added: “Some members of AITO in the past have perhaps been less convinced over the benefits of taking a more responsible approach.

“Over the next 12 months we want to strongly promote to our members the idea of being accredited in the AITO responsible tourism accreditation scheme. We want to bring that more to the fore in what AITO does.”