THE NEW owners of Paul Mundy Cruising have renamed it Mundy Cruising.
The new managing director Edwina Lonsdale, who bought the specialist cruise agency in partnership with her husband Matthew Lonsdale and Tony Moy last summer (Travel Weekly August 2), announced the change at a trade event in London last week.
“The name is very strong so we wanted to keep it but we also wanted to distance it slightly from the man himself because he is no longer here,” she explained.
She also announced plans to launch an Internet site by the end of March.
She said: “This will not be a cyberspace bucket shop. It will be a means for us to engage our customers further in dialogue to continue to improve our competitive edge.”
Lonsdale admitted the current commercial climate was difficult for retail travel agents, who are facing stiff competition from the vertically integrated chains, on-line agents and operators who sell directly to their customers.
“In our vision, there is no future for retailers who simply distribute product at a cheaper price,” she said.
“With electronic distribution the cruiselines will easily be able to do that themselves.”
Lonsdale claimed that Mundy Cruising would compete by offering a superior customer service which was too labour intensive for the cruiselines to provide themselves.