CELEBRITY CHANGES
Celebrity Cruises has changed the itinerary of its ship Century to avoid sailing to or from Venice in May. The move aims to allay fears about cruising on the Adriatic following the crisis in Kosovo. However, pre or post-cruise land packages in Venice will be unaffected by the route change. Meanwhile, Costa Cruises is to position its vessels Costa Classica and Costa Victoria in Genoa this summer, rather than Venice as planned. Silversea Cruises has axed port calls in Croatia on three Mediterranean cruises this summer.
POWWOW HOTEL FIXED
The UK delegation of tour operators and travel industry executives attending this year’s POWWOW in Miami are staying at the Loews Hotel, Miami Beach. POWWOW is being held between May 15 and 19.
AGENCY SCOOPS AWARD
Homeworking specialist Travel Counsellors has won the Sunday Times/Virgin Atlantic Award for Customer Service. The Atherton, Greater Manchester-based travel agency competed with other Fast Track 100 companies to take the title. Last year the agency was named the fourth fastest growing unquoted company in Britain (Travel Weekly December 9).
ABTA SEEKS VOTES
ABTA’s Tour Operators’ Council is seeking nominations to replace US Airtours representative Monty Portman who has resigned. The vacancy is for Band C, which covers operators with an annual turnover of not less than £19.4m but less than £47.4m. The deadline for nominations is Monday May 10 at 5pm. Interested parties should contact manager, projects Susan Parsons on 0171-307 1915.