Recognizing that people like to be with people who share their own interests, as the internet has shown us, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises have announced 26 spotlight cruises for the 2006 sailing season. These cruises will be topic driven and provide educational and informational programs on the topics of the cruises. The topics will range from Yoga to Food and Win to Theater to Antiques.

I think this is a great idea. People like to be with people who share the same interests. Liking to cruise used to be the single greatest denominator that people on a ship would share. Now, you can find a cruise that will bring people with like interests together for a week of fun and learning. Bravo Radisson!

To learn more about these programs, visit the Radisson Seven Seas Cruise web site.

The top trend for 2006 in the cruise industry will be centered around themes.  As documented here and elsewhere all of the major cruise lines are offering themed cruises as a way of enticing the 11 million travellers who chose to take a cruise in 2005.  The offerings from the cruise lines are as diverse as taking a cruise with Rusty Wallace, NASCAR star, to dining with Georges Blanc.

The Radisson seven seas cruise has an ongoing partnership with Jean Michel Cousteau son of the faint ocean explorer shocks to provide lectures excursion salute related to oceanography and the environment other Radisson programs include shopping with experts from the BBC’s antique roadshow in Turkey Greece and Rome and the Polynesian island adventures like Paris selling a kayak Safari and swimming with stingrays.

Programs on Crystal cruises include talks by celebrities such as actress Debbie Reynolds and skater Dorothy Hamill; art classes, such as learning to sculpt using chunks of alabaster: and an onboard gallery of stunning photos of the life in China. via AP

After a tumultuous 2005, the cruise industry has many opportunities ahead.  The decision to offer specifics segmented cruises to the travelling public should be very beneficial and provide great opportunities for the cruise industry.

The Wyndham International Hotel Group was acquired by the Cendant Corporation for 101 million in cash. The acquisition includes 82 franchise agreements, 27 management contracts and the worldwide rights to the Wyndham brand for hotel and timeshare development.

This increases Cendants breadth into the hotel marketplace by providing an upscale brand to compliment their other hotel properties and time share businesses. Cendant Hotel Group is the world’s largest lodging franchisor with 6,460 hotels on five continents under the Wyndham(R), Super 8(R), Days Inn(R), Ramada(R), Travelodge(R), Howard Johnson(R), Knights Inn(R), Wingate Inn(R) and AmeriHost Inn(R) brands.

For more information, here is a press release and the story covered by Successful Meetings.

(more…)