Henry Yu wins Executive of the Year in travel services at SBR Management Excellence Awards

The managing director was recognised for leading The Travel Corporation.

In post-pandemic Singapore, The Travel Corporation is gearing up to jazz up the travel service sector. Behind this is managing director for Asia Henry Yu, who is putting river cruising in the forefront of the company’s new initiatives to bounce back.

Henry Yu believes that the interest in river cruising will continue to grow in 2022 and 2023. Cruise loyalists will remain loyal to cruising because the benefits, including convenience, value, and experience are unmatched.

The company is seeing a shift from cruisers who usually take larger ocean cruises to now trying smaller ships, like river cruises. It sees that the river cruise product will continue to expand and diversify, attracting new audiences to this style of travel which holds incredible appeal.

Across both its brands, the company is seeing more interest in exotic, off-the-beaten-path destinations such as the Peruvian Amazon and the less discovered European locales.

In this new post-COVID world, the company recognises that conspicuous cleanliness is a must. Guests must be certain that companies make their health and safety the priority.

The ability to explore new destinations in comfort, at ease and conveniently is more important than ever. The Travel Corporation’s ships have an average capacity of just 120 passengers, which means that its guests can enjoy all of the benefits of cruising, but with fewer people and more personalised service.

To do this, the company has started educating travel agent partners through its online eLearning system on updated protocols, as well as new products with webinars in Asia.

There will be several new virtual online webinars to have travel agents prepared for understanding how we are personalising the brand experience, and also getting them to know more about new itineraries and new ships.

For these forward-looking projects, Henry Yu was given the Executive of the year - Travel Services award in the recently concluded Singapore Business Review Management Excellence Awards. The annual awards programme recognises excellent executives, innovators and teams, as well as HR and company initiatives that promote well-being of employees.

According to the company, there will be an introduction of new super ships, destinations, and first-of-its-kind offerings across its brands in 2022 and 2023 to the guests in Asia.

On Uniworld, it launched two new cruise and rail itineraries in partnership with Golden Eagle Luxury Trains through Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. This gave guests a unique opportunity to explore a variety of destinations across several countries in one journey.

It will also set sail in South America in 2021, with two new Peruvian Amazon itineraries aboard the Aria Amazon. Three new super ships – the S.S. La Venezia in Italy, the S.S. Sphinx in Egypt, and the S.S. São Gabriel in Portugal received tremendous market response from the consumer market in Asia.

For health and well-being protocols, new measures have been added to every facet of the ship, from dining, maintenance, guest suites, crew etiquette, and excursions. Its personalised service is at the heart of the Uniworld experience, making sure that its new protocols continue the legacy of ensuring guests are comfortable, safe, and taken care of.