OAT’s Director of Product Marketing tells us what’s new on the Red Sea for 2010
About Vinette
Title: Director of Product Marketing
With OAT since: October, 1992
What I do at OAT: I provide direction to the Creative Marketing team (writers, photo editors, and graphic designers) to help bring our trips to life in our catalogs and on the web. I also work with our regional associates on creating new itineraries and improving existing ones.
Favorite places I’ve traveled: So hard to answer. My favorite trip is usually my last one, which in this case is Croatia, where I traveled this past June.
What’s new on the Red Sea
One of the most rewarding aspects of working here at OAT is our willingness to acknowledge where we can improve—and we wouldn’t be able to do this without the thoughtful feedback of our travelers.
Our Cruising the Red Sea Small Ship Adventure has been a perfect example of this process. In 2009, we launched a brand new itinerary in this fascinating region—and we literally could not wait to announce it to our travelers. When the first departures began returning, however, we realized we should have waited longer. As you told us in your post-trip quality surveys, our Red Sea itinerary simply didn’t live up to your high standards. And we knew we needed to make some major changes.
Since we received this much-needed reality check, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with our regional offices in the Middle East to make our Cruising the Red Sea itinerary better than ever. I wanted to give you a quick look at what’s new.
- More daylight cruising—Last year’s travelers told us that we sailed too much during the overnight hours, so they didn’t see enough of the Red Sea’s beautiful scenery. Therefore, we’ve adjusted our sailing schedule to include more cruising during the day.
- New Red Sea ports of call—Last year’s itinerary included visits to coastal resorts such as Taba and Nuweiba, which didn’t offer enough of the unique discoveries that our travelers expect. So our 2010 departures now include the addition of Hurghada. This is one of the Red Sea’s premier seaside resorts, where we’ve arranged for you to enjoy an offshore island experience. Our itineraries also now feature overnight stays aboard ship while we’re docked in Hurghada, as well as in the ports of Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba.
- A two-night hotel stay in Alexandria, Egypt—Travelers also told us they wanted to visit one of Egypt’s great Mediterranean port cities—Alexandria. So our itineraries will now feature a two-night hotel stay in Alexandria.
- Aqaba city tour—Last year’s itineraries offered an Aqaba city tour as an “optional” feature, which disappointed many travelers. So we now include an in-depth tour of this fascinating Jordanian port during our time here.
- New trip extension to Luxor, Egypt—Again, our surveys indicated that many OAT travelers would love the opportunity to visit Luxor. You’ll now have the choice to add this must-see ancient Egyptian city to either one of our Red Sea itineraries.
- Saudi Arabia visit removed from 2010 itinerary—When Saudi Arabia recently “cracked its door” open to foreign tourists, we were proud to be one of the first American travel companies to offer this discovery opportunity for our travelers. Unfortunately—as our travelers quickly let us know—this particular region of Saudi Arabia isn’t yet able to properly support foreign guests and provide them with a genuine enough cultural experience to warrant the difficulties and expense of entering the country.
I hope you’ll take a look at our complete Cruising the Red Sea: Egypt, Jordan & the Sinai Small Ship Adventure—and, if you’re interested in cruising the famed Suez Canal, our Suez Canal & Red Sea Cruise: Egypt, Jordan & the Sinai Small Ship Adventure, which is limited to just two departures only in 2010. Thanks to our 2009 travelers and their invaluable feedback, we’re confident that our new itineraries will live up to your understandably high expectations.