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| Roland Largay (second from left) poses with Gregg Michel, president, Crystal Cruises (left); Paul Largay, co-owner and president, Largay Travel (right); and Bill Smith, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Crystal cruises (far right). |
This week the travel industry remembers luxury veteran Roland Largay, co-owner and CEO of Waterbury, CT-based Largay Travel. A former VP of sales at Anchor Fasteners, a family-owned nuts-and-bolts business, Largay bought the travel agency portion of a friend's business and built it into a successful force in luxury travel. In 2008, he was named one of our Leaders in Luxury. That story is available here.
Mexico was also high in the news this week with a report of renovations at Barceló's Riviera Maya resort. The two-phase, $45 million plan is scheduled for completion in 2014.
The renovations began May 6 with the Maya Beach and Maya Caribe, two of the resorts in the five-resort complex. When complete the changes will include resort lobbies, new bars, two new restaurants and upgrades to the complex's internal infrastructure.
In cruise news, top of mind this week was a story on two cruisers fined on drug charges in Bermuda. Cruise ports can be aggressive in the fight against controlled substances, even searching cabins while cruisers are ashore. One recent case involved a $10,000 fine.
Finally, in case you missed it, this week we launched our annual search for the top 25 agents in the industry. Winners will be recognized in a special upcoming issue. Please do not apply if you were chosen as a Top Travel Agent in 2009, 2010, 2011 or 2012. The nomination form is available here.