Atlantic Travel Worldchoice in Letterkenny, Co Donegal has won a £20,000 (approx. €22,000) prize to create a show-stopping store makeover.
The travel agent won one of the top prizes in the TTG Royal Caribbean makeover competition after team member Emma McHugh designed an innovative entrance concept for the Donegal office.
Emma’s design was based on an impressive slide called Ultimate Abyss, which is situated on the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas cruise ship.
Emma McHugh’s show-stopping design
Atlantic Travel Worldchoice was the only Irish travel agent to reach the final round of the competition run in partnership with TTG, with the four other shortlisted agents located across the UK.
Emma McHugh of Atlantic Travel Worldchoice travelled to London on the 7 September where she presented her idea to a panel of expert judges before it was selected. The winning design was then announced on stage at the TTG Travel Awards by Amanda Darrington, Royal Caribbean Sales Director.
The competition saw travel agents from across the UK and Ireland submitting ideas for how they could makeover their shops, taking inspiration from Royal Caribbean ships.
In the mix were videos, collages, sketches and computer-generated designs that encompassed everything from cupcake bars and carousels, to zip-lines and climbing walls.
Atlantic Travel team members Evelyn McClafferty and Emma McHugh
It was Emma’s bold design, however, that really caught the eye of the judges with the iconic figure of the ‘Ultimate Abyss’ from Harmony of the Seas. The striking design also featured five interior zones representing different aspects of the ship, including Central Park and a gourmet zone featuring a bionic bar.
Commenting on the competition, Emma said, “We are absolutely thrilled to have won the Royal Caribbean competition. We have a great team working here in the office who are committed to providing clients with amazing holidays.
“We have seen a marked increase in our cruise sales in the last couple of years and are delighted that we will now have a fantastic space that will help us enhance our customer experience – essentially holidaymakers will now start their holiday journey during the booking process. The shop re-fit will really help us achieve our goal of creating extraordinary holiday experiences for our clients.
“Work will commence shortly on the refit and with our relaunch scheduled for December everything will be in place before Christmas – ready for the busy January holiday booking period. We look forward to welcoming all our clients and many new ones into our new, improved and revamped store and we will be celebrating with a party, with a fantastic cruise for two up for grabs.”
Jennifer Callister, Head of Ireland, Royal Caribbean said, “We are so delighted to see Emma and the team at Atlantic Travel Worldchoice representing Ireland. I was completely blown away by their innovative design and the way in which they captured the essence of a Royal Caribbean ship and translated this into a store design.”
