The Final week of January witnessed Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s UK team welcome Veteran Astronaut Bruce Melnick to the UK.
Bruce flew on two
Space Shuttle flights as part of crews on Discovery STS -41 in 1990 and STS-49
in 1992, the maiden Flight of Endeavour. He is currently the Resident Astronaut
at the Visitor complex and often participates in the numerous Astronaut lead
experiences including Char with an Astronaut, Astronaut Encounter and the
recently returned Fly with an Astronaut. A packed itinerary saw us make a
number of Radio and TV interviews including appearances on Kay Burleys Sky News
show, ITVs Lorraine where Bruce spoke of his experiences in flight, something
Lorraine herself became involved with in 2019 when she experienced
weightlessness on a “Vomit Comet” high above the Californian desert. Bruce also
appeared on BBC Newsround, and a host of Radio stations including BBC Regional
stations, Radio London @ Broadcasting House and Times Radio.
Across the Travel
trade we met with 25 Key Sales & Marketing staff from Attraction
Tickets.com / DoSomething Different.com at their Brixton Head office where we
shared Pizza and stories over a long lunch with signings and photo
opportunities, this was preceded with an interview with Trade Social Media
Platform Hablo at their offices in North Greenwich, CEO Russell Meara
interviewed Bruce https://vimeo.com/793152624/dba434a931
A Signature Trade Dinner @ the Ivy was hosted alongside Key
Trade and Media Partners including Virgin Atlantic Holidays, AT.com,
Attractionworld, Ocean Holidays, Trailfinders and Dnata and CEO of the VisitUSA CEO Kate Kenward. Bruce spoke about his time in Space alongside
stories from his career with the National Coast guard as a search and rescue
pilot.
Mid week we departed London for Birmingham Meeting with the
US Attractions team at Attractionworld in Birmingham followed by a dedicated
“Chat with an Astronaut” experience with their Staff and numerous independent
agents and Florida Tix Competition winners. KSCs Global sales Manager Frank Da
Costa gave an uplifting overview of KSC followed by Bruce Melnick who
captivated the assembled guests with stories from his time in space aboard 2
Space Shuttle flights.
On Thursday we moved onto Manchester and in
conjunction with Virgin Atlantic, we hosted a wonderfully illuminating evening
at the Vue Cinema in Central Manchester which saw over 80 guests from the Trade
across the north west, including Gold Medal, On the Beach, Destinology and
Trailfinders sit riveted to their seats while Bruce illustrated his time in
space with a presentation on the giant screen at the Print works venue. Mel
Wood, Senior Account Manager and her team from Virgin also wowed the audience
with updates including the successful launch of the airlines new A330Neo
Aircraft on routes to USA, Florida and beyond.
Bruce and the Kennedy Space Center Team returned to Florida
as the week drew to a close, taking many memories of the UK Travel Trade with
them. Many memories remained here of course, it’s not everyday you get to meet
an astronaut!, UK account Account Director Philip Britton concluded by
saying…..
“Everytime we bring an Astronaut to the UK, the experience
is remembered fondly by everyone who is lucky enough to meet a real life
Spaceman!, it’s always a pleasure to work so closely with the trade and
showcase the merits of a full day at Kennedy Space Center for everyone
travelling to Florida”
