Few travel companies have enjoyed such a long heritage as Cox & Kings – more than 260 years and counting – and Charlton takes the helm as the brand, which is part of the A&K Travel Group, looks to grow into new markets and continue to develop its successful relationship with the UK travel trade.

Charlton first joined A&K Travel Group as senior vice-president of trade sales in 2023 and continues to hold that role in addition to leading Cox & Kings into its next chapter.

“Cox & Kings has survived through many times – it’s quite iconic and legendary,” she added. “I feel very honoured to lead this heritage brand.”

Charlton has already helped to drive impressive growth from agents for Cox & Kings since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve had incredibly strong growth year after year from the travel trade – there was a 156% rise in revenue from 2023 to 2024, and that trend has continued this year,” she told TTG Luxury. “Because of that growth we’ve seen the opportunity to expand to international markets – particularly Australia and the US."

Charlton explained the plan was to “soft launch” the brand in Australia in September before “going bigger” next year, followed by entry into the US market in mid-2026.

In the shorter term, Cox & Kings will also soon start selling its trips in Ireland this spring once it has finished securing bonding and access to airfares from this market, she added.

Sales patterns

Like many in the travel industry, Charlton said it is “getting harder and harder” to predict when bookings are going to come in.

Cox & Kings enjoyed a “phenomenal” record-breaking January for sales, which followed the “strongest ever” September, only to see bookings go quiet in February. Although business has picked up again in April with the “phones starting to ring”, Charlton said. She added that clients could have been affected by geopolitical events in recent weeks, which may have impacted the value of their pensions.

One thing that hasn’t changed is Cox & Kings’ focus on selling through agents, with Charlton stressing how the operator was “really focused on service” for the trade.

“The focus on the travel trade has really paid off – it’s quite a niche product and we’re lucky to have a core team of very knowledgeable consultants to speak to agents,” she said. “We’re also seeing a slightly different demographic – a little bit younger – coming through the travel trade.”

Charlton said Cox & Kings’ range of new tours have also “generated interest”, while the average booking value for tailor-made itineraries has gone up as clients spend more on their trips.

She highlighted destinations such as Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and South America as seeing particularly high growth.

“We launched 12 special interest tours this year and they’ve been quite a success,” added Charlton. “Uzbekistan has been very much in demand, as has a new tour to Pakistan.”

The operator’s traditional trips to India are also going to be refreshed by adding “some different angles”, while other itineraries will be adjusted to particularly appeal to the Australian and US markets.

Trade activities

Even though Cox & Kings is emphasising its expansion to new markets, the operator still has plenty of plans to cater for UK agents. These include the creation of a dedicated new trade portal for A&K Travel Group brands, with Cox & Kings set to be included from spring 2026. Sister brand Crystal Cruises is already live on this platform with A&K due to be added “imminently”.

Other plans include “refreshing” Cox & Kings’ brand and relaunching the operator’s website next year.

The operator is also developing digital tools for the trade, Charlton said, as well as hosting regular educational sessions and fam trips for agents, alongside incentives and competitions.

Meanwhile, the trade team will add two new members of staff in the coming weeks to further bolster Cox & Kings’ service to agents.

“We want to be available to agents to make their life as easy as possible – we have to make sure we excel on service,” explained Charlton. “We’ve had a lot of growth through the homeworking community, and to reach them, we have been arranging lunches and afternoon teas for agents in different geographic locations around the UK, which are focused on different products.”

It’s looking like it will be a busy time for Charlton and for Cox & Kings in the coming year and beyond, and it’s clear that agents will be paying a leading role in this journey.