Squirrell’s comments came after Saga on Thursday (27 January) said it was finalising plans to combine the operations of Saga Holidays and sister escorted touring brand Titan as part of a wholesale restructure of the group’s tour operating business.

The over-50s specialist said the restructure would reduce costs and maximise efficiency across its touring division, where it said the two brands’ product was already "highly complementary".

News of the restructure comes after Saga last week said it would, in future, work with "a smaller group of trade partners. A Saga spokesperson confirmed to TTG the decision would affect agents selling both Saga’s cruise and holidays product, with a slightly greater skew towards those selling Saga holidays.

Titan managing director Andy Squirrell, though, has once again stressed Titan will continue to service the trade, reiterating comments made to TTG last week. He added Titan would lead Saga Travel Group’s "touring vertical" going forward.

“Reiterating our messages from last week, Titan remains absolutely committed to the trade," said Squirrell on Thursday. "This is an incredibly exciting time for us as a brand and one that will see our touring operations and relationships with the trade grow.

"Looking ahead, we have a trade-friendly strategy filled with innovative and technological investments that will further modernise and streamline our agent and customer journey. Recent booking trends have been fantastically encouraging and set the scene for a buoyant year of travel which we wish to capitalise on with the trade and their support."

Speaking to TTG last week, Squirrell said Titan had no plans to step back from agents. “We have a longstanding and very important relationship with the trade and a significant part of our business comes from agents,” he said. “That absolutely remains in our plans going forward."