More fams, better tech, boosted support: How SHG is making premium and tailor-made travel simpler and more rewarding for agents

Specialist Holidays Group (SHG) brings together three established specialist brands: Sovereign Luxury Travel, Citalia and American Holidays. Following the acquisition of the brands by TravCorp Holdings in July 2025, the wider business became Specialist Holidays Group in June 2026, reflecting its ambition to become the trade’s most trusted specialist holiday partner, combining decades of expertise with outstanding service and genuine trade partnerships. 

SHG is currently running a competition with TTG to give one lucky agent a luxury White Company hamper worth £160! Enter now for your chance to win. 

Here we catch up with Jorge Quibell, Director of Trade Partnerships. 

For agents who aren’t as familiar with your three specialist brands, can you introduce Sovereign? 

Sovereign has been creating luxury holidays for more than 50 years and has an incredible reputation for really knowing its hotels and destinations. We offer luxury holidays across Europe and further afield, from Greece, Spain and Cyprus to the Maldives, Mauritius and the Caribbean.

We’ve invested heavily in expanding the portfolio, adding some fantastic new properties while remaining focused on quality. For us, luxury isn’t just about a five-star hotel, it’s about the whole experience, from choosing the right property through to the service and expertise behind the booking.

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And could you outline your Italian portfolio available with Citalia?

Citalia is a brand I’m incredibly excited about. We’ve been specialising in Italy for almost 100 years, so the knowledge sitting within the business is phenomenal.

Agents can book everything from classic beach and city breaks to the Italian Lakes, Tuscany, Sicily and Sardinia, alongside some brilliant rail, twin and multi-centre itineraries.

That ability to create more complex Italian holidays is a real strength. Italy can sometimes feel daunting when a customer wants to combine several destinations, so agents don’t need to know every train route or every hotel. That’s where our specialists come in and help them build something really special.

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And what can agents book with American Holidays?

American Holidays gives agents access to a huge range of holidays across the USA, Canada and beyond. That includes everything from New York and Orlando to California, Las Vegas, the Deep South, Canada, cruises, rail journeys and some fantastic twin and multi-centre combinations.

North America is another destination where specialist knowledge really matters, particularly when you start combining flights, hotels, cars, attractions, cruises and multiple destinations. Our team knows the product inside out and can help agents build something far beyond a straightforward package.

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Tell us about the decades of expertise the teams can offer agents.

This is one of our biggest differentiators. There is an incredible amount of knowledge sitting within SHG, with people who have been selling these destinations and products for many years.

But it’s not just about having that expertise, it’s making it accessible to agents.

We have dedicated trade reservations support and Expert Travel Planners who agents can speak to, alongside our trade team out on the road. We want to feel like an extension of an agent’s own business. If you have a complicated enquiry, pick up the phone, speak to us and let’s work it out together.

We’ve got brilliant brands and brilliant product, but we’ve also got really lovely people. We want SHG to be easy, straightforward and enjoyable to do business with.

What support and training is available for agents?

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Trade has become a huge focus for us and we’ve invested significantly in making it easier for agents to work with all three brands.

Alongside our dedicated trade reservations support, agents have access to online booking for much of our product, backed up by our specialists for those more complex enquiries.

Our SHG Agent Hub brings together our booking portals, latest offers, marketing materials, incentives, training and tools in one place, and we have some really exciting plans to develop that further.

We’re also getting out and seeing agents. We’ve expanded our trade team and we’re delivering more webinars, store visits, training, roadshows and events across the UK and Ireland.

Our Homeworker Huddles and agent events are a big part of that. We want training to be useful, but also enjoyable. Some of the best conversations and learning happen when you get agents, our team and our partners together in a relaxed environment, and we want to do much more of that.

And are there fam trip opportunities?

Absolutely, we’ve tripled the number of fam trips this year and plan to triple it again next year.

For our brands, each of which have deep destination knowledge and expertise, there is nothing quite like experiencing the product first-hand. If an agent has stayed in the hotel, travelled the route or experienced the destination themselves, that confidence comes through when they’re talking to their customers.

As we continue to grow the brands there will be more opportunities across fam trips, supplier events, training trips and other educational experiences. We want our agents to experience the brilliant portfolio we have first-hand.

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And what investment is SHG making in the three brands?

A huge amount, and I think agents are already starting to see the difference.

We’ve added more than 450 hotels across our portfolio, expanded our opening hours, brought in additional Expert Travel Planners, grown our trade team and increased the amount of training, events and support available to agents.

Technology is another major focus. We’re investing in our booking journeys and Agent Hub, making more product available to book online and looking at how we can make the whole enquiry and booking process quicker and easier for agents.

And there is much more coming as we move into 2027. More product, more technology, more people on the road, more training and more opportunities for agents to engage with the brands.

The aim behind all of it is really simple, we want to be easier to do business with.

Why should agents focus on specialist holidays, and are they profitable? 

Definitely. Customers are increasingly looking for expertise and reassurance, particularly when they’re spending significant amounts on a holiday or planning something more complex.

That creates a big opportunity for agents. Premium and tailor-made holidays often have higher booking values, strong commission opportunities and additional earning potential through incentives and rewards.

But importantly, it also allows an agent to demonstrate their value. You’re not competing purely on price, you’re selling knowledge, service, reassurance and expertise, and that’s where great travel agents really shine.

And why should agents turn to SHG for premium holidays?

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Because deep destination expertise is at the heart of what we do. Our teams bring unrivalled knowledge and experience, with genuine passion and first-hand insight into the brands and destinations we offer.

We have three brilliant brands, an incredible portfolio of hotels and destinations and decades of expertise sitting behind them. 

But I think what increasingly differentiates SHG is everything we’re building around those brands for trade. Agents have our dedicated trade support, booking technology, our Agent Hub, people out on the road, training, Huddles, events, incentives and direct access to specialists who genuinely know the product.

We’re investing heavily, but we also want to retain the personal side of the relationship. We want agents to know our team, pick up the phone to us, ask us questions and ultimately enjoy working with us.

For me, the combination of brilliant specialist brands, fantastic product, deep expertise and genuinely lovely people is what makes SHG different. If an agent has an enquiry for one of our destinations, whether it’s a single-centre holiday, a multi-centre itinerary, a rail journey or something completely tailor-made, we want SHG to be one of the first names they think of.