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Interview

Specialist line's sales chief: 'Expedition cruise market is at its limit'
The one-ship expedition line often calls into the UK as it repositions its Sea Spirit vessel from Antarctica to Arctic, which gives agents a chance to explore onboard
Agent reveals enquiries jumped after celebrity client's surprise announcement
Rebecca Murphy, founder of Travelista, has seen a surge in interest since organising a luxury holiday for Coleen Nolan.
Flight Centre confirms two more shop openings as cautious expansion project gathers pace
Flight Centre’s UK boss Joe Beevis said he will open new branches in the coming months but the agency will not return to its heyday of almost 80 UK outlets
Luxury operator reveals agents’ ‘trickiest’ concierge request as demand for VIP service grows
Carrier has expanded its concierge team following a 37% increase in monthly enquiries for the elite service compared to last year.
'Good' number of Crystal customers migrating across from other cruise lines, says new trade chief
Luke Smith, Carnival Cruise Line’s former international and UK sales director, revealed the booking trend during one of his first trade press interviews as Crystal’s sales vice-president, UK and EMEA
Agency launches guide to warn clients after concerns over travel scams
Designer Travel has launched a lengthy manual for customers on travel security after falling victim to a fraudulent enquiry.
Viva Cruises boss hails 'brilliant' river sector despite potential 'challenges' ahead
The river line’s chief executive Andrea Kruse said the sector now has a bigger profile following sustained industry-wide investment over the last decade
Ambassador Cruise Line becomes fully adults-only after dropping multi-generational sailings
The three-ship line has launched its 75-departure 2027/28 programme featuring no multi-generational sailings
Meet the luxury agent who is helping students enter the cruise industry
The Cruise Career Springboard programme has successfully wrapped up for a third year – co-founder Edwina Lonsdale tells TTG why she was driven to promote a pathway to working in the cruise industry for young college students
Luxury travel boss warns AI misuse would be ‘outrage to luxury’
Little Emperors founder Rebecca Masri says AI has benefitted the luxury travel business, but vows it will never replace its human advisors.
The agency using toy turtles to continue their late colleague’s travel dreams
One year on from travel agent Angela Mayall’s sudden passing, and her colleagues are honouring her memory with a cuddly turtle photo challenge
TTNG's new cruise sales director unveils conference and ship charter plans
John Wilson, Celebrity Cruises’ former EMEA sales director, told TTG there’s an opportunity for TTNG to capture a larger share of the cruise market, with ocean cruise currently accounting for nearly a quarter of members’ sales
Designer Travel to celebrate record-breaking year at Abu Dhabi conference
The luxury homeworking agency is welcoming more than 100 of its top-selling advisors in Abu Dhabi
'This is how I go the extra mile for my clients – I go with them on holiday'
It’s the prerogative of most travel agents to go the extra mile for their customers but, in Danielle Falcus’ case, she regularly goes more like 5,000
‘It's comfortable and cosy’: why working from bed is key to this agent’s success
Paula Hansen, co-founder of World Accessible Holidays, lives with a chronic health condition that makes working from an office almost impossible
ECN chief cautions against discounting but won't 'police' members' sales tactics
Trade body’s chief acknowledges discounting is happening in the expedition cruise market, but says it’s not ’part of its mission’ to police lines
Tour operator eases disabled clients’ safari ‘fear factor’ with simple tweak
Enable Holidays says the couple, who had dreamt of going on safari for years, has since gone on to book four more trips with the accessible tour operator.
Cunard ups ex-UK capacity after identifying new-to-cruise 'opportunity'
President Katie McAlister said the 3,000-passenger ship, which launched in Liverpool last year, serves as a ’test bed’ for the line
'I didn't really join the industry to sell travel, but then I began to think – this could have legs'
The founder of Janine Loves Travel tells Rob Gill how she fell into ’a great industry’
Malaysia relying on UK agents to increase tourist numbers, deputy PM says
Malaysian deputy prime minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced the government’s intention to increase the number of UK tourists to the country to 500,000 in 2026
Cruise veteran urges luxury lines to copy Gucci and Armani's pricing strategies
Steve Odell, senior vice-president, international and consumer sales for Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises, revealed Oceania is currently undergoing a rebranding exercise
Travel Village Group to launch new podcast series aimed at bringing 'travel to life'
The Blackpool-based business will invite a mix of guests and employees to share their stories when the first episode airs later this month
'Tui's seeing really strong growth with agents – why would we turn away from that?'
Nearly six months into his new role as Tui’s marketing and sales director, and two years on from Tui’s decision to re-engage the trade, Bart Quinton Smith talks TTG through how Tui is evolving its relationship with independent and third-party agents
Advantage: 'We can be the catalyst for clients seeking quality travel agents'
Advantage’s commercial director John Sullivan and chief executive Julia Lo Bue Said talk TTG’s James Chapple through some of the consortium’s major developments and milestones over the past year, and explain why they’ve never been more optimistic about the consortium, its members and the trade’s future