Escorted tours

Your guide to tour operator news for 2025

Jumping on trends from the popularity of cruise and land packages to boutique hotel stays around the world, operators are cascading new product into the market for 2025, ensuring there will always be something new and delightful to share with your customers.

'Why I support Cop29's 'polluters pay' principle – even as a global travel business leader'

The "polluter pays" idea is about forcing those at fault for the climate crisis to take responsibility, and it’s about time we extended the same expectation to the tourism industry,’ writes Intrepid Travel chief James Thornton for TTG

'An exciting next phase of growth': Inside Travel Group attracts £20 million in fresh investment

The group, which operates the InsideJapan and InsideAsia brands, has partnered with B Corp specialist investor Piper and Japan’s sovereign wealth fund Cool Japan Fund

Booking Asia? Here’s why you can rely on Inside Travel Group

Get beneath the surface of Asia with Inside Travel Group’s cultural adventures that combine the big sights, cultural experiences and slices of local life.

The loveliest Christmas markets, selected by the experts

Amid a sales boom for escorted Christmas market tours, the team at Leger Shearings have shared their top locations with us...

Inghams reveals how it plans to celebrate its 90th anniversary with agents

Walking specialist to host fam trip and ’quirky’ roadshows to help agents get ’under the skin’ of its new product launching next year

G Adventures to launch 'exclusive' female-led trips for solo travellers

Operator’s new ’Solo-ish Adventures’ range will be led by female chief experience officers

Former dnata UK and Ireland chief Ailsa Pollard to join Newmarket Holidays board

Ailsa Pollard, who currently sits on the board of Abta, joins Newmarket as a non-executive director following an undisclosed investment from Soho Square Capital LLP

Titan Travel names Shane Lewis-Riley as its new trade lead

Lewis-Riley, who left Virgin Voyages last month after six years, will take up a newly created director of trade distribution role with the escorted touring specialist

Tui, Crystal, Silver Travel: all the latest travel trade people moves

Tui has announced major changes to its leadership in the UK and at group level, and there has also been a change at the top at British Airways Holidays. Elsewhere, a familiar face in the agent world returns to travel

The Antarctica alternative agents needs to know about

A British tour operator is the only company operating private flights for leisure travellers to Antarctica and is boosting its trade presence

Riviera Travel targets further growth in trade sales with new e-learning platform

The new Riviera Explorer platform features brand updates, bite-sized training modules and selling kits for agents with different levels of experience to use

Newmarket, Intrepid, Riviera: all the latest travel trade people moves

Newmarket Holidays has bolstered support for agents in the North East, while Intrepid Travel has brought in two new partnerships managers – elsewhere, Riviera Travel has appointed a new business development manager in Ireland

The Travel Corporation names Melissa DaSilva as Gavin Tollman's successor

The group’s north American touring chief DaSilva will take over from Tollman as chief executive of TTC Tour Brands on an interim basis, with Tollman set to depart later this year when TTC’s sale completes

Trade 'a huge opportunity' for Ramble Worldwide, says new MD Wayne Perks

Perks, who took over from Kevin O’Regan this month, plans to grow the specialist operator’s distribution with the help of travel agents

Riviera trade chief pins sales spike on agent meetings tackling 'the good, bad and ugly'

Head of trade and partnerships Vicky Billing, who joined the company nearly a year ago, believes the escorted touring and river cruise specialist’s sharper trade focus is paying off

Operator seeks agents’ help to restore ‘eighth natural wonder of the world’

Swoop Patagonia general manager Harriet Pike told TTG the specialist, which is direct sell, would be open to working with agents if the campaign generated sufficient interest

‘It's our take on the ‘where next?’ culture’: Intrepid Travel reveals 2025 Not Hot List

Intrepid Travel has named the 10 destinations on its latest Not Hot List as part of its efforts to divert tourists away from overtourism hotspots

G Touring to shake up fams next year with largest-ever programme

Travelsphere and Just You promises ‘more in-depth, educational approach’ to fams, which will be tailored to agents’ experience of escorted touring

APT hands promotions to Robin Griffiths and Becky Baumbach

From 2 September, Robin Griffiths and Becky Baumbach will take up the roles of national partnerships manager and national sales manager respectively

Sri Lanka scraps tourist visa fees for 2024/25 winter season

The destination will allow visa-free entry to visitors from the UK this winter in a bid to boost its tourism industry, saving couples around £76

HF Holidays makes carbon measurement part of ‘product-to-market’ process

Carbon measurement and trip labelling will form a core part of the walking holiday specialist’s aim to reduce its carbon footprint by 5% a year

G Touring increases regional departures following feedback from agents

Agents ’highlighted the need for a wider variety of departure points’ said G Touring’s UK head of sales Rachel Mould

Hayley Morris to leave Titan Travel and succeed Richard Forde at Newmarket Holidays

Morris, who joined the escorted touring specialist from parent Saga in November 2022, will begin at Newmarket on 21 October