Essential

New digital platform at the heart of Advantage’s first major rebrand for 20 years

New platform will make it easier for consumers to find their nearest independent travel agent, while a brand-new news and resources hub will provide content that ’reinforces Advantage’s position as an industry authority’

Manchester airport to expand Terminal 3 and close Terminal 1

Manchester is to become a two-terminal airport from next year following the closure of Terminal 1 which will be used to reshape and extend Terminal 3

National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions unveils debut European river programme

The newly built 120-passenger Connect ship will operate the cruises between Amsterdam and Brussels and Cologne and Basel

Classic Collection owner ‘confident’ B2B brand can return to profitability

Despite a disappointing start to 2025, Classic Collection owner On the Beach is hopeful the B2B brand will be back in the black in the second half of the financial year

Jet2holidays boosts funding for agencies with bricks-and-mortar ambitions

The tour operator has expanded its Scale Up Your Street campaign by increasing the prize money from £100,000 to £120,000 and extending the number of shortlisted agencies

Explora Journeys' Helen Beck joins Windstar's mission to boost UK business

In the newly created role, Beck will expand the small-ship line’s presence in ’key’ markets outside North America while shaping the global sales and distribution strategy

Heathrow outage: power restored seven hours before flights resumed, report reveals

The outage on 21 March affected hundreds of thousands of passengers

Mexico slashes proposed cruise passenger tax ahead of summer start

Cruise industry lobbying has persuaded Mexico to slash the cost of its planned passenger tax and increase it at a stepped rate between July this year and 2028 amid warnings it would otherwise decimate arrival figures

Travel's gender pay gap widens owing to top-level wage disparities

New research from C&M Travel Recruitment reveals travel’s gender pay gap widened to 13.8% in 2024, largely in part to wage disparities in best-paid jobs

Disney to develop new theme park and resort on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island

Walt Disney has confirmed Abu Dhabi as the location of its seventh theme park, a destination it days is within four hours’ flying of a third of the world’s population

Trafalgar to enter growing river cruise market with sailings on Rhine and Danube

The TTC Tour brand will launch two ships – Trafalgar Reverie and Trafalgar Verity – in spring 2026 with travel agents being given the first opportunity to book the cruises

National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions to enter river cruise market

The initial agreement with Transcend Cruises will run through to at least 2028

Murder investigation launched after man dies on MSC Virtuosa

The victim died around 8.30pm on Saturday (3 May) following an altercation on the 6,334-passenger ship

‘Destinations are reaching their limits, and we need to help,’ say top operators

Addressing Spain’s annual sustainability summit, Spain Talks, senior figures from Tui and easyJet holidays acknowledged the need to address overtourism in holiday hotspots by showcasing destinations at different times of year

Hundreds of Lincolnshire Co-op staff, including agents, awarded pay rise

The deal, negotiated by the society’s union Usdaw, covers more than 95% of the community retailer’s 2,800-strong team, including its agents

Jet2holidays confirms switch to new contact centre phone number

Operator sets out key change to the way agents get in touch

Former Travel 2 tours consultant Heather Hutton to head up Vista's new touring division

Hutton, who joined Vista parent Hays Travel from Travel 2 five years ago, has been tasked with building on the momentum the agency’s in-house tour operator has sustained since rebranding in 2023

Aito to widen membership to start-up SMEs with new associate scheme

Association has launched an associate membership scheme for start-up businesses that do not meet its two-year trading requirement

Virgin Atlantic axes Heathrow-Tel Aviv route but retains El Al codeshare

Carrier’s flights to Israel’s second city won’t resume later this year as planned

Jet2 tells agents to expect summer lates market and 'modest' package price increases

Jet2 has updated its 2024/25 profits forecast and given its thoughts on the current summer market in a statement to investors, saying the late booking market persists

New Turkish carrier to start serving Antalya from Gatwick this summer

Another budget Antalya option has emerged, with flights starting mid-June

Spain and Portugal scramble to restore travel links following mass power outage

Some 185 flights due to depart Portugal on Monday (28 April) were cancelled, and 205 from Spain, amid the blackout

Recap: Spain and Portugal hit by mass power outage – airports and rail services affected

Spain’s national railway company, Renfe, said the country’s ’entire national electricity grid was cut off’ shortly after midday on Monday (28 April)

HX cuts emissions by more than a quarter despite 'unusual operating year' in 2024

Hurtigruten Expeditions cut carbon emissions by 27% last year, but noted results were skewed by the fact ships in the fleet spent time in dry dock