High street

Grecotel steps in to cover agency's £250 bill for broken window after reading TTG story

UK sales manager Liz Shaw told TTG the hotel chain plans to make more ’random’ gestures of goodwill in the coming months as part of efforts to support travel agencies in the UK and Ireland

Wiltshire agency Howard Travel left to foot £250 bill after 'drunk revellers' smash window

Branch manager Colin Curtis told TTG other businesses in Trowbridge had their windows damaged over new year, and confirmed Howard Travel had previously been targeted

'He made me belly laugh from start to finish': Hays Travel PTCs remember 'kind soul' Jon Berridge

Berridge suffered ’a sudden unexpected cardiac event’ on 23 December just a few weeks after telling delegates at Hays Travel’s conference in Turkey about his career change last year

Ambassador ships to host 600 agents in 2025

The no-fly UK cruise line is hosting 12 ship visits at six regional ports across the UK in 2025, which trade partners can apply to join now

Tui reports footfall surge following Scottish store reopening

The shop reopened on 6 December in the Scottish town of Kilbride, around 11 miles south of Glasgow

Thorne Travel launches first-ever TV advert ahead of peaks

Ayrshire agency debuts 30-second short in Boxing Day featuring Kilwinning store manager Christiane McCorgray

Agent reveals ambition to grow shop network to 10 by his 40th birthday

JF Travel owner Jonny Fielding has told TTG he wants to open a new shop every year for the next seven years to grow his network to 10 by the time he turns 40

Tui pushes app sales as it goes up against Jet2 and easyJet with peaks offers

Tui has opened its peaks offers via its app – three days before putting them on sale through the trade – while Jet2holidays has also detailed its turn of year discounts

Welsh agency Sam Smith Travel to expand to third premises next year

Ocky White Travel owner Mark White, who acquired the Sam Smith brand during the pandemic, talks TTG through the next steps for the revitalised agency

Flight Centre UK targets more shop openings under new general manager

Joe Beevis to succeed Lucy Clifton and take on mantle for growth strategy, which includes increasing the brand’s "bricks and mortar" presence nationally

Advantage charts double-digit bounce in Christmas and 2025 sales

Advantage Travel Partnership says sales of festive getaways and 2025 packages are ahead of the same point last year by double figures

Nicki Tempest-Mitchell named Barrhead Travel managing director

Former Thomas Cook head of retail Tempest-Mitchell worked with Barrhead on a consultancy basis following Cook’s collapse in September 2019, and joined the Scottish independent in 2021

'Escape to the Country helped us find the perfect location for our new branch'

Agency owner Angie Akister decided earlier this year to relocate her agency from Southend to the Norfolk-Suffolk border and open her first bricks-and-mortar shop

AE Expeditions unveils ship visits and fam trips for 2025

The expedition cruise line plans to invite 150 UK and Irish agents on its fleet next year and give them the same experiences customers have

'Quality over quantity': How GoCruise & Travel finds new agents with the right 'vibe'

Of the 17 new members Colin Martin-Weekes has brought into the business this year, seven were ’complete novices’ with no travel experience whatsoever – he shares with TTG the secrets of his success

Shortlist revealed for Top 50 Travel Agencies by TTG 2025

Read more about the travel agencies who are going forward for judging next year

Tui targeting 50% app sales as it puts Ryanair packages on sale

Tui has set itself a target to achieve 50% of its sales via its app, and has pledged to develop technology that already accounts for double-digit figures in the UK

Dame Irene Hays: 'We have to keep finding new ways to make more money'

Ed Robertson caught up with Hays Travel owner Dame Irene Hays and operations chief Jonathon Woodall-Johnston to find out more about the agency’s Budget challenges

Virgin Voyages hands SJ Walker bigger remit in sales team shake-up

UK sales director SJ Walker’s remit has been broadened so she is responsible for all of the adults-only line’s UK trade distribution while global training manager Luke Day has been promoted to global trade engagement senior manager

'I've sold nearly 2,000 cruises – here are my top tips for other agents'

Tui’s Rachel Liversidge shares the secrets of her success

Scottish agents set to miss out on business rates relief again

The Scottish parliament has again denied high street agents help with business rates despite extending relief to the hospitality sector

Inspire My Holiday aiming to connect agents with one million potential customers

The holiday inspiration platform plans to launch its ’Find An Agent’ service on Boxing Day which will give individual agents ’free exposure’. So far, ’hundreds’ of agents have signed up

Working with family: agent shares his best advice for success

Ralph Thacker joined his mother’s Grimsby travel agency business in 2019 and hasn’t looked back since

Agents share fam trip frustrations as poll reveals majority want change

Nearly 90% of travel agents believe the fam trip, which is often seen as a perk of the job, needs a major shake-up.