High street

Hays Travel ready to go all-in on cruise with bookable website following Cruise.co.uk deal

Dame Irene Hays added the agency giant remained in an acquisitive mood should any suitable opportunities emerge

Hays Travel acquires Cruise.co.uk to expand into online cruise market

Hays hails deal as its biggest since acquiring Thomas Cook in 2019

Travel Chaps owners joined by new staff and supplier reps for official shop opening

Matt and Ashley Phillips, whose background is in hospitality, joined the travel industry during the pandemic, setting up their agency with Not Just Travel

'We can move forward': Baldwins Travel's Tricia Lester joins Ashdown Travel along with nine colleagues

Surrey agency Ashdown Travel approached Lester on LinkedIn ’a couple of months ago’ before revealing plans to add two branches and recruit more staff

Halstead Travel owner's video interviews see her win funding for first retail shop

Arline Sloan will launch Halstead Travel on the high street in September for the first time, eight years after setting up the homeworking brand

Deal for Ireland's Grogan Travel to end 75 years of family ownership

Managing director Frances Grogan told TTG that while it was tough to sell up after 75 years, she felt new owner Frosch Ireland shared many of her agency’s values

Finalists revealed for first-ever Top 20 Luxury Travel Agencies

The new awards programme by TTG Luxury celebrates the best luxury agencies across the UK & Ireland

Dame Irene Hays recognised for business achievements and public service

Owner and chair of Hays Travel has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Bradford

Tui launches Lapland day trip programme and Santa packages from 11 UK airports

Tui has included Cardiff airport for the first time in a programme of Lapland day trips this winter, with the first Bournemouth getting its first departures for seven years

Irish agents hail return to ‘common sense’ pricing despite lingering Trump tariff worries

Ireland’s close links with the US are among a number of factors influencing how travel is selling in the republic this summer – TTG’s Gary Noakes gauges the mood among agents

Jet2holidays reveals final beneficiaries of Scale Up Your Street campaign

The Good Travel Company, Buckley Travel and Sunlounger Travel all secure funding to open new shops

Perfect Getaways confident of sales boost from first supplier training day ahead of 'really big lates'

Suppliers were able to meet all 45 of the Merseyside agency chain’s staff at the event on Monday, which coincided with the launch of its latest consumer brochure

Swindon Travel Hub plots expansion as first anniversary approaches

Wiltshire agency has used local sponsorships and a £5,000 prize draw to raise its profile

Jet2 takes aim at younger and less affluent segments to broaden its appeal

Jet2 is contracting cheaper accommodation – including hostels – in a bid to attract younger and less affluent clients, which it says are not its core demographic

'No pressure!': Travel Village Group tells suppliers it's OK to miss its conference

Travel Village Group has followed up its pledge to make conferences more sustainable, telling suppliers they are under no pressure to attend because of the number of events in the calendar

Hays Travel hires Fred Olsen Travel's operations chief Tricia Birmingham to fill commercial role

Birmingham’s appointment comes three days after it was announced Hays Travel’s group strategy director McAuley will become managing director of World Travel Holdings UK later this year

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

Agents offer ‘cut-through’ for luxury cruise line as clients ‘book years in advance’

Expert insights about cruise booking trends were shared during an exclusive event hosted by TTG Luxury and Explora Journeys.

Bereaved agent calls on industry to back bootleg alcohol petition

A travel agent whose 28-year-old daughter died from methanol poisoning while travelling in Laos is backing a petition for the dangers of methanol poisoning to be covered in the school curriculum – and hopes others in the industry will follow suit

Agent persuades Tui to launch Newquay packages – with Prestwick also benefiting

A Cornish agent has led Tui to launch packages from Newquay with budget flights, while Glasgow Prestwick will also see the operator partner with Ryanair

Payday time! The new booking trend more frequent than peaks (and just as lucrative!)

With turn-of-year peaks appearing to be ’flattening’, agency chiefs say they have identified a new emerging booking trend which is more frequent and just as lucrative

Jet2 to launch flights and holidays to fifth Canary island La Palma

Jet2.com and Jet2holidays will offer La Palma for the first time from next summer with two flights a week from Stansted and Manchester to the Canary island

Julie Berry succeeds Steve Williams as managing director of Fred Olsen Travel

Fred Olsen said Berry, who joined the agency chain earlier this year, would bring ’a wealth of industry experience and clear vision for the business’ to her new post

Ocean Holidays refinances Covid debt following Hays Travel investment

The US specialist operator confirmed Hays will have no day-to-day operational role following the investment and its four founders will remain its majority shareholders