Independent

'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

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

How travel advisors can make the most of booking private homes in 2025

The founder of Hidden and Found says there is a big opportunity for agents to build up how they book private home stays for clients

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

Kuoni hopeful brand revamp will distinguish it from 'sea of sameness'

Operator has detailed a significant image change as part of an attempt to widen its appeal beyond special occasion holidaymakers and Indian Ocean devotees

The Pig says it will embrace agents more, as founder Robin Hutson steps down

The UK boutique hotel collection says it is ready to work more closely with the trade as it continues to grow its portfolio

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

Panache Cruises invests £500k to support UK and US expansion plans

Money will be spent on additional office space for Panache Cruises at Strawberry Fields Digital Hub in Lancashire, and a larger premises in the US as well as more staff on both sides of the Atlantic

'We've got guts – we're not afraid to do adventure travel differently'

No longer a ’tiny operator travelling to weird countries’, YellowWood Adventures is courting the trade with a bigger range of more diversified product.

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

Grecotel celebrates 'record-breaking year' at lunch for luxury agents in Cheshire

The Greek luxury hotel brand hosted 20 agents for a special lunch in Cheshire after another successful year.

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.

AI search, space travel and Christmas in Cyprus: nine unmissable Jet2 conference takeaways

Jet2holidays returned to Cyprus for its 10th VIP agent conference this week, bringing with them a grumpy time machine to take delegates on a journey through all things Jet2 past, present and future

Storm Bert: 'We're a little soggy but we're here to stay', says travel agency boss

Traveltrail director Charlotte Barnett will not move her agency business somewhere despite being hit by Storm Bert floods at the weekend